When starting with search engine optimisation (SEO), keyword research in SEO comes first. Proper keyword research is crucial because 94.74% of keywords get only 10 monthly searches.
Understanding and using the right keywords help websites reach the right audience and rank well on search engine results pages (SERP). However, you can start keyword research by brainstorming initial keywords first. Then, evaluate each keyword metric, analyse competitors, and use keyword research tools for keyword ideas.
In this comprehensive guide, we will discuss why keyword research is important. We will also go through the keyword research processes for beginners.
Understanding Keywords in SEO
Think about something you are searching for on the internet. For example, “best SEO agency in Brisbane.”
Now, what do you expect to see on the Google search engine results pages (SERP)? You will expect to get some SEO agencies. Here, you found the SEO agencies because you searched for them, right?
“Best SEO agency in Brisbane” is the keyword you actually searched for here.
In search engine optimisation (SEO), keywords are the phrases and terms that you use to search for something particular on the internet. When someone types a question or phrase into Google, the words they use are called keywords.
Including the relevant keywords in the content increases the likelihood that your website or content will appear when users search for those particular terms. See, every day, Google processes 3.5 billion searches. Among them, 96.55% of content gets no traffic from Google.
This is because the topics have no search demands for the keywords they rank. So, it is important to get the most relevant keywords through proper keyword research.
Types of Keywords
Keywords can be broken down into various types, each serving a different purpose. Let’s look at some of the main categories and how they work.
- Primary Keywords
The primary keyword is the main term or phrase you want your webpage to rank for on the search engine result page. For example, if you want to write about organic skincare, “organic skincare” will be your primary keyword. Primary keywords generally comprise one or two words.
- Secondary Keywords
These are closely related to your primary keywords. If you think about primary keywords vs. secondary keywords, secondary keywords add depth to the context of the content. For example, the primary keyword “organic skincare” can include “chemical-free skincare” or “natural beauty products” as secondary keywords.
- Long-Tail Keywords
These are specific phrases that often contain three or more words. For example, “best organic skincare products for sensitive skin.” Long-tail keywords have lower search volumes, which is 3.3%. However, they attract a more targeted audience and often have less competition.
- LSI Keywords
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords are conceptually related to the primary keywords. These help search engines, particularly Google, to understand the broader context of your content.
Suppose “coffee bean” is your primary keyword. LSI keywords might include “coffee roasting” or “Arabica beans” to expand the concept of your primary keyword.
Importance of Keyword Research in SEO
As we mentioned earlier, most of the keywords get 10 or fewer monthly searches. So, it is much more crucial to find the most suitable keywords to rank your keywords in the SERP with proper keyword research.
Here’s why it’s so critical:
Helps in Understanding Competitor Tactics
Effective keyword research lays the groundwork for a successful SEO strategy. When done well, it helps you
- understand your audience,
- identify competitive opportunities, and
- create content that resonates with what people are searching for.
Analysing the keywords your competitors rank for can uncover content gaps. It will also offer opportunities where you can offer something unique or improved.
Guides Content Creation
Keyword research informs your content strategy by identifying topics that create interest in your audience. For example, you run a travel blog. So, researching keywords like “budget travel tips” or “best destinations in Australia” allows you to cater directly to readers’ wants.
Boosts Organic Traffic
Optimising content around relevant keywords increases the chances of ranking high on Google. This brings in free, targeted visitors through organic search. Even the number 1 page can rank for the top 10 ranked content for other 1000 relevant keywords.
Improves On-Page Optimisation
Proper keyword research techniques enhance the on-page SEO. It does so by guiding the proper placement of the keywords. They include the places like titles, headers, image tags, meta descriptions, etc.,
These help search engines understand and index your content better.
Steps in the Keyword Research Process to Find Keywords
Creating an effective keyword research process involves different aspects and steps. It is crucial for you to understand the process, particularly if you are a beginner SEO keyword researcher.
Step 1: Brainstorm Your Keyword Seeds
Seed keywords are the core idea of your niche that will give you multiple keyword ideas. Start by brainstorming keywords related to your product, service, or content area. Think about what terms you would use to search for similar products or topics.
If you already have a business or product to sell, finding the keyword seeds is easy.
For example, if your niche or seed is “smartphone,” you can have a vast of keyword ideas like-
- Best smartphone 2024
- Folding smartphones
- The cheapest smartphone in the market
Well, seeds are not necessarily the main keywords. With seeds, you will get hundreds and thousands of keywords you want to rank.
Step 2: Check Your Competitors’ Ranked Keywords
After you seed your niche’s keywords, it is time to check your competitors’ sites’ keywords. Search with your seed keywords, and check what keywords the websites are ranked for.
You will see some websites that resemble your website’s niche, and some will not. If no website appears that resembles your website, you then need to change the seed keywords slightly and move on.
For example, if your product or niche is the bicycle, you can use keyword research tools, like Semrush, to check the keyword traffic, volume, and who your competitors are.
Now, you can check the competitors for which keywords they rank most with Semrush’s “Organic Research” tool.
When you repeat the process for some other competitors, you will be able to make a sizable keyword list to start with.
Step 3: Analyse the Keyword Gap of Your Competitors
Keyword gap analysis helps you find the keyword that your competitors ranked for, but you haven’t. The keyword gap analysis is an effective way to find out what keywords you are missing.
You can use the Semrush Keyword Gap feature to find out the keyword gap. Simply put your website URL and your competitors’ ones. Then click on Compare, then go to the keyword table.
In the keyword table, you will see a tab called “Missing.” When you click on the “Missing” tab, you will see the keywords your competitors ranked for, but you don’t.
So, from those keywords, you can pick relevant ones and try them.
Step 4: Expanding Keywords with Tools
You can use SEO keyword research tools to get hundreds to thousands of keywords in your niche. Tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and Google Keyword Planner are some of the most popular and trusted tools to use for keyword research.
Finding keywords for SEO with these tools is easy.
For example, if your seed keyword is clothing, you can put it on Google’s Keyword Planner and get results like the following:
Also, you can use Semrush Keyword Magic Tool to get keyword ideas on your niche.
You can use any top keyword research tools to research your desired and effective keywords. Here are some of the top keyword research tools you can use.
- Google Keyword Planner: This is a free keyword research tool. You will get a quick idea and insight into the keywords of your niche with this tool.
- Semrush: Semrush is paid but one of the top keyword research tools. It offers features for competitive keyword analysis. It shows what keywords are working for your competitors. You can also track SERP rankings and other important metrics.
- Ahrefs: Known for its detailed keyword metrics. Ahrefs includes search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitor analysis tools. These make it a favourite among SEO professionals.
- Ubersuggest: Great for SEO beginners, Ubersuggest is budget-friendly and offers easy-to-understand data on keywords. It includes search trends and seasonal interest.
Step 5: Check the Search Suggestions in the Search Engine
If you are determined with your service or products, you can get basic keyword ideas from the auto-complete of Google’s search bar. When you start typing in the search bar, Google or other search engines suggest relevant keywords with prediction.
So, when you start with your niche, you will get a clear idea of what popular keywords are in your niche.
For example, suppose your niche is “natural skin care.” Here, we have typed natural skin, and Google shows us some relevant keywords to complete the keyword suggestions you can pick from.
Aside from Google’s autocomplete, you also can take keyword ideas from the “People also search for” section.
For example, here we have searched for natural skincare, and the “People also search for” section shows the following keyword suggestions.
You will also find the relevant questions in the “People also ask” section.
Step 6: Study Your Niche Well
With the above-mentioned steps, you will be able to generate numerous keyword ideas for your niche. But this will keep you only in the box of theory.
However, you can make it more relevant by checking forums and communities where your target audience talks about your niche.
Think you are a fast food business owner. So, you can look for which fast food is popular among the general public.
For example, we have the following Reddit thread where someone is asking about which fast food people like.
Someone answered “Chicken Bacon and Swiss sandwich”, and 1.5k people upvoted it. This means a lot of people also like these, so you will get a new recipe and keyword idea that you can implement and make ad copies of.
How to Choose the Keywords From the Keyword List with Proper SEO Metrics
After getting a sizable keyword list, you don’t need to target all keywords to rank. You have to consider some facts to choose which keywords you should go for.
#1 Consider Search Volume
Search volume means how often a keyword is searched monthly. A higher search volume indicates a higher interest in the audience. But you also need to be assured that the keyword aligns with your particular audience’s intent.
In the following figure, the search volume for “best SEO agency” in Australia is 260 monthly, where the global volume is 9.3k.
Okay, now let’s make the thing clear.
- Search volume doesn’t mean how many people search for the keyword. It’s the number of times the keyword is searched in the search engine. For example, suppose you searched for the keyword “best SEO service provider in Brisbane” 3 times in a month. So, these 3 will be counted 3 times in the search volume.
- If you rank for the high-volume keyword, that doesn’t mean it will redirect all the visitors who searched for the keyword. According to Ahrefs, the traffic of the keyword can reach up to 30% of its search volume. And yes, it is a very good amount.
- The search volume of the keyword is determined annually. For example, if a keyword gets a 12k search volume in January and gets no search the rest of the year, it will be considered as a monthly 1k search volume.
So, how will you pick your best matches?
- You can sort out the keywords region-based.
- Don’t go for high-volume keywords. It will be very difficult to rank if your website is new.
- You can go for some low-volume keywords for long-term purposes. Long-term keywords that are relevant to your niche would be useful. You can bring a few visitors to each piece of content with such keywords. But, if you publish a few hundred articles, the number of visitors will be large, with a high chance of conversion.
#2 Consider General and Personal Keyword Difficulty (KD and PKD)
Keyword difficulty (KD) indicates how a keyword would be to be ranked on the SERP. KD varies across tools and generally ranges from 0 to 100. The lower the number, the easier the keyword is to rank. For example, tools like Ahres and Semrush indicate that KD 0-20 is relatively low and easy to rank. But indicating 70+ is fierce competition.
The KD for the keyword “best SEO agency” shows 49, which indicates that it is hard to rank for this keyword.
However, keyword difficulty depends on several factors. They include
- Domain authority
- Search intent
- SERP feature
Aside from overall KD, personal keyword difficulty (PKD%) defines how difficult particular keywords are to rank for your website. PKD also depends on several factors, such as
- Google search ranking position of your website
- Subjective relevance of your website with the keyword, etc.
For example,
- The KD for the keyword “natural skincare” is 73%.
- But, when we search for the PKD of the same keyword for Semrush.com, the PKD for the keyword of Semrush is 95%. This is because the keyword is entirely irrelevant to Semrush’s domain.
- On the other hand, the same keyword’s PKD decreased to 0% for 100percentpure.com. Because it is a natural skincare-related domain, and it has entirely relevant topical authority to the keyword. So, this website can easily be ranked for this keyword.
So, when you pick a keyword, you should check the keyword’s relevance to your website to have a low PKD %. The lower the PKD %, the higher the chance of getting ranked for the keyword on SERP.
#3 Keep Search Trend in Mind
Trends in keyword research are crucial to consider. Search trends show how a keyword’s popularity changes over time. From this metric, you will understand whether a keyword’s popularity grows or decreases over time. So you can make a decision about the particular keyword and whether it will serve your purpose in ranking your webpage.
Google Trends will give you insight into keyword trends. Here, the trend for the keyword “YouTube” shows a constant trend on SERP.
#4 Assess the Cost Per Click (CPC)
Cost per click (CPC) refers to how much advertisers pay for their ads for each click on a particular keyword. Though CPC is used for paid advertisement, it is valuable for SEO.
A high CPC for a particular keyword indicates that advertisers pay a high rate for this keyword. That means the keyword is very popular and has a higher conversion potential.
The CPC for “project management software” is $16.43, which is pretty high and has a higher potential to rank. This is because this is a product-based keyword, and the targeted audience looks to purchase the software. So, you can go for this keyword if you are in the software development business.
But, if you check the CPC of the software programming language, it has a lower CPC. This is because this is not a product-based keyword. Rather, it is a pure informational keyword.
So, this keyword’s audience base is mostly people looking for information or knowledge about programming languages. However, keep in mind that CPC changes over time.
#5 Don’t Avoid SERP Features
The SERP feature is a special element of the SERP. It shows organic content listing in addition to other organic search results.
You should consider the SERP features when choosing your keywords. Because SERP features impact the visibility of keywords by
- answering the summarised topic,
- showing local pack,
- people also ask for boxes and
- Knowledge panel.
So, when you put a keyword in the search bar, see which SERP features are triggered by this particular keyword.
Think about the features that are triggered and relevant to your niche that you can offer to your audience. So, if the triggered SERP features align with your target keywords, you can use these keywords for content on your website.
#6 Prioritise User Intent
Think about your audience. Why do they search with keywords? They obviously have a search intent, right?
So, the first and foremost thing about keyword research is to understand the search intent of the keyword.
Here is an example. When people search for the keyword “best carpet cleaner in Australia,” it clearly indicates that they are searching for particular products.
So, you will see that the top-ranking articles on SERP are all product pages.
On the other hand, if you search for “history of bicycle,” you will see that all the top-ranked articles are info-based. Because the keyword doesn’t indicate any products. Rather, People who search with this keyword want to know the history of bicycles. They don’t want to purchase any products.
So, you have different user intent to look for. As per Semrush, they are divided into 4 categories.
- Navigational: Users search for specific pages to go to.
- Informational: The audience usually searches for general information on a particular topic. For example, “Can my Cockatiel eat apples?”
- Commercial: Audiences search for suggestions before purchasing their required products or services.
- Transactional: The audience searches for a specific product.
From Where Should You Start with Keywords?
Keyword research depends on many things. There is no plug-and-play system in keyword research.
Because it is a fact of balancing the circumstances, you have to keep in mind that the keyword trends may change over time.
So, you need to keep the business potential and PKD, region, etc., in mind.
Then, based on the circumstances of your website, you have to focus on the most important metric.
However, don’t focus only on one type of keyword. Since people search with versatile keyword types, you should work on short, medium, and long; all keywords.
Final Words
Keyword research in SEO is the most crucial factor for your website to rank. Because if you post high-quality content, but people don’t search for it, there is no value in the content. So, you need suitable keywords that align with your website goals. This can be brought to you through proper keyword research. For effective and high-converting keywords, you can rely on SEO 4Business Group in Brisbane. We have been providing SEO services across Brisbane for years, including keyword research. We ensure the keywords we finalise for your website will rank and serve the user’s intent. Ultimately, the keywords will help you to get more organic traffic with a higher conversion rate.
