How To

How To Do Keyword Research For SEO

Keyword research is one of the most essential tasks for search engine optimization (SEO). Without performing keyword research, your website will likely not rank very high on search engine results pages (SERPs) on sites like Google and Bing. While conducting this research can be challenging, this post will provide you with several techniques and strategies you can use to do keyword research for your SEO purposes.

What Are Keywords?

Keywords are terms and phrases that internet users type into search engines. For example, if you were looking to purchase running shoes, you might search Google for “blue men’s running shoes.” Even though this phrase is more than one word, it is still a keyword. 

“Blue men’s running shoes” is an example of what is known as a long-tail keyword. Long-tail keywords are phrases that are typically 4-6 words long. It is good to target long-tail keywords for SEO because there is less competition for these phrases, and people who search them are usually closer to the point of purchase. 

Why Are Keywords Important For SEO?

SEO is the process of improving a website to rank higher on search engine results pages, and enhancing the quality and quantity of traffic to a website. Keywords play an important role in this process. 

Keywords are vital to the SEO process because, to drive traffic to your website, you must have well-chosen keywords in your content that people are searching for. To find these keywords, you will have to conduct keyword research.

How To Begin Keyword Research For SEO

• Compile a list of words and phrases that are relevant to your website: These are the keywords that you will want to target. You may have to alter some of the keywords based on factors like keyword difficulty, but it is still good to start with a master list to work from.

• Perform a competitor keyword analysis: Check to see if you are missing any potential keywords that your closest competitors are ranking with. Tools like Spyfu and SEMrush are great for this research. 

Tools For SEO Keyword Research

Once you have finished the initial phases of keyword research, use online tools that are designed to help with this process. There are some SEO keyword research tools available, and a few of the best will be covered below. 

Ahrefs Keyword Explorer

Ahrefs Keyword Explorer is an excellent tool for conducting keyword research. This tool has many helpful features. Here are just a few:

• Keyword Explorer provides thousands of keyword suggestions.
• This tool operates on 10 different search engines.
• Keyword Explorer provides users with a “keyword difficulty” score. This will tell you how difficult it will be to rank for a particular keyword.
• In addition to keyword research, Ahrefs provides other advanced SEO metrics as well.

Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner has typically used for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns, but it is still useful for SEO keyword research. 

What makes this tool so valuable is that the data comes directly from Google. As of 2021, there are nearly 3.5 billion searches conducted on Google every day, so having keyword data provided straight from this search engine is invaluable. 

Here are some of the benefits of using Google Keyword Planner:

• Discover new keywords
• Organize keywords
• View monthly search statistics

Wordstream’s Keyword Tool

This is another great tool for SEO keyword research. To use this service, all you have to do is enter a keyword and then choose your industry and country. Wordstream will then provide you with a list of related keyword suggestions, including long-tail keywords. 

Perhaps the best thing about Wordstream’s Keyword Tool is that it is free, unlike some other tools. 

Moz Keyword Explorer

Moz Keyword Explorer is one of the most comprehensive keyword research tools available. To begin using this tool, enter a URL or keyword into the search bar. Moz will then analyze your entry and provide you with data.

Listed below are just some of the things you can do with Moz Keyword Explorer to aid your keyword research:

• Analyze keywords by search volume
• Find keywords in question format
• Review search engine result page (SERP) details by keyword
• Check keyword difficulty
• Perform competitor keyword analysis

Keyword Magic Tool From SEMrush

This is one of the most commonly used keyword research tools, and it is relatively easy to use. With the Keyword Magic Tool, you can review metrics like search volume, keyword difficulty and view special SERP features. Here is how to get started.

1. Enter a keyword in the search bar
2. Set match modifiers
3. Select any additional filters
4. Explore keyword groups and subgroups
5. Review any related keywords you might want to use for your SEO campaign

Soovle

Soovle is a great tool to conduct keyword research for SEO. This tool provides information from over 15 different search engines, making it great for SEO. What makes this service unique is that it does not just analyze search engines. It also analyzes sites like Wikipedia and YouTube to provide you with keyword suggestions. Here some other benefits of using Soovle:

• It is easy to use. Simply enter a keyword and it will provide you with suggestions,
• Soovle gives users keyword tips.
• This service integrates well with other SEO tools
• Soovle provides data from over 150 websites
• Customization options are available
• Soovle is free to use

Jaaxy

Jaaxy claims to be the world’s most advanced keyword research tool, and it may just be that. Jaaxy offers both paid and free services. Listed below are some of the things you can do with this tool:

• Perform competitor keyword research
• Review data from major search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
• Save, store and export all of your keyword research. 

Once you’ve completed keyword research for SEO, you can start using keywords! For the best results, follow SEO best practices for keyword insertion, like using your target keyword (naturally!) in your title tag, meta description, headings, and more.

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