Keywords are an essential component of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). You cannot leave out keywords in your SEO strategy if you want to achieve meaningful results. As a result, knowing how to research viable keywords for your SEO strategy will be a boost for your strategy.
What Is Keyword Research?
Keyword research involves all the processes involved in finding, analyzing, and gathering the actual word strings, phrases, or search terms that people put into the search boxes of search engines to find what they are looking for.
Harvesting the actual search terms of your prospective customers will enable you to craft a surefire content strategy to power your marketing campaign for the best results possible.
The Importance of Keyword Research
Remember that keyword research is the first step in creating an effective, result-oriented SEO strategy. Check below for the importance of keyword research.
- Keyword research helps to detect the user intent of the visitors. Knowing the intent of the users will allow you to prepare content that will meet their needs.
- It serves as a guide to creating a failproof content marketing strategy.
- It reveals the number of people looking for a particular topic or solution through the search volume index.
- It helps to determine the results of your SEO strategy.
How to Research Keywords for Your SEO Strategy
Researching keywords requires a clear plan. Follow the tips below to research keywords correctly.
- List all Relevant Topics About Your Niche, Business, or Industry
Think and write all the topics you wish to rank for about your business. List the relevant topics. You may spy your competitors’ posts for ideas.
- Write Likely Terms Customers Use
The next step is to write out the likely terms, phrases, or words that customers will use when looking for your business on the internet. Think from the customers’ perspective.
- Research the Terms
Researching keyword can be done manually or by using an application specially designed for the purpose.
- Manual Keyword Research
To carry out keyword research for similar search terms for the keywords you wrote in step 1 and 2, go to www.google.com and input the keywords one by one. After inputting the first search term, Google will give you similar or related keywords that users enter in the search engine to look for the words you entered. Write the keywords suggestions down and repeat the process for all the search terms in your list.
- Google AdWords Keywords Planner
This is a more effective and fast way to research keywords for your SEO strategy. The Google AdWords Keywords Planner will provide you with as much as keywords for your niche. Log in to Google AdWords and go to the Keyword Planner. Type in your search word(s) and select the filters appropriately, and wait for the application to present the result of the search.
In the results submitted by Google, you can view different information about each keyword like the search volume, which is crucial to creating a marketing strategy.
Although there is sophisticated premium keyword research software on the market, the guide and tips above will equally give you a great clue and direction.