mitrobeThe definite guide to carry out keyword research for SEO in 2020 is in this comprehensive guide, this guide will cover the following sub-headings:
- How to find quality keywords
- How to choose the right keywords
- How to run a keyword without using paid tools
- How to use keyword research tools
- Pro keyword research tips and tricks and
- Lots more
After reading this guide, you will be able to run keyword research for SEO, that will get you more organic traffic, more visibility on SERPs (search engine result pages), and get you more Google ranking.
So let get started.
What is Keyword Research for SEO?
Keyword research for SEO is the process of discovering words and phrases that people use in search engines with the mindset of getting relevant content to their needs.
So, what you want to do is to research for those high search trending keywords that people are frequently inputting in the search engine, then you go ahead to write and publish a quality article on that topic focusing on that keyword.
So at the end, your post will rank high and get more relevance on that keyword when it been searched on Google or other search engines.
Why is keyword research a basic for SEO?
Keyword research covers every other SEO task that you perform from Onpage to Offpage SEO, including finding content, topics, blogging outreach, and promotion, why keyword research is usually the first step of any SEO project.
Why do I need to conduct keyword research for SEO?
The primary reason why you need to run keyword research is for you to discover what website users are searching for, so in the end, you don’t go-ahead to write a blog post that is not relevant.
How to find keywords ideas
After fully known what keyword research for SEO is, it is time to run keyword research, and firstly you will have to generate a list of top quality keywords ideas.
In this phase, I will show you the proven strategies that you can use to come up with keyword ideas for your next blog post strategically without having to purchase any paid keyword research tools.
So let start our keyword research for SEO!
Brainstorm topics for your blog post
The first approach ever to keyword research for SEO campaign is brainstorming.
Here you come up with content ideas that your audience is interested in.
For an example
let’s say that you run a make money online blog.
Well, you would want to ask yourself,
“What topics do people search for that are related to my blog niche?.”
Some topics that come to mind would be things like
- How to make money online without investment
- How to stay at home mom can make money online
- How to work from home for free
- Best online passive income ideas
- How to make money online as a newbie
- List of online paid survey
- How to make money online with zero capital
- And lots more
Note:
These topics aren’t keywords. They are broad topics that you will ultimately use to drill down to specific keywords.
So, having these topics in mind, what you want to do next is to run keyword research for SEO to find the specific and related keywords for your brainstormed topic.
And here is how to do it manually, without the use of any paid keyword research tool.
Keyword Research for SEO Processes
1. Use Google and Youtube to search for a keyword.
Now that you have a list of brainstormed topics, types each one of them into Google, just like in the picture below and you will see a lot of great keywords ideas to add to your list.
These keywords are of quality because Google suggests them, and if Google suggests them, that means a lot of people are searching for it.
Alternatively, you can also find keywords suggestion with Youtube Suggest.
2. Use searches related, to find keyword
Another cool way to find keywords manually is to check out the searches related to the section at the bottom of Google’s search result.
For example, let’s say one of your topics was how to work from home.
Well, you would want to search for that keyword in Google and scroll down to the bottom of the page.
You will find a list of keywords that are closely related to your search term.
Just like Google suggest, these are keywords ideas that come straight from Google. So you don’t need to doubt whether or not they are popular.
Of course, they are popular. Google is literally telling you that tons of people are searching for these keywords.
3. Use Reddit to find keywords
Reddit platform is also a great place to find keyword ideas. Chances are your target audience hangs out on Reddit. Which means, with a little stalking, you can discover fistfuls of hot topics with ease?
Here is how:
- Let’s assume that you run a site that sells dog food.
- You have heard over to Reddit. Then search for a broad topic that your target audience is interested in. And something related to what you offer
- Then choose a subreddit where your audience probably hangs out.
- Finally, keep an eye out for threads that have lots of comments and drop yours linking back to your site.
4. Use forums to find popular keywords ideas
Forums are also a better way of finding keywords ideas when running keyword research for SEO. The easiest way to see forums where your target audience hangs out is to use these search strings in Google
- keyword forum
- keyword plus forum
- keyword plus forums
- keywords plus boards
Once you find a forum, note how the forum is divided up into sections. Each of these sections is potential keywords that you can target.
To dig deeper, check out some of the threads on the forum to find other specific topics that your target audience struggles with.
Keyword research for SEO with Tools
This phase is all about tools that can help you find keywords ideas. But, a SEO keyword research tool makes the entire process a lot easier.
There are a lot of keyword research tools available, while some are paid and others are free.
1. keyword everywhere
Keyword everywhere is a popular keyword research tool that many SEO experts love to use.
Why? Because it shows you keyword ideas from different places around the web (including Youtube, bing, and Google).
All you need to do is install the chrome extension. And the next time you visit one of the sites that keywords everywhere integrates with, you will see a list of keywords ideas and data on each keyword. It was a free tool, but recently they turn out to be paid tools.
2 . Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is now the most popularly used keyword research tool after keyword everywhere became a paid tool.
Ubersuggest generates keyword ideas from Google’s search suggestions.
But, it also gives you data on each keyword (like volume, cost per click (CPC), keyword difficulty, spy on your competitors, content ideas, and more).
3. Semrush
This is a paid keyword research tool. Instead of popping random keywords into a tool. Semrush shows you the exact keywords that a site already ranks for.
So if you have a website that you are competing against in google, just pop it into semrush and steal all of their keywords.
4. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is also a paid keyword research tool. What is nice about Ahrefs is that you get a ton of valuable data on each keyword, which can help you decide whether or not, it is a keyword that is what going after.
It will also show you the site that ranks for a specific keyword and the number of backlinks it has. Ahrefs has been the best of all time.
So if you want to invest in a paid keyword tools, I will recommend Ahrefs, though it comes with a 7 day free trial cost $7.
Choosing the Right Keyword for SEO
The bitter truth is, you cannot rank for all keywords; in fact, some keywords are impossible to rank for.
So, how do you know if a keyword is too competitive to rank for?
This is the kind of question you should be asking yourself when running keyword research for SEO.
Because if you choose a super competitive keyword, you can find your site buried at the bottom of Google’s fourth page.
But if you can find a less competitive keyword that has low competition, then you have good chances of racing the top 3 on Google’s first page.
So let look into how you can determine a keyword that worth ranking for.
How to find the right keyword to rank for on Google
1. Longtails are usually less competitive.
As a beginner blogger or you want to focus on keywords that are 100% less competitive, then you really want to target longtail keywords.
What is longtail keywords?
Famous SEO experts divide keywords into three main categories.
- Head
- Body
- Long-tail
Head: these are usually single-word keywords with millions of monthly search volume and competition.
Examples of head terms are keywords like insurance, business. Because searcher intent is all over the place. Head keywords don’t usually convert well.
Body: body keywords are of 2-3 phrases that get a decent search volume of at least 2k monthly search volume but are more specific than head keywords.
Examples of body keywords are like life insurance, online business. These almost always have less competition than head keywords.
Longtail: longtail keywords are long often 4+ word phrases that are usually very specific.
Example: Some examples of Longtail keywords are:
- Best life insurance,
- Best online business.
- How to make money online
- How to make money on Fiverr.
- How to do mini importation
- How to make money online for free
The downside is that these keywords don’t get a lot of monthly search volume when you add them together.
Longtails make up the majority of searches online. And because you don’t get searches for that much, longtail keywords usually aren’t very competitive.
So, you would want to target longtail keywords, since there are less competitive.
Advanced tips:
First search for your keyword in Google. Then, look at the sites ranking on the first page (not individual pages) if the first page is made up of authority sites (like Wikipedia, wiki how, Forbes, CNN, BBC). Then you might want to remove that keyword from your list.
But, if you see a handful of smaller blogs on page 1, that’s a sign that you have to make your shot. There are a lot of chances you, too, could hit the first page.
How to choose a keyword for SEO
Now that you have a list of keyword ideas in your listing, how do you know the right one to pick? Unfortunately, there are no tools out there that will tell you this is the right keyword to rank for among all the keyword in your list.
So, the task is up to you to size up each keyword based on a handful of different factors. Then pick the keywords that’s the best for you.
Here are the factors to consider
1. The search volume
This is the number of times a keyword has been queried into search engines. It’s pretty straight forward.
The more people search for a keyword, the more traffic you can get from it. So, you would want to go for keywords that have more search terms.
2. CTR
It has to do with the probability of searchers clicking on a particular keyword when it appeared in search.
It is no secret that the number of Google searches that click on an organic search result is way down.
Why? It is because the featured snippet makes it, so you don’t need to click on anything to get an answer.
Plus, Google now packs the search results with more ads than ever before. So this reveals that search volumes only gives part of the story.
To get a full estimate of how many clicks you will get from a first page Google ranking, you also need to estimate organic ctr.
Here is a simple way to do it.
You can look at the SERPs for your keyword. If you see a lot of stuff on the first page like a featured snippet and multiple Google AdWords ads,
then you know that you are not going to get tons of clicks even if you rank 1 for that particular keyword.
3. CPC
CPC is a single metric that reveals the quality of the audience searching for a particular keyword. A low CPC signifies that a person searching for that keyword is broke, and a high CPC means the opposite.
Plus, you can sometimes get a high RIO that doesn’t get many searches if the CPC is high enough.
4. Keywords trends
Finally, you want to see if your keyword is growing fast or dying slow, and the best way to do that is by using Google Trends. This tool will show you the time frame popularity of a keyword.
mitrobe
OFONIMEH JOHNSON
Mitrobe Staff