Google is continuously evolving. Therefore, company owners must keep current. Keyword research is an essential part of building your business online.

In this post, we’ll go over why keyword research is essential, how to use it in your SEO strategy, and how to choose the ideal terms for your website.

What Are Keywords?

In search engine marketing, keywords are words or phrases you want to appear when consumers search on Google or other search engines. Using the appropriate keywords might help drive more traffic to your website or store.

There are two significant sorts of keywords:

  • SEO keywords: You target these keywords through search engine optimization (SEO). You want to appear in the organic (unpaid) search results.
  • PPC keywords: These are the search terms you target through pay-per-click (PPC) search campaigns. You want to appear in the sponsored (paid) search results.

For example, suppose you run a jewelry company specializing in creating personalized engagement rings. Your keywords may include “custom engagement rings” since you want to be at the top of search results when customers browse for these goods.

What Are the Different Types of Keywords?

Keywords can be grouped into four main categories based on the type of search intent—these are informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional:

  • Informational: Searchers are looking for information.
  • Navigational: Searchers are trying to find a specific website or page.
  • Commercial: Searchers are researching brands, products, or services.
  • Transactional: Searchers want to take action, such as making a purchase.

Other keyword categories in SEO include local keywords used to find nearby products/services and long-tail keywords that are very specific. 

Understanding keywords by purpose is essential since it teaches you how to compete on search engine results pages (SERPs). Knowing the intent behind a keyword may help you determine if someone wants to buy, evaluate choices, or simply get information.

What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is similar to being a detective on the internet. It is about discovering and researching the words or phrases users enter into search engines like Google. This investigative work assists firms in determining what their clients search for online.

Why Is Keyword Research So Important?

Suppose you have a secret recipe for the finest chocolate cake ever. If you don’t tell anyone about it, nobody will know to ask for it. However, using the appropriate keywords may ensure that your recipe appears when people search for “delicious chocolate cake recipes.”

Knowing the appropriate keywords might help you drive more traffic to your website. It’s like posting a giant billboard saying, “Hey, come check out this awesome chocolate cake recipe!”

By performing keyword research, you may discover what your clients are looking for and develop content that meets their demands. This might help you expand your business by attracting new visitors and consumers.

Some of the benefits of doing keyword research include:

  • Understanding what’s popular in marketing
  • Growing your website traffic
  • Getting more customers

Elements of Keyword Research

When you’re searching for keywords to help your business grow, there are three crucial things to keep in mind:

Relevance

Make sure your content matches what people are searching for. Google wants to provide the best answers to people’s questions, so if your content isn’t a good match, it won’t rank as high.

Authority

Google likes to show content from sources it trusts. You can build trust by creating helpful content and getting others to share and link. If significant, trusted sites already rank high for a keyword, but your content might be challenging to rank unless it’s unique.

Volume

Even if you rank high for a keyword, it will only help a little, if not many, people search for it. It’s like having a store in a town with no residents. Keyword volume is how many times a keyword is searched for each month. If a keyword has a high monthly search volume, it means lots of people are searching for it.

How to Research Keywords for Your SEO Strategy

  • Think about important things related to your business.
  • Write down words that describe those things.
  • Learn how different reasons affect the words people search for and study them.
  • Look for words that are connected to what people search for.

Use Keyword Research Tools To Your Advantage

Keyword research and SEO tools can help you develop more keyword ideas. These tools can match exact and phrase keywords based on the ideas you’ve already generated. Here are some popular ones:

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer provides excellent SEO reports and keyword research. The webmaster tools offer detailed insights into any verified domains you own, giving you an overview of backlinks and organic keywords.

SE Ranking

While more user-friendly than some other options, SE Ranking offers valuable features. Upon entering a keyword like “keyword research,” you’ll be prompted to set up a free 7-day trial and specify the domain you want to track. Although the keyword research and suggestion tools may require some digging, the resulting data is comprehensive and offers many great ideas.

SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool

SEMrush, a comprehensive SEO company, offers a thorough keyword magic tool. Setting up an account is required but free. Once set up, you can enter your keyword, receive a list of similar keywords, and sort them based on your specific needs.

How to Find and Choose Keywords for Your Website

Once you know the keywords you want to use, it’s time to pick the best ones for your plan. Here’s how:

Step 1: Use Google Keyword Planner To Shorten Your List.

Google Keyword Planner shows how often people search for keywords. Use it to find the best keywords for you. Then, use Google Trends to learn more.

Use Keyword Planner to mark keywords with too few or too many searches. Check their trend history and future in Google Trends. Some low-search keywords might be good to use now and get more popular later.

If your list is too long, Google Trends can help you choose which keywords are becoming more popular and should get more attention.

Step 2. Prioritize Low-Hanging Fruit.

When you prioritize low-hanging fruit, you focus on keywords that are easier to rank based on your website’s strength. Big companies usually target popular keywords because they’re already well-known, so Google sees them as experts.

You can also look for keywords with less competition. If a few articles compete for a keyword, you might rank higher by default because no one else is trying to rank for it.

Step 3. Check The Monthly Search Volume (Msv) For the Keywords You’ve Chosen.

If you want more people to find your business, write about things people are interested in. MSV, which stands for Monthly Search Volume, can help you with this. It shows how often people look for a specific word or phrase each month on search engines like Google.

You can use tools like searchvolume.io or Google Trends to find the most popular words and phrases related to what you want to write about, and you can use them for free.

Step 4. Factor In Serp Features As You Choose Keywords.

If you use the right words, Google shows particular information called ‘SERP feature snippets.’ Search for your words and look at the first result to see them. Here are some types of SERP-featured snippets.

  • Image Packs
  • Paragraph Snippets
  • List Snippets
  • Video Snippets

Step 5. Check For A Mix Of Head Terms And Long-Tail Keywords In Each Bucket.

Head terms are short and simple words, usually one to three words long. Long-tail keywords are longer, with three or more words. It’s good to use both types of keywords. This helps you have a balanced plan for finding the right words. Some words help you quickly, while others help you in the long run.

Step 6. See How Competitors Are Ranking For These Keywords.

It’s important to remember that you don’t have to do everything just because your competitors are doing it. This applies to keywords, too. Just because a keyword is crucial for your competitor doesn’t mean it’s vital for you.

However, knowing which keywords your competitors are trying to rank for can be helpful. This information can prompt you to reevaluate your list of keywords. If your competitor is ranking well for specific keywords on your list, it might be worth putting in extra effort to improve your ranking for those keywords, too.

Best Keywords for SEO

Remember, there are no ‘best’ keywords; they are just ones many searches for. Your goal is to create a plan to make your website appear when people search online.

To pick the right keywords, consider their relevance to our business, how many people search for them, and how hard it is to compete with other websites. You want to use keywords that many people search for but not so many that it’s hard to compete with other websites.

Bottom Line

Using the right keywords can help your business grow quickly and over time. It’s important to review these keywords every few months to ensure they’re still working well. 

As your business becomes more popular online, you can add more keywords. Companies like Integrated IT Solutions can help you find the best keywords and improve your website.