Keyword Research: An In-Depth Guide for Beginners

Search engine optimization cannot be expected to achieve repeatable and long-term visibility without keyword research.

Compared to the early days of the industry, SEO is now a much larger discipline that is divided into numerous sectors.

But at its core, SEO is about identifying online opportunities and bringing targeted visitors to a website by appearing in search results. The cornerstone of an SEO strategy is keyword research.

This guide covers what keyword research is, why it’s crucial, and how to get started with a fruitful SEO campaign.

What Is Keyword Research?

Finding words, queries, and phrases that people are searching for—i.e., a keyword with search volume—is the process of conducting keyword research.

In order for the user to find the best page to answer their query or fulfill their search intent, it is necessary to research the relevance of keywords to a website and its individual pages.

Organizing search queries into the many user journey phases and search categories, such as transactional, navigational, and informational, is another aspect of keyword research.

Using effective keyword research, people can find what they need:

Customers looking to purchase anything can locate the appropriate product page.
A page that thoroughly explains a process can be found by a user who wants to know “how to.”
Users who are interested in learning more about a person or brand can do so.

When conducting keyword research, one should carefully examine whether or not achieving high rankings and receiving traffic from a particular keyword is worthwhile. The volume of traffic varies.

Why Keyword Research Is Important For SEO?

A search engine is a system for finding information that is relevant to a user’s search query by using the queries the user enters.

Google’s main goal is to match users with the finest website pages and answers to their queries to satisfy them. This emphasizes the importance of SEO.

The basis for a company’s ability to interact with its audience and potential consumers is solid keyword research. Knowing this makes it easier to comprehend an effective SEO approach.

By first taking into account your audience’s needs and then the phrases, keywords, or queries they use to locate solutions, keyword research helps you better comprehend your target audience.

Additionally, keyword research is crucial for SEO since it can help you identify chances by letting you know what terms your target audience is looking for.

This will assist you in identifying new business opportunities and prioritizing where to direct your attention and resources.

You can determine where you can expect a return on investment to justify your efforts by doing keyword research as well:

Can a keyword provide targeted traffic with the potential to convert to an end goal?
How much is the estimated volume of that traffic worth to your company for each visitor?

In essence, keyword research is the best tool for conducting business research.

Keyword Research Basics

Monthly Search Volume

Monthly Search Volume (MSV) is a well-known metric for assessing the value of keywords. It’s a decent starting point to consider if people are searching for that keyword, but it shouldn’t be the sole or primary metric of value.

Even if a keyword has a high MSV, it may not be the greatest option for you to rank for.

‘Browsing’ traffic at the top of the funnel is typically delivered by high-volume keywords. They help with brand recognition but not with direct sales.

Because they can deliver consumers that are prepared to make a purchase, low-volume keywords can be significantly more valuable.

User Intent

When a user searches for a query, their intention is expressed in the kind of results they hope to find.

User intent is one of the most crucial aspects of keyword research, thus you will hear it discussed frequently.

User intent is significant in two ways. First, it helps you create content and web pages on your website to give users the information they want to know.

Making a page about your interests is pointless because your user only cares about their needs and problems.

If a visitor searching for “cupcake” wants a recipe for cupcakes, they will not click on your link, no matter how excellent your article is about the history of cupcakes.

As we mentioned above, Google wants to provide the best result for a query, therefore relevancy is taken into account when providing results pages. Therefore, your page may rank higher if it better matches user intent.

Relevancy

Google’s algorithm looks at other pages that users are clicking on for that query when deciding which pages to show in search results.

Google must decide whether a user who types in “cupcake” wants to know what a cupcake is, how to create one, or whether they want to buy one.

The other search results on a page of search results can provide insight into the user intent.

Every keyword you want to take into consideration should be the subject of a review of the search results page.

User intent and keyword relevance are closely related concepts. It’s important to understand the true intent behind a user’s search. This is less apparent for head keywords, whereas it is more apparent for long-tail queries.

Long-Tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are lengthier, more specific keyword phrases that visitors are more likely to use near the point of purchase or when using voice search. The majority of long-tail keywords have a lower search volume than their shorter or “head” counterparts. They are initially a bit counterintuitive, but once you learn how to use them, they can be incredibly useful.

Types Of Search Query

Four main kinds of keywords are important to comprehend since they classify the various user intentions and can be helpful when developing a keyword strategy.

Informational: Users seeking information or an answer to a question.
Navigational: Users searching for a certain brand, website, or page.
Commercial: Users looking for brands, goods, or services.
Transactional: Users who are prepared to finish a transaction or action.

Local keywords can also be mentioned as another category.

How to Do Keyword Research?

We can look at where you would start with your research and keyword strategy now that you are more familiar with the fundamentals of keyword research.

1. How to Find Keyword Ideas

There are many techniques to conduct a seed keyword brainstorm, which is the first stage of keyword research.

Your Target Audience

Every decision should be made with the needs of the audience in mind. Consider their wants, needs, and, in particular, their issues and concerns.

Start assembling your extensive list of words, concepts, and subjects related to your industry or business.

Think About Questions

Question-based keyword searches are favourable because they allow you to obtain featured excerpts and provide an opportunity to outrank your competitors for highly competitive keywords.

To determine the queries that your audience is posing, consult your sales team and study CRM data.

Consider the following question modifiers as you begin to compile your list:

What [is a road bike].
How to [ride a road bike].
When is [the best time to service a road bike].
What is [the best road bike].
Where is [road bike shop].

Current Site Queries

Google Search Console can let you know what Google feels your website is relevant for if it already has some online history. This is useful for determining whether your website is sending the proper message and for identifying opportunities.

You should give your pages greater keyword focus if Google is returning several results for searches that have nothing to do with your company’s goods or reputation.

Keep a watch out for inquiries with a position of 10 or higher, positive impressions, and relevance to your business.

By making modifications and optimizing pages for the query, you can take advantage of these possible quick-win possibilities.

Competitors’ Keywords

Because they may have previously made significant investments in research, your competitors are a veritable gold mine of knowledge.

In any case, a firm should always monitor its rivals, so keep an eye on the material they are creating and the keywords they are using.

Finding prospects that your competitors are pursuing that you may not have thought of can be made easier with the use of a keyword gap analysis.

Seed Keywords

Start with high-level ‘seed’ keywords that you can use as a springboard for subsequently opening up variations and related queries.

‘Big’ head terms like [iPhone], [trainers], [road bike], or [cupcake] are examples of seed keywords.

Consider relevant topics for each of the seed keywords:

Road bike maintenance.
Road bike training.
Road bike clothing.
Road bike lights.

Use question modifiers and purchase modifiers as well, for example:

Best [road bike].
Buy [road bike].
Price [for women’s road bike].
[road bikes for hire] near me.
Reviews [of road bikes under $1,000].

After completing this procedure, you ought to have a rough list of prospective keywords organized into categories like maintenance, attire, training, etc.

2. How to Analyze Keywords

It’s time to begin your analysis and filter your raw list by opportunity and value.

Search Volume

You can detect if people are actively looking for this term by looking at the search traffic.

You should start with keywords with a mid-range and long-tail volume to get rapid victories, and then work your way up to more competitive phrases with greater volumes.

Head keywords with extremely high search traffic, such as “iPhone,” are not the greatest ones to concentrate on because they are frequently too ambiguous and lack a clear objective.

Also, unless you already have a well-established domain with great authority, the amount of labor required to rank may be too high a barrier to entrance.

It’s not always a good idea to ignore a keyword that a tool indicates has no search volume.

If the keyword is displayed in the tool, it may be worthwhile to target it in your campaign. Before investing money in a zero-volume term, you need, however, to make sure you understand your audience and what is relevant to them.

Search Intent

It’s time to examine the intent for each keyword you want to target after you have sorted your raw lists by search volumes.

You can learn everything you need to know from the SERP, and you should constantly examine SERPs to find tips on how to create content and rank highly.

Look at the other highly ranked listing:

Are there ‘how-to’ guides indicating that the content is informative?
Do the titles contain the terms ‘buy,’ ‘best,’ or product names?
Is there a shopping carousel that displays a buying keyword?
Is there a map that says this is a local search?

After classifying each keyword type, think about which of each group’s strongest keywords to use.

Additionally, you can use a research tool that will inform you of the keyword’s category.

Topic Clusters

An advanced keyword approach that can help to increase a site’s topic authority is grouping keywords into topic clusters.

To accomplish this, you would begin by researching several keywords that support a high-volume head term.

You utilize internal linking to link pages with the same subject matter after writing pages of content that specifically target each keyword.

3. How to Choose Organic Keywords

You must determine if you have a chance of ranking on a phrase by examining the level of competition for each keyword after classifying the volumes, intent, and themes.

Keyword Difficulty

One of the most crucial keyword parameters when conducting research is keyword difficulty.

When ranking for a keyword requires spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, you need to be strategic.

Using a research tool that assigns a score to each keyword is the simplest approach to determine how tough a keyword is to find.

You may also use the Google Keyword Planner Tool to check the CPC and difficulty level. The level of competition increases as the CPC offer rises.

When you first start, focus on achievable lesser competition keywords and work your way up to more difficult phrases.

Connecting To Your Objectives and Goals

Do you want to target a term if it can’t produce a result for you?

Targeting head keywords is not the ideal tactic, as we have stated, as they will only, at best, provide browsing or drive-by traffic. This is not the best use of your resources and budget unless you are a huge business with a big budget that is trying to build brand awareness.

Starting with what will provide you with the best return in the quickest amount of time is how you should prioritize your keywords.

A high-volume, well-known term is not the only one that should be targeted in effective keyword research. Finding the ideal keywords for your objectives and goals is the foundation of a successful keyword strategy. Keep that in mind at all times.

Using Keyword Research Tools

Without a tool, your research is limited; to do the most thorough keyword research, you need assistance in identifying keyword opportunities.

The free versions of the following keyword research tools are all good places to start.

Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is one of the best tools available for PPC keyword research. You won’t ever have to worry about hitting restrictions or having to pay for upgrades because it’s free (even if you choose not to purchase Google Ads).

Google Keyword Planner has two primary components: one for exploratory keyword research and discovery, and the other for a more in-depth analysis of search volume and predictions.

Google Trends

Based on actual search query data, Google Trends provides data. Although it doesn’t provide search numbers, you may compare the data in Google Trends with actual search volumes from other tools to get a sense of what the volumes are by comparison.

Finding popular niche themes and subtopics as well as regional search trends are two areas in which Trends shines. The keywords that are currently gaining popularity are suggested by trends as alternatives.

This might help you determine where to concentrate your efforts and when to cease spending money on terms as part of a keyword strategy.

Google Autocomplete

With what Google refers to as “predictions,” Autocomplete, formerly known as Suggest, is included in the Google search box to assist users in finishing their searches.

Google uses popular and trending queries to inform its predictions.

The suggestions are all variations of the words you are entering, so the results offer you an idea of what other words consumers may be searching for that are similar.

You can uncover additional alternatives and keywords to take into consideration by looking at the predictions that Google offers in Autocomplete.

Learn More: 8 Free SEO Tools by Google for Optimizing Your Business Website

Answer The Public

The powerful tool called Answer The Public connects a seed keyword with various modifiers to generate a list of variations by scraping information from Google Autocomplete.

You can utilize the list of suggestions that Answer The Public immediately produces as a starting point for further research.

Semrush

If you’re looking for something more sophisticated, Semrush offers a tonne of keyword data, makes it simple to delve into the specifics, like SERP features such as featured snippets, reviews, site connections, and image bundles and offers granular analysis of recent results. Additionally, Semrush provides a wide range of keyword research tools, including content-driven keyword research, competitive keyword gap analysis, and standard traffic and search volume metrics.

Semrush stands out for its wide range of tools, which include the standard Keyword Overview, the Keyword Magic Tool for experimenting with keywords, a Keyword Manager and position tracking feature, competitive Keyword Gap analysis, and Organic Traffic Insights, which, when integrated with your Google Analytics or Search Console account, can reveal those notoriously difficult “not provided” keywords.

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

All of the top 100 keywords you presently rank for are displayed in Ahrefs Webmaster Tools. Simply access Site Explorer’s Organic keywords report.

Finding page two rankings that are on the low-hanging fruit is one of my favorite uses of this report for keyword research. Use the “Main positions only” setting while searching for keywords in positions 11 through 20.

Since very few people click on page two results, moving up just a few spots in the rankings for these keywords to page one can frequently result in a significant increase in traffic.

Advanced Keyword Strategies

Try your hand at a few other websites and niches now that you know how to begin with keyword research. The greatest way to learn is to do the task.

Once you have a better grasp through practice, move on to more sophisticated techniques and strategies to improve your keyword research.

Final Thoughts

This beginner’s guide to keyword research will unquestionably empower you. By grasping the nuances of effective keyword selection, you will improve your online presence, connect with your target audience, and generate significant organic traffic.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get good at keyword research?

Tracking your findings and statistics is crucial if you want to get better at keyword research, in addition to better understanding who your target audience is and what exactly they want. For instance, you may quickly determine which keywords and landing pages are working well by using the data from Google Analytics. With this information, you may create a plan to improve and adjust your strategy. You may use the in-depth articles, tips, and courses offered by Mailchimp and software platforms like Semrush to enhance your keyword research abilities and learn about more general SEO best practices.

How can I do free keyword research?

Quality keyword research may be done without spending money or signing up for a subscription. Using a variety of free online tools, you can determine the most effective keywords for your content improvement. Google Trends, Keyword Surfer, Semrush Keyword Magic Tool, and Moz’s Keyword Explorer are a few of the many free tools readily available to you that can help you collect crucial data for SEO and marketing.

How can I maintain keyword rankings?

You should continually be aware of algorithm updates and seek ways to update and enhance your existing material if you want to keep your keyword ranks stable. No matter how excellent your content is, it needs to be nurtured to stay current with the search engine results page’s dynamic environment. Finding fresh opportunities or popular keyword phrases may even help your content rank higher than it did previously.

What to consider when researching keywords?

List broad subjects that are related to your topic.
To further expand each topic, include a list of phrases you believe your customers use.
Look up related search phrases.
Examine the strength of your keywords.
verify search intent.

What are LSI keywords?

Words that are considered to be semantically relevant and connected to a main term are known as LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords. If “credit cards” is the main keyword on your page, LSI keywords can include “money,” “credit score,” “credit limit,” or “interest rate.”

However, they are not synonyms—different words that have the same meaning. They are words that are closely linked and aid in defining a page’s subject.

How to use LSI keyword in SEO?

LSI keywords are frequently long-tail variations of your primary keyword. It’s preferable to utilize the LSI keyword in the title, for instance, if one of your LSIs is “seo tips and tricks” and your main keyword is “seo tips”.