Keywords Research is the method of identifying the words and phrases that are largely used in search engines when people are looking for information. This includes finding out the volume of search words used as well as the competitiveness of the terms.
Keyword research is one of the crucial elements of search engine optimization. When executed correctly, it acts as a road map for the design and development of a website.
Attracting new visitors to your website is the primary objective of keyword research. To accomplish this, you need to come up with a list of words users may type that may land them to your page. Hence identification of the right search words is the most important step to ensure the success of your website in search engine rankings.
There are several different ways which can help you to generate keywords for your research. You can find a keyword research tool and then refine your niche keywords list. You can even hire an SEO (Marketing) agency to generate the best keywords for your research.
Useful Tools For Keyword Research
- Google Trends
- KWFinder – research tool revealing content and keyword ideas based on internet searches, location, interest over time
- SEMRush – another excellent software for in-depth content and keywords analysis. One of the top tools that will help you to identify keywords based on interest and organic search volume.
Scan through your website and make a list of all the relatable keywords. Then, make a list of all the potential keywords keeping your niche in mind. If you are already clear with your business/product/service offerings, then keyword selection is all the more easy.
Another good way to get ideas for your keywords is the ‘Google Suggest’ feature. Supposedly, your business is into selling wedding dresses, you simply type wedding dresses in the search bar and a drop down of related searches would popup- these are the suggested keywords that you can target on.
Get into the user’s shoes while deciding the keywords for you website. Do some research about what the customers are looking for, like:
- What do they search when they want to learn something- get information about the product/service you offer, pricing etc.
- What do they search when they want to do something- buy, make an account, signup, shop, connect with you etc.
The best way to find this out is by scanning forums, social media platforms to see the search terms that people are using in their conversation. Additionally, you can have a small feedback form on your website, requesting customers to tell you what keywords did they use to come to your website or where did they get the reference to your website from.
Analyze the competitors keywords:
This is the most challenging and necessary part of your keyword research. The entire purpose of the marketing campaign is to better than your competitors and be ahead of them. First of all you need to know about the competitors in your niche. So if your business is that of wedding dresses based in Illinois, California, you can simply type in this in the search bar. The result that comes up on the SERPs are your competitors.
The box in yellow, shows the result of the competitors in your niche. Now, once you know who your competitors are, start scanning their sites for their targeted keywords. Go to their respective HTML source and look for their meta keyword.
Another way of knowing the keywords, which your competitors are ranking on, is by using the RankWatch research tool. On entering the domain name of your competitor, you will be taken to page, which would be showing all the keywords that your competitor is ranking on. Additionally, it will show the other websites which are ranking on the same keyword.
If two or more of your competitors are targeting a certain keyword, then probably use the long tail versions of them.
