How to do SEO Keyword Research

While Google’s algorithms may always be changing, the root of SEO keyword research stays the same. In order for you to master your Google ranking, it’s important that your keyword research game is top notch.

Your Google ranking has a huge impact on how visible your website is in the online space. It has the power to attract more and more customers just based off of your position on a Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

What is SEO Keyword Research?

So, what is keyword research exactly and why does it matter? Well, keyword research is what people use to develop and enhance their search engine ranking. It focuses on finding the right keywords or phrases that your audience searches for.

There are many benefits that come with a good keyword strategy. Mainly, not only are you able to develop a more informed marketing strategy but you are being exposed to an audience that you might not have been before. From your research, you will be able to craft effective content that actually engages your audience and that speaks to their needs.

In short, it’s about identifying strong keywords that help you get found through search terms your audience actually cares about.

Step-By-Step Tips for Your Keyword Research:

Step 1: Define Your Audience

Before you start your keyword research, you will have to get back to basics first by understanding your audience. When you have a firm grasp of what your audience is looking for and what attracts them, you will have a better idea of what content they would want to see.

Think of it this way: if your target market is 30-year old financial advisors, they most likely won’t search for “best teaching methods”, right? Focusing on what your audience wants and their insights will make your content marketing campaign much more successful.

Ask yourself:

• Who is searching for these terms?
• What words are they using?
• What type of questions do they ask?
• Why are they searching these terms?
• How can we answer these questions?

By asking yourself these questions, you’ve just completed your first and very necessary step of SEO keyword research.

Step 2: Brainstorm Your Topics

To kick off your brainstorming process, it’s best to start with a list. Create a list of all the topics that you’d like to cover as a business. It’s important to keep in mind how these topics will relate to your audience too. After all, they’re the ones who will be engaging with your content!

For example, if you were a florist in Brisbane, you’d want to rank for topics like:

• Australian florists
• Bridal bouquets
• Flower shop

These topics relate directly to your business services and they also include topics that your audience would most likely be interested in.

Step 3: Discover Your Keywords

Now that you have a list of potential topics, we can start honing on the right keywords and LSI keywords. These are the phrases that you’d want to rank for in the SERP. You can use tools like AHRefs, SEMRush or Uber Suggest to help you search for relevant keywords.

Let’s look at the topic “bridal bouquets”. The point of this exercise is not to come up with your final keyword list but to help you develop your LSI keywords too. LSI keywords are keywords that are semantically related to your main topic.

Keywords that could relate to “bridal bouquets” could be “bridal bouquets in Brisbane”, “where to get flowers in Brisbane?”, “best bridal bouquets” and “wedding flowers inspiration”.

If you don’t have access to a keyword research tool, you could even look at what pops up when you search for these phrases.

Google automatically highlights other keywords that are relating to your core phrase. If it’s appropriate to your content, you can add them to your list.

Step 4: Understand the Search Volume

One of the main parts of SEO keyword research is understanding the search volume. The search volume will give you a good understanding of how much your keyword or phrase is searched and how difficult it would be to rank for that phrase.

As a general rule of thumb, the higher the search volume, the more work is required to achieve a higher ranking. This is what we call keyword difficulty. If you’re just getting started with your keyword strategy, it will be harder to make a difference on SERPs as big brands often take up the top spots for high-volume keywords.

On the other hand, keywords with low search volume have less competition and are easier to rank for. Lower volume keywords generally see an intensified buyer intent; meaning that it will be more likely to have your audience convert to customers. However, focusing on them can be risky. If no one is searching for the phrase, your website will not attract any traffic.

Step 5: Look at Your Competitors

To keep up with your competitors, try taking advantage of their missed opportunities and current rankings. Understanding what your competitors are ranking for will give you a great indication of what’s working and what’s not working.

So, how do you establish these keywords? There are 2 options here - you can try searching for keywords manually to see what position your competitors are in. Another option is utilising a keyword tool like SEMrush or AHRefs that generates top keywords based on the domain that you enter.

Step 6: Build Your Keyword List

Last but not least, it’s time to build your keyword list. After all of these steps, you should have a well-defined keyword list that’s ready to increase your SERP rankings.

We’d recommend grouping these keywords into categories to help you stay organised when it comes to your content. That way, you will see exactly which keywords relate to your business’ different services.

There you have it! You can now complete your SEO keyword research in just a few simple steps. Remember to reevaluate your keyword list every few months to make sure that your keywords are still relevant.

If you are looking for SEO services, please visit our Search Engine Optimisation page.