Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of discovering and analyzing the keywords that people enter into search bar while using search engines. The goal is to discover keywords that are relevant to your business, have high search volumes and low competition for optimizing your website content and improving its rankings in search results. Effective keyword research helps understand user intent, target the right audience, and create content that drives organic traffic and conversions.

To conduct thorough keyword research, I focus on several essential components.

Finding Relevant Keywords

I use a variety of methods to discover relevant keywords for your business:

• Google Search Console statistics for finding current keywords that the website ranks for, including “low hanging fruits”, the keywords from the second SERP page, close to the top.
• Competitive Analysis, identifying keywords that your competitors are ranking for and finding opportunities to target similar or related terms. Competitive analysis helps to detect a so-called “keyword gap”, keywords that competitors use and you don’t.
• Google Keyword Planner that helps extend existing keywords with related words using statistics by Google Analytics.

Combination of these methods allows to collect a keyword cloud that can be later sorted, cleansed, fractured into categories by head keyword, user’s intention, stages of marketing funnel and other attributes important for client.

Understanding User Intent

User intent refers to the purpose behind a search query. It’s crucial to identify whether users are looking for information, making a purchase, or seeking a specific service. Keywords can be categorized based on intent to ensure that your content aligns with what users are searching for.

• Informational Intent keywords are used when searching for information or answers.
• Navigational Intent keywords are used when looking for a specific product or brand.
• Transactional Intent keywords are used when intending to make a purchase or engage in a transaction.

User intents correspond well with the sell funnel stages so fracturing keywords according with user intent may make sense for sales and marketing departments.

Analyzing Keyword Metrics

After identifying potential keywords, various metrics to determine their value should be estimated. The main of them are search volume and keyword difficulty (competition level):

• Search Volume is the number of searches last month for a keyword.
• Keyword Difficulty is a measure of how competitive it is to rank for a keyword, it is scaled from o to 100, the higher the more difficult keyword is.

The main goal of keyword research is to estimate how like are certain keywords can get in the SERP top-10 and what organic traffic they can attract. The most useful keywords are the ones with highest search volumes and relatively low competition level.

Keyword Research Results. Sample of the Excel Worktable

The Process of Conducting Keyword Research

Here’s a step-by-step overview of how I approach keyword research:

1. Starting by understanding your business goals and target audience. This helps me identify the types of keywords that align with your objectives and customer needs.
2. Creating a list of seed keywords related to your business. These basic terms serve as the foundation for further keyword research and expansion.
3. Leveraging keyword research tools to expand the list of seed keywords and discover related terms. These tools provide valuable data on search volume, competition, and other key metrics. My tools are Ahrefs / MOZ / SEMrush / Ubersuggest and their alternatives, Google Search Console and Google Keyword Planner.
4. Clustering keywords, combining them in batches that contain head keyword and its long tail. The more specific the keyword with its long tail is, the more likely is can reach SERP top in a short term.
5. Analyzing and filtering keywords collected keywords based on relevance, search volume, competition, and other metrics. This helps narrow down the list to the most valuable keywords for the chosen SEO strategy.
6. Once the keywords are selected, they can be incorporated into the page’s content, meta tags, headers, and other on-page elements to improve search visibility and alignment with user intent.
7. Keyword research is an ongoing process. I can continuously monitor the performance of targeted keywords and adjust the strategy as needed to respond to changes in search trends and business goals.

Benefits of Keyword Research

• Targeting the right keywords helps the website rank higher in search results and attract relevant organic traffic.
• Keyword research guides content creation, ensuring that it addresses user needs and aligns with search intent.
• Focusing on keywords with transactional intent can lead to higher conversion rates and increased revenue.
• Understanding your competitors’ keywords helps you identify gaps and opportunities to outperform them.

Keyword research is a vital component of a successful SEO strategy. By identifying and targeting the right keywords, I help ensure that your website reaches the right audience, drives relevant traffic, and achieves better rankings in search engine results. If you’re ready to uncover valuable keyword opportunities and enhance your SEO strategy, please, contact me.