How To Do Keyword Research – Beginner Guide?

Start the keyword research process with a list of topics relevant to your business

Just think and list the topics which you want use to rank your business with. Always start by making a list of the important and most relevant topics, such as what your business is about, what type of services you offer, what type of products you are going to sell online, etc. Just note down these topics, shortlist and come up with the most specific keywords. We will learn about these steps later.

You can also pick the topics which are most used in sales conversations. Put yourself in the place of your target audience and think about what you would search for if you were looking for the products or services that your business is offering?

Add more keywords to the list using Related Search Terms

If you are struggling with finding a list of keywords, you can ease your mind by showing some creativity at this stage. Simply go to Google.com and enter the phrases relating to your business. You will see related search terms at the bottom of Google’s results. These are suggested keywords that should not be ignored. It is like a bonus to your keyword research process that must be taken into account.

List a mixture of head terms and long-tail keywords

While performing keyword research, you will get shorter and longer keyword phrases. The shorter and more generic phrases with 1-3 words are known as ‘head terms’, whereas phrases with 3 or more words are ‘long-tail keywords’. You must check for a mixture of such keywords. Remember, people use shorter phrases, head terms, for their search. Therefore, they are more competitive and difficult to rank when compared to long-tail keywords.

Some use generic words while some use specific words. More qualified searchers always search for long-tail terms for the exact search results. Check your keywords list for long-tail keywords, but at the same time do not forget to include difficult head terms with powerful traffic attention. Remember, your keyword research list should include both shorter and longer keyword phrases.

Competitive Analysis – An important keyword research technique

You must see how your competitors are doing, because there’s no doubt that it is important in this competitive market. This doesn’t mean that you must use the same keywords your competitors are using. You just need to analyze the competition for the keyword or phrase you are trying to rank with.

Never ignore the keywords that your competitors don’t care about. It might be a great chance for your business to own a market with those keywords.

Due to competition it might be difficult to understand the least or most important keywords for your website. You can use SEMrush to find the top keywords or various types of terms your competitors are ranking with. Always remember, the main target is to end up with a list of keywords that will work effectively in attaining the challenging SEO goals.

Use of keyword research tool

Finally, to determine the relevant keywords that will help in gaining top positions in the SERPs, you can rely on keyword research tools to guide you. Such tools are used to mine the relevant keyword data of the phrases which you have in the list. This can be done at a basic level with Google Adwords Keyword Planner or Word Tracker, which is absolutely free to use. You can use other keyword research tools as well. Paid Tools can also be used for most advanced keyword research processes for specific keywords.

With Keyword Planner, you can make a search campaign. It helps you to get the exact match search results and ideas about keywords through the most searched phrases entered by people.