Keyword Research Strategy | How to Do Keyword Research, Tips, Tools & Examples | SEO Turorial

Without keyword research, search engine optimisation cannot be expected to produce repeatable and long-lasting visibility.

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.

The only traffic source that consistently generates long-term traffic is organic. When a comprehensive, successful organic marketing and SEO strategy is put into place, it can become a main source of revenue generating. Because of this, keyword research should be an integral part of an organization-wide SEO strategy.

A State of Organic Marketing in 2022 survey found that more than 50% of the firms claimed to base their content development decisions on search data. Launching a website or producing content in isolation, and then using "SEO" later is no longer sufficient.

One of the first steps in determining your SEO objectives, the kind of content you'll produce, and how to optimise your website should be keyword research.

What is SEO Keyword Research?

In order to carefully use common search phrases that people enter into search engines like Google so that your material shows up higher on a search engine results page (SERP), you must conduct keyword research. The primary technique of search engine optimisation (SEO) is keyword research.

Choosing a theme for your content that is concentrated on a group of targeted keywords that you want your content to rank for is step one in the process of how to do keyword research for SEO.

Importance of Keyword Research in SEO

The queries, issues, and answers that your target audience is looking for are revealed via keyword research. Your SEO campaigns should be built on this analysis, which will also serve to guide your organic and content strategy. The first step to efficient SEO is selecting the proper keywords and conducting thorough research.

By optimising your website and producing content for the proper keywords, you may drive organic traffic that is typical of your target client. Because keyword research helped your website rank better for their searches and your site best suited their wants, which prompted them to click through, some of those visitors will be prepared to convert.

One of the most crucial aspects of marketing is SEO because it brings the correct customers to your website. As we've previously stated, organic traffic is likely the only consistent and long-lasting traffic.

Why Keyword Research is Important for SEO

There are many advantages to keyword research. Gaining insightful knowledge about your audience, the potential for more organic traffic, and better search engine rankings are a few of them. Lets check them out:

• Reveals insightful information about your audience

By revealing the terms that your target audience is searching for, keyword research will assist you to understand what they desire. You'll discover the queries they are posting to search engines in order to get assistance with issues they are having. Keyword research can help you reach potential clients who are looking to buy running shoes if your company sells them. Using a keyword research tool is one effective approach to measure this. These are excellent resources for assisting you in learning what people are looking for based on a certain search keyword. There are numerous tools available that can be useful. Later, we'll talk about those briefly.

• Your organic traffic is enhanced

Organic traffic is the visitors that your SEO-optimised content has earned for you on your site. Your search engine rating increases as you receive more organic traffic. Also, since organic traffic is free, marketing experts agree that spending time and effort on an effective keyword strategy and other SEO tactics is worthwhile. This enables you to climb the search results pages without using PPC advertising. Also, you will have a significantly higher click-through rate than even paid ads if your content is ranking highly organically.

• Improves SERP ranking

You may improve your position in search results by conducting keyword research. More people will be able to find you based on their search terms if you choose the proper keywords. You have a greater chance of being spotted and drawing more visitors to your website as you climb the search engine ranks.

• Acquires more customers

You are better positioned to address their wants if your website includes strong SEO copywriting and keywords that target the relevant consumers. It's a smart idea to research keywords based on search intent rather than volume in order to increase your revenue.

• Developing a keyword strategy for SEO

It is advantageous to have a solid strategy in place before beginning keyword research. By doing this, you'll be more likely to select the appropriate keywords, achieve better search engine rankings, drive more traffic to your website, and attract new clients. Your whole SEO approach, which includes developing SEO Content and employing sound SEO practices, will be used by a solid keyword plan. Here are a few critical components to consider when developing a keyword strategy for your website.

• Know what you're doing

A fantastic starting point for keyword research is to have a thorough grasp of your website or business, as well as what you have to offer (products, services, content, etc.) This makes it easier to decide what kinds of subjects and content to add to your website. If your business offers hosting services, your website probably has information (landing pages, blog posts, etc.) regarding such services (such as "WordPress Hosting" or "Page Speed Optimisation"). provides you with a starting point for your keyword research.

• Know who your customers are 

You must think about what your audience (or potential consumer) is looking for in addition to what you have to offer. It's usually best to first establish what your specific target consumer is looking for on your site before researching keywords that a general audience is searching for. Based on consumer personas and/or customer journey maps, you may already have a solid notion of what this is. You may locate the perfect keywords that will increase both site traffic and conversion rates by having this understanding of your target demographic.

• Understand your competition

When it comes to keyword research, knowing what your competitors are doing might assist you to decide what to do and what to avoid. Take the time to learn who your primary rivals are if you don't already know them. To outrank your direct competitors in the search results, you must conduct research on them. Take a look at the types of articles they are writing, the subjects they are covering, and which ones are doing the best. This will assist you in creating a keyword approach that, in many ways, mimics the tactics of your rivals. Also, you will be able to notice their top keywords and see if they are missing any high-volume keywords that would be beneficial for your company.

• Learn about the search engines you using

It will be easier for you to replicate the procedure for your own keyword strategy if you understand how search engines index top-ranking material in accordance with keyword usage. Learning about Search Engine Ranking Pages (SERPs) and how they index and display featured snippets depending on the keywords you employ and the organisation (or schema markup) of your content is also a good idea.

• Understanding the data

You may review your present content and get suggestions for new topics or keywords to pursue by looking at the data collected by Google Analytics and the Google Search Console on your website. Get everything you need to know about the present state of your content and the material of your competitors by using the analytics tools at your disposal.

• The best resources for SEO keyword research

You can find a tonne of free SEO tools that can help you with keyword research and SEO. Consider using good tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, and Google Ads: Keyword Planner.

Getting Started with Keyword Research

There are some keyword research concepts you should be familiar with before you start your trip to improve your content. Prior to anything else, it's critical to comprehend how 'focus keywords' and 'long-tail keywords' differ from standard keywords.

A focus keyword is the main keyword around which your approach is centred, as its name implies. It is the key phrase or word that you deliberately use in your website's title, URL, meta description, and body text in the hopes that search engines will find it.

On the other hand, long-tail keywords have three words or more. In order to attract more qualified visitors, shoppers are more likely to utilise these precise phrases when they are further along in the purchasing cycle and have a clearer concept of what they want. Long-tail keywords become more significant when there is a lot of competition in the industry; they are a wonderful method for websites to stand out. The difference between the search phrases "shoes" and "block heel shoes" makes it clear which will provide more accurate results.

In addition, keep in mind the following ideas when you search for the most beneficial and thorough keyword:

• Keyword intent

Creating a keyword strategy requires understanding the role that keyword intent plays in keyword research. You may not understand the attitude of your target audience since you understand your industry inside and out. By putting yourself in the position of potential customers, you can better comprehend their search intent by understanding the keyword intent.

Think about if your content actually satisfies the intentions of the buyer while you undertake your SEO keyword research. Do they wish to get knowledge? Are they trying to find a certain business or website? Are they considering their options and getting ready to buy? Or, are they ready to purchase right away? The consumer will be compelled to stay on your page longer and you'll rank higher on SERPs if your match is great.

You may also discover more about your audience and their motivations by including trigger phrases in your long-tail keywords. To make your keywords more relevant, use trigger phrases linked to several types of buyer intent. For example, including commercial or transactional trigger words like "best," "buy," "join," and "compare" will help you rank for queries where users are more likely to make a purchase.

• Monthly search volume (MSV)

MSV is a measure of a keyword's typical monthly search volume. You can look for a keyword's global MSV on websites and tools for keyword research, or even refine it to a particular city. A higher MSV signifies greater competition while also increasing the potential visitors to your website.

• Topical authority

As search engines advance, more importance is given to relevant terms, conversational language, and high-quality material. By offering in-depth, connected material, you aim to highlight the competence of your website. If consumers view you as a reliable resource for knowledge on a particular subject, they will want to click on your website. A solid reputation and authoritative content will help you rank highly in SERPs.

How to Conduct Keyword Research

You are prepared to begin now that you are aware of the significance of keyword research and are familiar with some of its major terminologies and ideas. To discover the keywords you should target to draw in the audience you desire and develop a keyword strategy that will never fail, follow these next steps.

1. Include broad subjects that are related to your expertise

Create a spreadsheet with broad categories or "buckets" for the keywords you want to rank for in this initial phase. This might be anything you think your target market would be interested in, including product categories. If you occasionally blog, you may already be covering some subjects frequently.

Make this list brief and straightforward, with no more than 5–10 subjects. Consider yourself a customer looking for a good or service. This can be beneficial.

A website that sells beauty products could have general categories like:

• Hair Styling Tips
• Makeup tips
• Organic skin care products
• Natural beauty
• Cosmetic shops
• Healthy skin

2. Provide a list of expressions you believe your audience use 

With these broad categories in hand, the next step is to decide which words and phrases your target consumer may use in the search field to find information, goods, or services.

Go through your organic search traffic bucket to find keywords users are using to find your website if you already have data from the website analytics software, such as Google Analytics or HubSpot's Sources report.

This is an opportunity to generate ideas for data points that will help make your study more focused and fruitful, not as a final list of keywords.

For the aforementioned ecologically friendly website, you might list the following items under the category "Hair Styling Tips":

• Curly hair styling tips
• Long hairstyle tips
• Beauty tips hairstyle
• Short hair styling tips
• Haircut tips for men
• Hair styling tips for women
• Frizzy hair styling tips
• DIY hair styling tips
• Hair styling tips for beginners

Make a list for each broad area, then enter it into your spreadsheet. Ask your coworkers or other employees for suggestions, especially if they deal with customers.

3. Look up related search phrases

There are numerous original ways to add keywords to your lists.

When you enter a keyword phrase into Google, a list of related search terms that are bolded at the bottom of the page will appear.

Click on one of the related searches for further information, and then look at the list that Google provides at the bottom of the second page.

Three free searches can be made each day on the website AnswerThePublic. It provides a list of words and phrases that people are looking for in relation to your subject.

4. Examine the potency of your keyword phrases

Using a paid keyword research or SEO tool, such as Keyword Planner, is the simplest approach to do the following step. Some of the more well-known ones are SEMrush, Ubersuggest, Ahrefs and Wordtracker. You can start with the free versions of Wordtracker and Ubersuggest.

When you study your keywords, you should search for the following.

What exactly is the search term? Make sure your keyword phrase corresponds to the exact search term people are using.

How many people are searching? Building your strategy on a keyword term that nobody uses won't be very helpful. Search for the most popular search term.

Look for similar terms that you might have overlooked and that have a lot of search volume but little organic search competition.

5. Find out where you stand in your sector

If you're up against well-known brands that already dominate the first page of Google for most of the terms you've chosen, you should adjust your approach to find less-competitive long-tail keywords.

For your ideal search keywords, check the SERP. Refine your list with long-tail keywords if it's full of reputable brands with greater influence and market share than your business now enjoys.

The only time this tactic won't work is if your rivals haven't been putting out high-quality content. Even if they spend more money advertising their product, you might still be able to outrank them if you can surpass it in length, quality, and layout.

6. Check the purpose of the search

Every question that a user types into Google must have a corresponding response because they are actively looking for something.

By entering your terms into a search engine, you can make sure you comprehend the intent of your clients. What pages now rank for that term, and what services do they provide?

If you try to offer a product to a customer who is looking for information, you may receive a click, but the customer will leave shortly, which may lower your rating. Yet, if a customer is prepared to make a purchase and you deliver a product page, they will gladly do so.

Make a note of the buyer purpose for each keyword phrase in your spreadsheet, or make it a habit for you or your team to research a term's intent before utilising it in content.

Best Keyword Research Tools

a) Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

One of the top keyword research tools for content authors today is Ahrefs. The platform gives users a comprehensive keyword report and uses clickstream data to produce distinctive click metrics.

Qualities:

• 1,000+ keyword recommendations and an accurate keyword difficulty score
• supported in more than 171 nations
• Click statistics to raise CTR
• thorough SERP overview

Pricing:

There are four pricing tiers for Ahrefs. If you choose an annual payment plan, the pricing for independent contractors, internet marketers, mid-sized businesses, and larger brands starts at just $83 per month.

They do provide a trial offer for their Lite and Standard subscription plans for $7 for seven days.

b) SEMrush

If you're looking for something more sophisticated, Semrush offers a tonne of keyword data, makes it simple to delve into the specifics, and offers granular analysis of recent results in addition to SERP elements like featured snippets, reviews, site connections, and picture packs.

Qualities:

• Content-driven keyword research
• Competitive keyword gap analysis
• 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.

The SEO Content Template tool is an added bonus because it enables you to automatically create a content brief and optimise content as you write by grading your content in real-time for readability, originality, tone of voice, and SEO. It does this by using a helpful bullseye graphic to help you strike the right balance. Also, the tool graphically verifies SEO tips as you go, such as adding pertinent links and images and using your goal and associated keywords.

Because of everything stated above, upgrading will be expensive; nevertheless, you can initially utilise it for free at low volumes.

Pricing: 

Paid subscriptions start at $119.95/month and offer up to 3,000 reports per day, 10,000 results per report, and 250 keyword metrics updates per month. The free plan includes up to 10 Analytics reports per day and 10 tracked keywords.

c) Google Keyword Planner

The Google Keyword Planner is a straightforward keyword tool with only a few essential capabilities. It is one of the market's most reliable sources of keyword data, despite its lack of functionality. The information is straight from Google, and the outcomes work nicely with AdSense revenue.

Qualities:

• Use the "top of page" bid range to find commercial keywords.
• Directly from the search engine of Google
• Optimum option for commercial websites

Pricing:

The Google Keyword Planner is free to use. When compared to the paid solutions on this list, it might not be among the top keyword research tools, but given that it is completely free, it makes a good complement to any keyword research toolkit.

d) Long Tail Pro

Long-tail keywords are the new norm in SEO, which is no secret. A cult following among content creators' micro-niche sites has developed for the Long Tail Pro keyword tool, which creates long-tail keywords for niche sites.

Qualities:

• Strong, thorough keyword metrics
• Finding long-tail keywords is simple.
• 2,500+ SERP searches per day tips for generating highly converting organic traffic

Pricing:

Although it is a premium product, Long Tail Pro does provide a 7-day free trial (if not continuing subscription needs to be cancelled before seven days). Prices for subscriptions begin at $24.75 per month. Three plans are now available to users of Long Tail Pro.

e) SEO PowerSuite

One of the greatest tools for keyword research is SEO Powersuite if you're seeking a full solution. Everything you need to optimise on and off-page SEO is in its comprehensive toolkit. Along with basic keyword research tools, you'll also get alternatives for mobile and social media optimisation.

Qualities:

• A thorough SEO audit
• Tracking of rival rankings
• Reports on professional SEO
• Online storage (up to 400 projects)
• Creating client reports with a white label
• Link administration and backlink analysis

Pricing:

A restricted free tier and two fully featured premium tiers are both available with SEO Powersuite.

Free - If you manage a small or personal website and only periodically need to check your site's rankings, the free edition of SEO Powersuite can be just what you need.

Professional - This subscription offers link management, unlimited SEO audits, and other benefits. Also, you'll have access to cloud storage for up to 20 projects and white-labelling (with watermarks). Professional plans have an annual fee of $299.

Organisation - This choice includes all the features offered by the Professional plan, plus additional features. For $499 a year, you can also get white-labelling without watermarks and cloud storage for up to 400 projects.

f) Moz Keyword Explorer

Easy-to-use, pre-built keyword suggestions are provided by Moz Keyword Explorer. The SEO tool from Moz includes two incredibly distinctive data points in addition to all the capabilities you'd expect from the greatest keyword research tools.

Organic CTR score: The click-through rate shows how many clicks you should expect to get on Google's first page.

Priority score: The priority score combines each of the separate elements that a conventional keyword suggestion tool would typically employ. It combines information on keyword difficulty, search volume, and CTR to assist you in choosing the most effective terms for your project.

Qualities

• Get similar keyword ideas
• Priority score and organic CTR for strategic targeting
• Moz provides a one-month free trial.

Pricing

Get ten free queries each month when you create a free Moz account. The Keyword Explorer is not a stand-alone research tool; in order to fully utilise this helpful little tool, you must purchase the SEO suite as a whole. The Moz Pro package, which starts at $79 per month if purchased annually (or $99 if paid month-to-month) with the ability to complete a free 30-day trial, includes the keyword research features.