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SEO Keyword Research in Six Simple Steps
- 2. STEP1:IDENTIFYINTENT Informational: The user wants answers to a specific question Navigational: The user is looking for a specific page, website or physical location Commercial: The user is looking for a specific brand, product or service Transactional: The user wants to buy something or take a specific action Ask yourself what a user is trying to accomplish and how you YOUR content is going to help. Match your content to one of four intent types:
- 3. STEP2:JOTDOWN KEYWORDIDEAS It's tempting to start plugging keywords into an SEO tool, but doing so means you run the risk of “data blindness”, where you’re only focusing on metrics like monthly search volume and difficulty % and less on the intent behind the keywords. Instead, stay away from the tools (at least for now) and jot down as many potential keywords as you can think, always bearing in mind user intent.
- 4. STEP3:ANALYZEYOUR KEYWORDS Geography: Remember that different countries/cities return different results Monthly Searches: But remember this is NOT an exact number Trends: Monthly searches are an average over 12 months. Look to see how search volumes have changed Keyword Difficulty: Is this a keyword you could realistically rank for? Brand: Is this a term owned by your brand or another brand? Once you have a list of keywords, enter them into an SEO tool (like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz or Google Keyword Planner). Use a spreadsheet to analyze your keywords and add new terms. Look at:
- 5. STEP4:GROUPYOUR KEYWORDS Don't look at single keywords in isolation. Instead start to group similar terms together. You can do this manually or with tool features (like SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool, which automatically groups keywords). Look at search volume for ALL keywords in your group (not just a single term). When comparing groups, think about choosing one primary keyword as well as secondary keywords you can potentially add to your content.
- 6. STEP5:LOOKATTHERANKINGS Relevance: Is what's appearing on Google relevant to your own content? Authority: Is the top content from a brand you could potentially outrank? Age: Is the content new or old? Length: Is the article short or long? Author: Who actually wrote it? Quality: Is it well written and useful? Intent: What intent does it meet? Usage: Is the keyword in the title tag, URL, H1, description, body copy etc.? Once you've sorted your keywords into groups, start to look at what's ranking for any terms you might want to target (using tools like SEMrush, Moz & Ahrefs). When reviewing ranking articles look at: Follow-up by running each URL through your SEO tools to see if they rank for any other keywords you might have missed.
- 7. STEP6:CHOOSE YOURKEYWORDS Remember that as much as 70% of all searches are longtail. But you can't rank for everything. Choose one primary keyword that will be used in your URL, Title Tag, Meta Description, H1, Alt-tags and Body Copy. (Bear in mind search volume, difficulty and the type of content that's ranking). Choose secondary keywords that can help inform content sections (and be used for H2s/H3s etc.)