In this guide, we’ll walk you through all the steps necessary to do keyword research!

In the end, you’ll have a clear idea of what types of keywords you should be targeting.

Step 1 – Start By Brainstorming

Start by trying to think of keywords that people might use to find your business online.

Here are some questions you might want to ask to get your creativity flowing:

What phrases would you type in if you were looking for your products?

What categories do your products or services fit into?

What problems do your products or services solve?

What type of people do your products or services serve?

What questions do your customers ask before they buy?

You can also get more ideas by typing your keywords into Google.

As you type, Google will suggest other possible keyword phrases that might be relevant.

After you complete the search, Google will also display related keywords at the bottom of the search results page. Make note of any keywords that might be relevant to your content.

Step 2 – Use Competitor’s Websites For Ideas

Another great way to generate ideas is to take a look at your search competitor’s websites.

“Search competitors” are different from your normal competitors, because we’re looking for websites that rank for your target keyphrases. We’ll model them since they are already ranking well.

You can find these sites by just typing in your main keyword to Google and finding the URLs of the top-ranking positions.

Then, you can use a tool like our own SEO rankings checker to see what your competitors are ranking for!

Analyse title tags to see what keyword phrases they are intentionally targeting. Title tags will give you clues about what keywords your competitors think are important.

Step 3 – Use Keyword Research Tools

Keyword research tools will help you decide which keyword phrases to target by revealing keyword phrases that you may not have thought of as well as estimated search volume.

When searching for keywords, type in a keyword phrase, then click the “View Keyword Research” button.

The results will display related keywords, a range for estimated traffic, and what people are paying on Google Ads to get paid traffic for those keywords.

If you want to get serious about keyword research, then you should consider investing in other keyword tools so that you can get more data on keywords.

Tools like Ahref’s Keyword Explorer, Moz, and SEMRush can provide additional keyword ideas and keyword volume numbers.

Step 4 – Consider Search Intent

Before you create content, make sure you understand what content typically ranks in Google when searching for that keyword – you may be surprised!

For instance, you may notice that Google prefers ranking long-form how-to guides, tools, or lists.

You’ll want to try to model the content that is ranking if you want to rank highly!

Step 5 – Consider Trends and Seasonality

When optimising for SEO traffic, you also need to consider seasonality and trends.

Google Trends HYPERLINK HERE is a tool that you can use to view a keyword phrase’s popularity over time.

Trends

Some keywords or topics can trend up or down over time.

For example, “salsa dancing” seemed popular in 2004, but appears to be declining in popularity.

Seasonality

Some keyword phrases can also experience seasonal fluctuations.

For example, “easter chocolate” sees a spike in search interest every Easter.

Before investing in SEO, you should consider trends and seasonality to determine if your marketing efforts will be worthwhile over the long term.

Step 6 – Select Your Target Keywords

Select a primary keyword phrase to target. This phrase will likely be the highest volume phrase that is most relevant to your web page.

You can use this as your primary keyword for creating and optimising your content.

Additionally, you can create a list of long-tail keywords that you can add to your page content.

Although these keywords won’t drive a lot of traffic individually, the cumulative traffic that they send to your site can add up quickly.

Step 7 – Create Your Content & Optimise It For SEO

Once you know what keywords you will be using, then you can create your content!

After you have selected your keywords, added them to your web pages, and completed SEO marketing activities like link building, check your website analytics.

Be sure to do on-page SEO (and possibly some link building) to optimise your web pages to rank in the search engines.

It may take several months or longer before you rank for the keywords that you are targeting, especially if they are competitive.

Step 8 – Measure Your Results

You can use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to analyse results and improve them.

Pay attention to which keywords are driving traffic to your site, which keywords are driving sales and conversions, and make decisions based on the data if you decide to adjust which keywords to target!