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10 Best Practices for Keyword Research for SEO

  • Felix Rose-Collins
  • 5 min read
10 Best Practices for Keyword Research for SEO

Intro

Keyword research is a crucial part of your content marketing strategy. It impacts Google rankings, site engagement, and traffic to the website - it's one pillar in SEO strategies that can't afford to have! Content marketers often neglect to use keywords in their headlines, descriptions, or titles, which leaves room for mistakes when it comes time to execute an effective SEO campaign. That's why you should always have some keyword monitoring software running on the internet-connected device where all these tasks happen - because, without them, there could be significant holes that let competitors crawl right through.

SEO and content marketing are two essential parts of an online business. They're beautifully intertwined - so when you embrace both wholeheartedly, there will always come a time where success is inevitable! To increase your customer base, you need both SEO strategies that will help visitors find what they're looking for on page one but also add value with topical information beyond product offerings such as blog posts or social media updates, so people don't just visit once; we must strategize these efforts together! You can't improve your SEO without content, and you won't be able to get the word out on what matters with just words.

What is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is a crucial part of your online marketing plan. Good keyword research is the key to creating engaging and compelling content, which can help you achieve more website visits and improve conversion rates. The goal? Find out what people are searching for and understand how you can rank at the Top when they look those phrases up on Google's SERP page! Before optimizing your content or building links, you must identify what keywords users are typing into the search bar. This will help with both of these processes because without knowing how people interact online, there is no way to know which words they should be targeting for their campaign goals!

How is Keyword Research Important?

Keywords are a fundamental element in SEO, but without the "research" part, you're shooting from the blind. If we don't know what people search for and where our website ranks at those terms, all this time spent producing content could be wasted because it wasn't intended to reach out specifically to them! Keyword research is an integral part of your digital marketing plan. It's a natural process, tapping into the analysis around volume and competition for keywords that will help reach desired audiences with content they are searching. When designing your content strategy, it's essential to find that balance between high search volume keywords and competitive ones. You can use this information for inspiration when creating new pieces of work or optimizing existing ones, so they rank better in Google!

What are the Best Practices for Keyword Research?

Establish Your Position

The first step in finding a niche is going through Google and searching for as many relevant terms. This will give you an idea of what people are searching for, which could be your target audience! The process of analyzing your competitors is an important one. It can help you understand where the audience for this product or service sits, which in turn will allow their needs to become more transparent and focused on paper- so they're much easier to sell! Grouping your keywords by buyer's journey can help you with SEO. For example, if someone is at the top of their funnel, it would make sense to rank them high on search engine results pages (SERP). This gives users more information about what they need and want right off the beginning, which will draw them into clicking through further down towards conversion points or sales channels altogether! You need to focus on the phrases between your top-of-funnel keywords and bottom-feeder search terms to get more customers. These people have a higher intent of buying but may not be interested in making a purchase right away, so it's crucial they're spoken to!

Ask Your Audience

The research you do on your own can be invaluable, but it's important not to forget what people search for online. Seed Keywords helps with that by providing data for how customers search and find products or services like yours, so when marketing efforts come up short, there is no need to panic! Create Content and Topic Buckets

The great thing about generating multiple topic ideas before you dive into the keyword research stage is that it will help ensure your efforts are more strategic and well thought out. You can keep track of all your ideas by writing them down in an organized manner. Start with the keyword terms you identified and include other words or phrases that might be related to what we're selling, such as "healthy diet." Then plot these into one document for easy reference later on! Grouping your suggestions into categories will allow you to have a more focused strategy. Start by putting all of the content related to each group in their pillar, which can then inspire how they might be marketed together across different channels.

Quality over Quantity

The earlier you start thinking about your content, the better. But when it comes to keywords and search engine optimization (SEO), don't get too caught up in numbers at this early stage; instead, focus on quality over quantity for now, if possible! You should also consider any potential competition from other sites that may be trying their hand in related fields.

Write for Real People

When you're creating content, it is essential to include keywords naturally to have context and meaning. Suppose today's pieces are all about search intent. In that case, this means their needs to be relevant, which can only happen when the copy sounds authentic--not auto-generated robotic language designed just for SEO purposes! By putting your readers first and foremost, you are positioning yourself for success in semantic search.

Target the Long Tail Keyword

The key to success is not focusing on one word. Instead, think of phrases that have many words and can thus be more engaging for your audience by learning about different topics. In this case, "training" could refer to either sports or dog-related activities depending on who you're talking to! Incorporate more specific phrases into your content to optimize it even further. These may have a lower search volume, but in this case, that's good because you'll be able to reach an audience searching for service of yours!

Incorporate Variations

Keyword research tools can be a great way to find keywords that would otherwise take you hours of scrolling through Google search results. When using these types of websites, enter in your generic term. It will return various variations for potential phrase choices - adding variety into content pieces, so they aren't all about one topic or idea!

Look for Opportunities

Even the most innovative and creative content marketer will eventually hit a wall when finding new ways of driving strategy. Keyword Finder allows you to analyze search volumes, identifying that sweet spot between volume and ranking - which can be crucial information for incorporating into your organic posts! Leverage the Analytics

Google Analytics helps you identify which keywords drive the most traffic to your website. When using this information, note how many people are visiting for each keyword and use that as a guide when selecting topics in future content strategies!

Try to Change Tone While Saying the Same Thing

Find ways to vary your content to avoid the monotony of repeating yourself. For example, if you write about travel destinations in Europe, look for different words or phrases that might appear again on a list with other countries' names, such as "Switzerland."

Final Take

There are many secrets to success in content marketing. One of the most important is keyword research, which will help you find new topics for your blog and search engine rankings with ease!

Felix Rose-Collins

Felix Rose-Collins

Ranktracker's CEO/CMO & Co-founder

Felix Rose-Collins is the Co-founder and CEO/CMO of Ranktracker. With over 15 years of SEO experience, he has single-handedly scaled the Ranktracker site to over 500,000 monthly visits, with 390,000 of these stemming from organic searches each month.

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