Keyword research is one of the most important steps in creating content for your blog. It consists of finding the best words to include in your content. Scroll down to read our Keyword Research 101 Guide so you can get started.
Why Spend Time on Keyword Research?
The main purpose of conducting keyword research is to help you determine which topics and keywords to target in order to reach your desired audience.
Keyword research also helps you gain visibility on search engines and rank your website.
If you are not currently doing keyword research prior to writing your blog posts, you are leaving a lot up to chance!
Without keyword research, you could be targeting keywords that are completely out of reach for your current blog size and niche.
If you are writing amazing blog posts that no one is reading, a lack of keyword research might be to blame.
But how do you actually go about finding the right keywords?
Different Types of Keywords
There are many different types of keywords you can use on your blog or site.
Let’s have a look at keywords based on their length:
Short-tail Keywords
These keywords consist of one broad, generic word.
For example, if someone was interested in learning more about yoga and simply typed the word “yoga” in the search bar. A search query for such a broad term could generate hundreds of thousands of results.
If you, as a blogger, were targeting the keyword “yoga” in one of your blog posts, you could have a hard time gaining visibility for that post.
Short-tail keywords are extremely competitive. It’s a good idea to use them as a base to build on longer keywords.
As your site grows and you gain domain authority, you will be able to target some of these short-tail keywords.
Medium-tail Keywords
These keywords are actually phrases that have 2-3 words. They can be a bit less competitive and easier to rank than short-tail keywords.
An example of a medium-tail keyword would be “best yoga classes.” This search query narrows things down a bit and reduces the number of results.
Long-tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are phrases made of 3 or more words. They usually have less competition than shorter ones, so they are great for SEO and boosting blog traffic organically.
Long-tail keywords are easier to rank for because they don’t have as many queries. Long-tail keywords have high relevance and intent – they match specific searches from potential site visitors.
An example of a long-tail keyword would be “best yoga class in Manhattan.” This type of keyword significantly narrows things down and yields very specific results.
How to Do Keyword Research
Are you ready to get started with your keyword research?
Let’s dive in and discuss four steps best for finding the keywords that will help you achieve your blogging goals.
Step 1 – Identify Your Target Audience
Knowing who your target audience is and what they are looking for is essential for successful keyword research.
Your target audience is the group of people you are writing for.
Take some time to identify your target audience. This will help you come up with relevant topics and ideas for blog posts.
It will also provide you with a starting point in terms of keyword research.
If you don’t know who you are meant to read your blog posts, you won’t know the language to use so you can reach them.
In order to define your target audience, you should focus on creating a well-rounded profile of your target audience.
Demographics
- Age range
- Gender
- Median income
Psychographics:
- Interests
- Needs
- Search habits
When you understand your ideal audience, it becomes easier to figure out how to reach them and where to focus your marketing efforts.
Step 2 – Brainstorm and Organize Keywords
Once you know who your target audience is, it’s time to start brainstorming keywords related to the topics you plan on writing about and put them on a keyword list.
Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and think about specific terms they could be looking for!
Understanding intent is crucial when conducting keyword research. What is the meaning behind the search term(s) your target audience is using?
Keyword research can be a bit overwhelming at first so start off small.
Most established blogs have lists of hundreds of thousands of keywords they’re ranking for!
You should aim to get there as well, but consider that putting together a massive list of keywords takes time.
You should build your keyword list slowly and ramp things up as you get more efficient at keyword research. In no time, you will be doing keyword research like a pro and it will be easier to do your research in larger batches!
Building your list is not just about adding words, but choosing the ones that can bring you the best results.
You should start by making a list of 10 search terms your target audience could be interested in. Your 10 search terms could use short-tail keywords as a base. From there, you can create longer (medium-tail or long-tail) keywords.
Remember that when you are thinking about the needs of your audience, you shouldn’t just focus on single words; you should think of phrases too.
Step 3 – Use a Keyword Tool
After you have a list of potential keywords ready, you have to figure out if they could actually work for you.
You can use an online keyword tool such as Google Ads (formerly AdWords) or SEMrush to find out how competitive each of your keywords is or to get even more keyword ideas.
These keyword tools will also provide data on search volume, average cost per click (CPC), etc., giving you a better understanding of which keywords are best suited for your blog.
Another great (and free) tool is Keyword Everywhere
Their free version has some useful features to get you started on keyword research and you can always consider upgrading to a freemium version since they’re more affordable than other research tools. Their plans start at just $10 and they’re based on credits as opposed to paying for a monthly subscription.
If you don’t want to use a blogging tool, you can head to the Google search bar and use the results as a starting point to give you some ideas.
You should remember though – Google will show you the most popular research terms first so it will take some time to find long-tail keywords this way as you would have to narrow down results.
In order to choose the best long-tail keywords, take some time to make sure they meet this specific criteria:
Step 4 – Analyze The Results of your Keyword Research 101
Now that you have all the data from the keyword tool, it’s time to analyze it and decide which keywords should be targeted for each blog post.
As mentioned above, you should try to focus on long-tail keywords with high search volumes but low competition levels since these are likely to result in higher rankings and more traffic over time.
You can also use short-tail keywords if they align with your overall strategy but make sure they don’t conflict with other content pieces on your blog or website!
When you target different keywords for different blog posts, you boost your visibility by increasing your chances of getting seen by people looking for different search terms.
Remember that while there may be some overlap between different pieces of content, each piece should have its own unique set of targeted keywords that are relevant to that particular topic or subject.
Where to Include Keywords
You should use keywords on your:
- Headlines and titles
- Content body
- Links
- Images (Name, descriptions and alt-text)
- Internal site structure
Additional Tips for Conducting Keyword Research 101
- Choose one primary keyword for each blog post
- Add some secondary keywords to compliment your main keyword. This can help search engines understand your content and reinforce your message
- Use synonyms of your keywords or related phrases throughout your post
- Think about seasonality and trends. Some keywords fluctuate based on the time of year and specific trends so before you choose them, consider if they make sense in the long term.
- Incorporate keywords naturally. Your keywords should be repeated throughout your post, but they should not sound like you forced them into your content.
- Write longer blog posts so your articles are not stuffed with keywords
If you need some guidance to figure out how much content to publish, read our post on how often to blog.
Final Thoughts on Keyword Research 101
Keyword research is an essential step in creating content for any blog or website. By taking the time to identify your target audience, brainstorm relevant terms and phrases, utilize online keyword tools, and analyze the results carefully before deciding which words to target -you can create content that resonates with users while helping increase visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
If you have neglected keyword research in the past, you should go back to your blog posts and optimize them with some long-tail keywords or more competitive words you didn’t previously qualify for if you now have the domain and traffic.
SEO is constantly evolving and it’s good practice to review and optimize your keywords once or twice a year.
With this simple Keyword research 101 step-by-step guide, anyone can become a master at keyword research!
What are your thoughts on keywords?