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Today keyword research is a must have tool. According to Moz, Google makes adjustments to its search algorithm about 500 – 600 times every year. While some of those changes are more impactful than others, Google still makes it impossible for digital marketers to rest on their laurels given all of the changes it makes. Even though a lot changes from one year the next when it comes to search, one thing has pretty much stayed the same. And that’s the need for keyword research.
An Explanation of Keyword Research
If you’re not intimately familiar with search engine optimization, you might not know what keyword research is. Keyword research is when you actively investigate the terms that people enter into search engines to find information. Knowing the keywords that people are using to search for businesses like yours and/or the products or services you sell can be incredibly valuable to your search engine optimization and your overall digital marketing strategy.
Researching Keywords for Search Engine Optimization
Now that you know what keyword research is, it’s time for you to learn how you can research keywords. Keyword research is important because it can improve your SEO, which can benefit your organization and help you achieve your goals.
Make a List of Topics That Are Relevant to Your Business
You should start by creating a list of relevant topics people may research as they relate to your business. You’ll use these broader based topics to identify specific keywords later in your research.
Brainstorm Keywords
Using the topics you just came up with, brainstorm about the keywords someone might use to research those subjects. As you’ll see, some of the keywords you think of will include one or two words while others will have more. In other words, your list of keywords will include short and long-tail keywords.
In addition to brainstorming keywords, you should also see what keywords your website is already ranking for. To do this, you’ll need to use a platform like Google Analytics to sift through your organic search traffic and extract the keywords that lead people to your site.
Find Related Search Terms
Next, you should find terms that are related to the keywords you’ve already come up with. You can do this simply by typing a keyword into a Google search and reviewing the related terms on the page. You can take things one step further by doing the same thing with the related variations Google provides.
Check Your Keyword Mix
By now, you probably have a generous list of keywords. Ideally, your list will have an even greater mix of head terms and long-tail keywords. Head terms are keywords that consist of one to three words while long-tail keywords usually have four or more words. Head terms are often more generic whereas long-tail keywords are typically more specific and conversational.
Check Out How Your Competitors Rank
You should check out how your competitors rank for certain keywords, especially if you want to rank well for the same ones. Don’t limit your keywords to the ones your competitors use, however, or you may miss the opportunity to rank for others that your competitors are ignoring.
Make Use of Google’s AdWords Keyword Planner
Finally, you should narrow down your list using Google’s AdWords Keyword Planner. This tool makes it a breeze to research search volume and traffic estimates for select keywords. Based on your research, you’ll be able to eliminate some of the keywords on your list.
Trust Our SEO Agency with Your Keyword Research
As an SEO agency, our in-house experts do keyword research all the time. Regardless of the industry you’re in, we can research keywords for you and we can help you rank well for them. Want to improve your search engine optimization and see results? Let us handle your keyword research.
Get to know NW Media Collective Inc., an SEO agency you can trust with all of your digital marketing needs.
