ByTechnical SEO keyword research is the most important process for improving a website’s search engine rankings. Selecting the right keywords can increase traffic to your website and strengthen your business’s online presence. In this blog, we will provide a step-by-step guide to help you perform effective technical SEO keyword research.
1. Basic understanding of keywords
Keywords are words or phrases that people type on search engines (such as Google, or Bing) to try to find specific information, products, or services. For example, if a person searches for “best mobile phone”, then “best mobile phone” is a keyword.
For a basic understanding of keywords, it is important to note the following points:
Importance of keywords:
How search engines index your website depends largely on the keywords used on your website. If the right keywords are used on your website, your website may appear higher in search results.
By choosing the right keywords, you can attract a targeted audience, which can increase your website traffic and conversions.
Types of keywords:
- Short-tail keywords: These are usually one or two words, such as “laptop”. They have a high search volume but can be difficult to rank for.
- Long-tail keywords: These are three or more words, such as “best laptops for students”. These are relatively easy to rank for and can bring more targeted traffic.
- LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords: These are related to keywords that have a similar meaning to your main keyword, such as “digital camera” and “photography camera”.
Keyword relevance:
Relevance depends on how well the selected keyword matches your content and the needs of your audience. If your keyword is not relevant to your content, users will quickly exit your website, which can lead to an increased bounce rate.
Purpose of Keyword Research:
The purpose of keyword research is to identify keywords that are important to your business, product, or service and that are possible to rank for in search engines. Choosing the right keywords can help you rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and increase organic traffic.
Based on this basic understanding of keywords, you can select keywords for your website relevant to your audience and search engines.
2. Identify your niche and target audience
Identify your niche and target audience
Before you begin technical SEO keyword research, it is important to understand what you are working on and who your target audience is. Both of these aspects serve as the foundation for your keyword research. Let’s understand this process in detail:
- Identify the topic:
It is extremely important to identify the topic you want to cover clearly. This will let you know what kind of keywords you need and what direction your website will take.
- Clarify the topic:
First, define the main topic of your business, product, or service. For example, if you run a fitness blog, your topics could be fitness, workouts, nutrition, weight loss, etc.
- Select subtopics:
Identify smaller subtopics within the main topic. For example, fitness could include subtopics like “cardio exercise,” “yoga,” “muscle building.” Based on these subtopics, you can select broad keywords.
- Identify the target audience:
The target audience is the people for whom you are creating content. Understanding their needs, wants, and problems can make your keyword research more effective.
- Profile the audience:
Identify the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your audience. This may include their age, gender, location, interests, profession, and purchasing habits. For example, if your website focuses on yoga guides for women, your audience may be primarily young and middle-aged women.
- Understand the audience’s problems and needs:
Learn what problems your target audience faces and what type of information they are looking for. For example, if your audience is looking for fitness tips, they may want information like “fast weight loss tips,” “home workouts,” or “best protein shakes.”
- Analyze the audience’s search behavior:
Try to understand how your audience uses search engines. What words or phrases they type, what questions they ask, and what type of content they prefer. This information will help you select keywords that can meet your audience’s needs.
- Analyze competitors:
Analyze your competitors’ websites. See what kind of topics they are focusing on and what keywords they are using. This will give you an idea of what kind of keywords are in demand in the market and which keywords may be difficult to rank for.
3. Gather initial keyword ideas
- Ways to get initial keyword ideas
Getting initial keyword ideas Technical SEO keyword research Searching is an important step in the search process. Here we will discuss different ways in which you can gather effective keyword ideas:
- Use Google Autocomplete
Google Autocomplete is a great tool for you that can help you get initial keyword ideas. When you type a term in the Google search bar, Google automatically suggests some that users often search for.
- How to:
Type a term related to your topic in the Google search bar and see what words or phrases Google suggests. For example, if you type “fitness tips,” Google might suggest “fitness tips for women,” “fitness tips at home,” and “fitness tips for beginners.”
- Benefits:
This method gives you an idea of popular and trending keywords based on actual search queries.
- Use Keyword Research Tools
Keyword research tools provide you with comprehensive keyword data and help you gather new keyword ideas.
Popular tools:
- Google Keyword Planner: This is a free tool from Google that gives you information on the search volume, competition, and other metrics of keywords.
- Ahrefs: This is a paid tool that offers keyword research, backlink analysis, and analysis of competitors’ data.
- SEMrush: This paid tool analyzes keywords as well as other SEO metrics.
- Moz Keyword Explorer: This tool provides information on the search volume, difficulty, and potential click-through rate (CTR) for keywords.
How to:
Enter a word or phrase related to your main topic in these tools and they will give you a list of related keywords.
Benefits:
These tools provide you with in-depth keyword data, allowing you to evaluate keywords and make better decisions.
Analyze competitors’ websites
Competitor analysis will let you know which keywords your competitors are using and which keywords their website is ranking for.
How to do it:
Visit your competitors’ websites and analyze their blog posts, product pages, and meta tags. See what kind of keywords they are using and how their content is structured.
Benefits:
This will give you an idea of the keywords that are working for your competitors, and you can incorporate those keywords into your strategy.
Use question and forum websites
Q&A websites like Quora and forums like Reddit can be a great way to understand the questions and discussions your audience has.
How to do it:
Find questions and discussions related to your topic. For example, if you are working on fitness, you can look for fitness-related questions on Quora.
Benefits:
These platforms will give you an idea of the keywords that people are searching for in real life and that can solve their problems.
Analyze social media and trending topics
- Social media platforms and trending topics help find new and trending keywords.
How to:
- Analyze trending hashtags on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
- Use Google Trends to know which topics are currently trending.
Benefits:
This method will give you an idea of trending keywords and topics that can drive more traffic to your website.
4. Evaluate keyword relevance and difficulty
Evaluate keyword relevance and difficulty
After gathering initial keyword ideas, the next step is to evaluate the relevance and difficulty of those keywords. This step is extremely important for your SEO strategy, as it helps you choose the keywords that can prove to be most effective for your website. Let’s understand this in detail:
Evaluate keyword relevance
Relevance determines how relevant the chosen keyword is to your business, website content, and target audience. A relevant keyword is one that perfectly matches your content and meets your audience’s requirements.
Understand the needs of the target audience:
It is important to know what type of information your target audience is looking for. For example, if you are running a fitness website, keywords like “fitness tips” will be more relevant to your topic and audience.
Content matching:
Make sure your content perfectly matches the selected keyword. If your content is not associated with the keyword, the search engine will not rank your website correctly, and users will not be satisfied either.
Analyze user intent:
Understand why the user has typed the keyword in the search engine. For example, if someone is searching for “best weight loss tips,” their intent might be to learn about ways to lose weight. You need to make sure that your content satisfies this intent.
Evaluating Keyword Difficulty
Difficulty rating indicates how challenging it might be to rank for that keyword. It usually depends on the competition that already exists for that keyword.
Difficulty Score:
Many keyword research tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz provide a keyword difficulty score. This score can be as low as 0. to 100, where 0 means it’s very easy to rank, and 100 means it’s very difficult to rank.
Analyze competing websites:
See which websites are ranking for that keyword. If those websites have high authority, it may be difficult to rank for that keyword. You can assess your chances of ranking by comparing your website to these websites.
Balancing search volume and difficulty:
Sometimes it’s difficult to rank for keywords with high search volume. So you need to strike a balance between search volume and difficulty. For example, if a keyword has high search volume but also high difficulty, you may prioritize keywords with lower search volume but less competition.
Focus on long-tail keywords:
Long-tail keywords (such as “best weight loss tips for women over 40”) may be relatively easy to rank for because there’s less competition. While these may have lower search volumes, they can bring in more targeted traffic.
Using tools for keyword evaluation
There are a few tools that help assess keyword relevance and difficulty:
Google Keyword Planner:
This tool provides information on the search volume and competition of keywords, which helps you gauge difficulty.
Ahrefs:
Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer tool provides you with difficulty scores and competitive analysis, which can help you decide which keywords to focus on.
SEMrush:
SEMrush’s Keyword Magic tool provides you with keyword difficulty and a list of related keywords, which can strengthen your keyword strategy.
Moz Keyword Explorer:
Moz lets you analyze keyword difficulty scores, search volume, and potential click-through rate (CTR).
5. Focus on long-tail keywords
Focus on long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords are a powerful tool in the world of SEO, which can help you get more targeted and quality traffic. By using these keywords, you can not only avoid the competition but also make your website more relevant to users who are looking for specific information. Let’s understand this in detail:
What are long-tail keywords?
Long-tail keywords are those that are more specific and extended. They usually consist of three or more words. For example:
Short-tail keyword: “fitness tips”
Long-tail keyword: “fitness tips for beginners at home”
Long-tail keywords usually have a lower search volume, but they are more targeted and specific, making them relatively easier to rank for.
Benefits of Long-Tail Keywords
1. Less competition:
Long-tail keywords have less competition than short-tail keywords. This means it may be easier to rank your website for those keywords.
2. Targeted traffic:
Long-tail keywords are more specific, so they lead users directly to the pages that best meet their needs. This not only helps increase traffic to your website but can also increase your conversion rate.
3. Better conversion rates:
Because users using long-tail keywords are searching for specific information, they may interact more with your content and are more likely to purchase your product or service.
4. Matching user intent:
Long-tail keywords often address a specific user intent. This ensures that your content meets the users’ needs, which improves their experience and can also increase your website’s ranking.
Ways to find long-tail keywords
Use Google Autocomplete:
When you type a term in the Google search bar, Google gives you suggestions for related search queries. These suggestions also include long-tail keywords that you can include in your content.
Question-based keywords:
Visit Quora, Reddit, and other question-and-answer websites to see what questions people are asking. For example, you may find long-tail keywords like “best fitness tips for beginners.”
Use keyword research tools:
Keyword research tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz help you find long-tail keywords. These tools recommend keywords that are easy to rank for and that are relevant to your target audience.
Google Trends:
Using Google Trends, you can find out trending long-tail keywords. This tool will tell you which keywords are becoming popular and their search volume is increasing at what time.
How to use long-tail keywords?
Blog posts and articles:
Include long-tail keywords in the titles, headings, and content of blog posts and articles. This will improve the SEO of your content and it will reach more users.
Include in product pages:
If you are running an e-commerce website, include long-tail keywords in your product descriptions. For example, using keywords like “best fitness equipment for home gym” can help you market your products to a more targeted audience. These are.
FAQ Section:
Create a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section on your website and include long-tail keywords there. This will not only improve your website rankings but will also directly answer users’ queries.
6. Categorize and prioritize keywords
Categorizing and prioritizing keywords
Categorizing and prioritizing keywords is a crucial step in the process of keyword research. It ensures that you are steering your SEO efforts in the right direction and focusing on keywords that can be most effective for your website. Let’s understand this step by step:
1. Categorize keywords
Categorizing keywords means dividing them into different categories so that you can understand what types of keywords you can include in your content strategy. Here are some of the major categories:
Branded and non-branded keywords
Branded keywords:
These keywords are related to your brand name. For example, “Nike running shoes” is a branded keyword. These keywords target users who already know your brand.
Non-branded keywords:
These keywords are not related to a specific brand but instead target general products, services, or information. For example, “best running shoes for beginners” is a non-branded keyword.
Short-tail and long-tail keywords
Short-tail keywords:
These are keywords of one or two words, such as “running shoes”. These keywords are general and have high competition.
Long-tail keywords:
These are keywords of three or more words, such as “best running shoes for flat feet”. These keywords are specific and have low competition.
Transactional, informational, and navigational keywords
Transactional keywords:
These keywords target users who have the intent to buy something or sign up for a service. Example: “Buy Nike running shoes online”.
Informational keywords:
These keywords target users who have the intent to obtain information. Example: “How to choose the best running shoes”.
Navigational keywords:
These keywords target users who want to reach a specific website or page. Example: “Nike official website”.
High search volume and low search volume keywords
High search volume keywords:
These keywords are searched for more frequently, such as “best running shoes”. These can be challenging to rank for, but they can bring in more traffic.
Low search volume keywords:
These keywords are searched less frequently, but may be relatively easy to rank for, such as “best running shoes for flat feet under $100”.
2. Prioritize keywords
Now that you’ve categorized keywords, the next step is to prioritize them. This ensures that you focus on the keywords that can be most beneficial to your business.
a. Prioritize based on business goals
Prioritize keywords based on your business goals. For example:
If your goal is to drive more traffic:
Prioritize keywords with high search volume, even if they may be harder to rank for.
If your goal is to increase conversions:
Focus on transactional and long-tail keywords, as they may bring more targeted traffic and better conversion rates.
b. Evaluate keyword difficulty
Evaluate keyword difficulty and use it as a prioritization factor:
Low difficulty keywords:
These may be easier to rank for, so they should be prioritized higher, especially if your website is new or has a low domain authority.
High difficulty keywords:
These keywords may be harder to rank for, so put them lower on the priority list or keep them as a long-term goal.
c. Balance search volume and ROI
Find a balance between search volume and return on investment (ROI). It is important to know if keywords with high search volume are bringing more ROI:
High ROI keywords:
If a keyword can bring good ROI to your business, prioritize it, even if it has a low search volume.
High search volume keywords:
If these keywords can increase your website traffic, put them on the priority list.
3. Prepare a Priority List
Keeping all the classification and prioritization parameters in mind, now prepare a priority list:
High Priority:
These are the keywords that should be targeted first, as they are most relevant to your business goals.
Medium Priority:
These are the keywords that can be targeted in the next step, as they may be relatively easy to rank for or they may bring long-term benefits.
Low Priority:
These are the keywords that you can target later or skip for now, as they are not very relevant to your business goals right now.
7. Integrate the Keywords into the Content
Integrate the Keywords into the Content
Once you have selected and prioritized the keywords, the next important step is to integrate them into the content. Integrate keywords into your content correctly. Effective use of keywords can improve your website’s search engine rankings and provide more relevant content to your audience. Let’s see how to integrate keywords into content:
Integrate keywords into different parts of the content
It is very important to use keywords in different parts of the content. Using keywords in the right places gives search engines a hint about what your content is about. Here are some important places where you should use keywords:
Include keywords in the title
Title Tag:
This is the most important element of your page. Make sure to use key keywords here. For example, if your keyword is “Best Running Shoes for Beginners,” your title could be: “Best Running Shoes for Beginners – The Complete Guide.”
Headings and Subheadings:
Include keywords in headings and subheadings. This tells search engines what your content is about and also helps users read.
Meta Description
Use keywords in meta description:
The meta description is the text that appears below your website link in search engine results. It uses keywords to tell search engines what your page is about. Example: “Learn how to choose the best running shoes for beginners, and tips for buying them.”
Introduction and Conclusion Paragraphs
Keywords in Introduction:
Use major keywords in the first paragraph of your article. This helps search engines understand the main topic of your content.
Keywords in Conclusion:
Use keywords in the conclusion as well so that search engines can understand the summary of your content.
Use keywords in the content body
Include keywords naturally:
Include keywords in your content body naturally and spontaneously. Do not force it, as this can affect both the readability of the content and the user experience.
Maintain proper keyword density:
Keep the density of your keywords right. In general, 1-2% keyword density is sufficient, i.e. use a keyword once or twice per 100 words.
Use synonyms and related keywords
Use related keywords (LSI Keywords):
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords are related words with your main keyword. These help search engines understand your content in-depth. For example, the LSI keywords for “best-running shoes” could be: “comfortable running shoes,” “training shoes,” or “running footwear.”
Use different forms of keywords:
Use singular and plural forms, tenses, and other grammatical variations. For example, if your main keyword is “running shoes,” you could use variants such as “running shoes” and “running shoes.”
- Using keywords in images and multimedia
- Include keywords in the image alt text
- Alt text of images:
Use keywords in the alt text for images used on your website. This helps search engines understand your images and show them in search results. Example: “Images of the best running shoes for beginners.”
- Videos and other media files
Use keywords in video descriptions and captions:
If you’re using videos, include keywords in their descriptions and captions. This is not only beneficial for search engines but also useful for users.
- Integrate keywords into linking
- Internal linking
Use keywords in internal linking:
Use keywords for internal linking within your website. For example, you can link to related pages by using anchor text like “Learn more about the best running shoes.”
- External linking
When linking to external sources:
When you link to external sources, make sure you are using keywords as anchor text. This helps search engines understand the relevance and authority of your content.
- Keep user experience (UX) in mind
- Maintain a natural flow while using keywords
Don’t break the flow of text:
While using keywords, make sure to maintain the natural flow of the text. Avoid keyword stuffing, as it not only spoils the user experience but can also lead to penalties from search engines.
- Pay attention to the readability of the content
- Maintain the readability of the text while using keywords:
Include keywords in such a way that they do not disrupt the smoothness of the text. Readers should not have any difficulty in reading and understanding your content.
8. Analyze and update keyword performance
Analyze and update keyword performance
Once you have integrated keywords into your content and implemented your SEO strategy, the next important step is to regularly analyze keyword performance and update them as needed. This process ensures that your website consistently ranks high in search engine results and brings more traffic and conversions to your business.
Analyze keyword performance
Analyzing keyword performance is an important step in assessing the effectiveness of your SEO strategy. For this, you have to use various tools and metrics.
Use Google Search Console
Google Search Console:
This is a powerful tool that helps you see how your keywords are performing in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). From here you can know which keywords are getting your website more impressions, clicks, and CTR (Click-Through Rate).
Identify top-performing keywords:
Use Google Search Console to see which keywords are performing the best for your website. This information will help you make your SEO strategy even more effective.
Use Google Analytics
Google Analytics:
Google Analytics is another tool to analyze the performance of keywords in depth. This tells you which keywords are driving the most traffic to your website and which pages are performing the best.
Analyze bounce rate and average session duration:
See how long visitors who come through your keywords stay on your website and whether they visit other pages as well. Review keywords with high bounce rates and try to figure out why visitors are leaving the page quickly.
Use keyword ranking tracking tools
Rank tracking tools:
Using tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz, you can track the ranking of your keywords regularly. It is important to know what position your keywords are ranking in the search engine results page and how their performance is changing over time.
Track ranking fluctuations:
Track ranking fluctuations to know if there is any significant change in the ranking of your keywords. If a keyword is experiencing a drop in rankings, it may need to be updated.
Update keywords
The performance of keywords changes regularly, so it is important to update them from time to time. This keeps your SEO strategy dynamic and competitive.
Add new keywords
Pay attention to new trends and topics:
Incorporate new keywords into your strategy keeping in mind new trends and topics in the market and industry. This will ensure that you are in sync with the changing needs of your target audience.
Research new keywords:
Perform keyword research regularly to identify new keywords. Discover new opportunities using Google Keyword Planner, AnswerThePublic, and other keyword research tools.
Revise low-performing keywords
Identify less effective keywords:
Check through Google Search Console and Analytics to see which keywords are not performing as expected. Modify such keywords or remove them from your strategy.
Make keywords more targeted:
If a keyword is generic and has more competition, make it more targeted and specific. For example, use “best-running shoes for beginners” instead of “running shoes.”
Refresh content
Update content:
If you have old content based on your keywords, update it regularly. Make sure to refresh the content according to new data, research, and user needs.
Include keywords in better positions:
Make sure your keywords are present in the most important places of your content, such as in headings, meta descriptions, and the first paragraph.
Perform competitive analysis
Analyze competitors’ keywords
Perform competitive keyword research:
Look at your competitors’ websites and try to find out which keywords they are ranking for. Analyze competitive keywords using tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and SimilarWeb.
Optimize keywords for competitive advantage:
If your competitors are performing well on a particular keyword, you can focus on that keyword and incorporate it better in your content.
Identify new opportunities
Keyword gap analysis:
Use keyword gap analysis to identify which keywords your competitors are ranking on that you are not. Incorporate these keywords into your SEO strategy.
Regular review and adjustments
Regular review of keywords:
Regularly (on a monthly or quarterly basis) review keyword performance. This ensures that your SEO strategy remains effective over time.
Update keywords:
Update your keywords from time to time and change them as needed. This will keep your website ready for changes in search engine algorithms.
Conclusion
Technical SEO Keyword research is the foundation of an effective SEO strategy. Identifying the right keywords, analyzing them, and integrating them into content in the right way is essential to getting your website ranked higher in search engines and driving more traffic.
In this guide, we have discussed every aspect of keyword research in detail, from identifying topics and target audiences to analyzing keyword performance This includes analyzing and updating them. It is important to pay attention to every step so that your website remains relevant and valuable to both search engine algorithms and users.
SEO is an ongoing process, so regularly analyze the performance of your keywords, add new keywords, and update the content. This will ensure that your website always remains competitive and meets the changing needs of your target audience.
Using keywords correctly will not only improve your search engine rankings but will also help bring more traffic and conversions to your business. Thus, take keyword research seriously for a successful SEO strategy and put it at the center of your digital marketing.
