Keyword Research Process: Step-by-Step Comprehensive Guide

Researching keywords may seem like an easy task but it isn’t. When it comes to your brand, it’s important to understand the keyword research process, target the right ones that users search for and create content based on that. So, what is keyword research, how does it play a crucial role in your digital marketing strategy and more importantly, how to choose the right SEO keyword types? We’ll find that out in this article, let’s get started.

Keyword research is identifying relevant search terms that customers input in search engines and using them to enhance your content & SEO marketing strategies. With this approach, you can find out popular queries, their ranking and how competitive they are.

The Crucial Role of Keyword Research Process in SEO

Suppose you run a hardware store and have the best tools in the market, but if customers aren’t searching for the “best hardware tools” and your content isn’t based on such keywords, the chances of getting recognized in search engines are slim to none.

When doing keyword research steps, you will come across keywords that aren’t hard to rank for and keywords that you can confidently produce excellent content on. The ideal sweet spot is getting the best of both categories.

Source: Hubspot

A keyword research process determines who your competitors are and which geographical areas your web content can rank for. Customers, including myself, primarily use keywords to research the web for information. When your content pops up first to customers when they search for something related to your brand, that’s when you’ll start gaining traffic. Once you identify the intended SEO keyword research steps, you should prioritize creating content based on such keywords and also in a way that people want to discover.

How To Do SEO Keyword Research

So far you have learned what keyword research is and its importance in enhancing SEO strategies. Before you conduct a keyword research process in SEO, there are two important factors you should consider first.

Relevance: Google typically ranks content based on its relevance to customer queries. Your content will only rank for a keyword if it meets the users’ needs. When they input a search term related to your business, your content must be the top result for their query.

Volume: Keyword volume is typically measured as MSV (Maximum Search Volume). Ranking your keyword on the first page is good but if users don’t search for it, there’s no use with the ranking. Therefore, always try to identify terms that have a higher MSV.

Now with that out of the way, let’s discuss the steps involved in conducting a keyword research process. After all, this is why you are here, isn’t it?

Brainstorm topic ideas related to your business

SEO keyword research steps start with making a broad list of topics relevant to your business. You must then search for the most popular and competitive keywords based on the topics you wish to rank for and competitor keyword analysis.  It is important to keep the list short with 5-10 topics being sufficient.

Find out the potential search terms 

Once you have made a list, the next stage is to identify the possible terms and phrases that customers might search on the web for information, product details, services, etc. If you already have data collected from analytics, then checking the organic traffic list will help find out the terms used by target audiences to visit your website. 

Find related search terms

As a digital marketer, your primary focus will be identifying the top competitive keywords relevant to your brand, that’s good. However, when you run of out keywords to target, it’s always important to focus on finding related search terms similar to the ones you have identified, why? 

This is because it gives you an idea that these terms are also searched by customers, therefore, considering them is better for your long-term SEO activities. The easiest way to find related terms is to do a keyword search on Google, and then scroll down to check the list of phrases that Google suggests. Or you can just type your keyword into Google’s keyword planner and see other relevant terms people use.

Determine important keyword parameters

When doing SEO keyword research steps and analyzing them, you must determine whether the keywords you find are the best match. These are the following points to consider:

• Exact search term: Ensure the keywords chosen exactly match the terms searched by users
• High search volume: Focus on keywords with the highest search volume
• Competition: Keywords with high search volume and low organic competition should be preferred.

Understand search intent

Each customer has a specific intent when they input a search term on Google. As an SEO professional, you must be able to understand their intent by typing the keywords into the search engine. For example, if a user wants to buy a specific product and you provide information about a similar product, the user might visit the page but will quickly bounce. However, if you are offering the specific product page instead of the purchase link, the user will make the purchase.

Benefits of Keyword Research Process In SEO

Performing keyword research comes with several long-term advantages for your SEO strategy. Let’s find out what they all are:

Higher Ranking & Traffic Generation

Identifying competitive keywords and incorporating them into your content helps you rank high in search results and draw in more traffic to your website. 

Generate Trending Insights 

Performing a keyword research process in SEO offers not only top keywords but also helpful marketing insights and trends based on your business and creates relevant content that users are looking for. 

Gain More Customers

The ultimate aim of your content strategy is to attract and meet the needs of customers. When you meet their needs, you are already halfway and adding a strong call-to-action leads them to the point of purchase. However, to meet the audiences’ requirements and understand better, you must research search terms based on their popularity, search volume, and general intent.

Pick The Best Keyword Research Tools 

No keyword research steps are complete without leveraging the features of the best keyword research tools. When it comes to that, there are literally several types available in both free and paid versions.  Now that you have learned how to do SEO keyword research, let’s move on to the various keyword tools that you can try out.

Top Keyword Tools	Best Case Use	Standout feature
Google Keyword Planner	Keyword research and PPC advertising	Budget planning & Forecasting features
Ahrefs	Backlink analysis and competitive research	In-depth backlink analysis and powerful Site Explorer tool
Semrush	Comprehensive digital marketing toolkit	Granular keyword data & extensive keyword research capability
Moz Keyword Explorer	In-depth SEO analysis and optimization	Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA) metrics

Winding Up

The keyword research process is a factor in every SEO marketing campaign. It helps identify competitive keywords and helps better understand the terms customers search for and their intent. Using the methods described above coupled with the right toolset, you can kickstart your SEO keyword research steps and gain valuable insights.

For such kind of useful insights, visit GTECH, a leading search engine optimization company in Dubai, UAE.