Three Essential Keyword Research Tips

October 30, 2020

Contrary to popular belief, keyword research isn’t something that you do once and then forget about. Like any other aspect of SEO, research is an ongoing process. Here are some keyword research tips to help you get started.

What is Keyword Research?

The process of keyword research involves finding popular search terms relevant to customer interests. Business use keyword research tips to find the best keywords to reach their target audience. Understanding the right keywords helps marketers reach that all-important first page of search results.

The reason this research is so important is that it helps put your business in front of a bigger audience and attract more qualified leads. SEO is all about improving visibility. Use high quality long tail keywords to rank higher on Google and other search engines.

Three essential keyword research tips

Use Localized Keywords

One of our top tips for keyword research is to take advantage of localized keywords and phrases. Many small businesses look to local customers located in the same area as their physical store(s). Marketers should create content that targets localized keywords to attract the attention of local customers.

Get started with localized keywords by researching keywords that use your location. Target “Los Angeles plumbers”, for example. From there, you can branch out to other places in the region you service. If you work with people in surrounding areas and cities, then don’t forget to research keywords for those areas as well. Focus on all the areas you serve to target customers across your entire service area.

As you research these keywords, you might notice that these long tail keywords have less search volume than more generic keywords. Don’t let that scare you away from using them, however. While these keywords do have less traffic, this is because only local people are using them. Local keywords provide quality over quantity, which is what matters with keyword research.

See What the Competition is Doing

Another way to find good keywords to target is to see what the competition is up to. One part of research is to assess the competition and look at what keywords they target. Looking at the competition like this is one of the most effective but underutilized keyword research tips around. Knowing the keywords your competition use gives you an edge over them and helps you target their audience, adding it to your own.

Google Ads is how you can see what your competition puts on their site. Access Google Ads and click on “Search for new keywords using a phrase, website, or category.” Copy and paste the URL of your competition into the search bar and Google will do the rest. The tool offers you a list of the keywords and topics to target based on your competitors’ site.

Once again, don’t assume you should use keywords with a high search volume. There are lots of keywords that get a lot of search activity but don’t get many clicks or conversions. Targeting these keywords will get you on the first page of Google, but that’s pointless if people don’t actually click through to your site.

Use Google Suggest

Google is one of the most popular and used search engines in the world. It is considered by many to be the best around and provide the most relevant results. If you are looking into keywords for your website, then the place to start is Google. You can use Google to see what people look for when searching for brands, products, and services similar to yours. We recommend that you use Google Suggest as a means to find keywords to target.

Google Suggest appears when someone types in a word or phrase. When you type something into Google, you might notice that Google automatically suggests a bunch of similar search terms and relevant terms that could yield better results. These suggestions can give you plenty of insight into new keyword opportunities you can use for your business. Start out by searching for some general keyword phrases and see what Google Suggest has to suggest.

What makes Google Suggest so valuable for marketers is that the suggestions are based on the activity of human searchers. Google recognizes when people have to try different variations of a search term before they find the result they want. Google Suggest offers these alternate suggestions to people to save them time and help them get the results they want.

Another good thing about using Google Suggest is that it is completely free. All you have to do is search for a selection of popular keywords using Google. You’ll notice that Google automatically offers some extra keywords you might be looking for. You can include the suggested keywords and phrases in your list of long tail keywords your campaign targets.

Google regularly updates these suggestions, adding new suggestions every few weeks. The suggestions that you get when you search will be the most relevant and up-to-date ones. If you need to do further keyword research, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and check out the list of related keywords.

Conclusion

We hope that these keyword research tips help you push your campaigns to the next level and find plenty of extra keyword opportunities. Don’t forget that keyword research is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to SEO. There are plenty of factors to consider when putting together an effective strategy to drive traffic to your site.

If all that sounds like too much work, connect with the experts and get some assistance. Our SEO experts are waiting to hear from you and would be happy to advise you on where to take your campaign for future success. Get in touch today to learn more about SEO and how we can help.