Why Keyword Research Is Important For SEO (And How To Do It)
If you’re running a business, then you probably know that SEO is essential for success. But what many people don’t realise is that keyword research is the first and most important step in SEO. Without doing proper keyword research, you won’t know which keywords to target, and your efforts might be wasted. In this article, we’ll talk about why keyword research is so important for SEO, and we’ll also give you the steps required to help you get started!
First a quick definition – Keyword Research involves finding and analysing the keywords and phrases that people are using to search for your products, services, or information online. By understanding what your target audience is looking for, you can optimise your website and content to attract more qualified traffic and improve your search engine rankings.
By analysing the search volume and competition for certain keywords, you can identify which ones are worth targeting and how much effort you need to put in to rank for them. This helps you focus your efforts on the keywords that will bring you the most success
First Steps for Keyword Research:
To begin your keyword research, you’ll need to think about the topics that are relevant to your business or website. For example, if you sell shoes online, your relevant topics might include “men’s shoes,” “women’s shoes,” “running shoes,” “sandals,” and so on.
Once you have a list of potential keywords, you can use a keyword research tool to see how many people are searching for those terms and how competitive the search results are. Some tools will also provide suggestions for related keywords that you might not have thought of. There are many tools and resources available to help you get started, including
- Google Keyword Planner: This free tool from Google is a great place to start your keyword research. It allows you to see the search volume and competition for different keywords, as well as generate ideas for new ones. ( Note: this requires a free Google Ads account log in)
- SEMrush: This is a paid tool that offers a more comprehensive set of features for keyword research. It includes a keyword magic tool that helps you find relevant keywords and phrases, as well as a keyword difficulty score that shows how difficult it would be to rank for a particular keyword. Offers a 7 day free trial for testing.
- Ahrefs: This is another popular paid tool that offers a wide range of features for keyword research, including a limited free keyword explorer tool and a keyword difficulty score.
- Moz: also a paid tool, but they offer limited free version of some of their extensive list of SEO tools.
- AlsoAsked aggregates, organises and displays “People Also Ask” data that appear in Google search results, allowing you to create a cluster of potential topics for new content.
Next Steps:
Once you have identified some potential keywords and phrases to target, the next step is to optimise your website and content for those keywords. This involves:
- Incorporating the keywords into your website’s meta tags and title tags, which are the elements that search engines use to understand the content of your pages.
- Creating high-quality, relevant content that incorporates the keywords naturally and provides value to your audience.
- Adding relevant keywords to high-quality backlinks from other websites to your own, which can help improve your search engine rankings and increase the visibility of your website.
By following these steps and using the right tools, you can effectively conduct keyword research and improve your website’s SEO. This can help you attract more qualified traffic and ultimately drive more business to your website.
If you need help with a more thorough keyword research set up, why not contact us below.