A Keyword Research Guide: How to Find the Right Keywords

Keyword research is often considered to be the backbone of successful SEO results. Without the right keywords, even the most well-written, high-quality content will be invisible in the search engine results pages (SERPs), like Google or Bing. The goal of keyword research is not just to find popular search terms. 

It’s to discover the right keywords. The ones your audience is actively searching for, that match their intent, and that you have a realistic chance of ranking for. In this guide, we’ll be providing you with a step-by-step run-through of the keyword research process. The aim is to show you how to build a smart, data-driven strategy. So, let’s begin, shall we?

What is keyword research?

Keyword research is the process of identifying and analysing search terms that users enter into search engines. It’s important because it helps you to understand: what your audience is searching for, how often they search for it and what type of content satisfies the search intent. When done properly, keyword research helps you to create content that aligns with both user needs and search engine algorithms. 

Why does keyword research matter?

Keyword research matters greatly if you want to rank in the SERPs. But aside from the improvement of search engine rankings, the correct keyword research can also help you: increase organic traffic, attract qualified leads, rescue wasted content effort and understand customer intent. Without the right keyword research, your content creation becomes guesswork. With the right keyword research, it becomes strategic and, therefore, provides a better return on investment (ROI). 

How to find the right keywords

Finding the right keywords is paramount to ranking in the SERPs. If you get it wrong, then the content you’ve spent time and effort creating simply will not be visible online, regardless of the audience you want to target. Let’s see how you can find the right keywords to ensure impressive ranking in the SERPs when you need it most:

Step 1: Understand search intent

Before choosing the keywords you want to use, you should understand why someone is searching for them in the first place. You can do this by understanding the four types of search intent: informational, navigational, transactional and commercial investigation. Let’s take a look at them in more detail below:

1. Informational – users want to learn something
2. Navigational – users are looking for a specific website or brand
3. Transactional – users are ready to buy or take action
4. Commercial investigation – users are comparing options before purchasing

Essentially, if the content doesn’t match any of the user’s intent, then your content will be rendered useless, and it will not rank in the SERPs.

Step 2: Brainstorm seed keywords

Seed keywords are broad terms that relate directly to your niche. If your niche is SEO, then seed keywords might include things like: SEO tools, keyword research, backlinks and on-page SEO. These initial terms will help you to discover more specific keyword ideas, which aid your efforts in the long-term. 

Step 3: Use keyword research tools

Professional SEO tools provide valuable data, including competition, keyword difficulty, and search volume. There are different ways to acquire that data, including the use of tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, Google Keyword Planner and Google Search Console. 

Using these tools will provide you with information and data about things like keyword difficulty, monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, cost-per-click (CPC) and even related keyword suggestions.

Step 4: Analyse search volume vs. competition

When it comes to keyword research, many beginners will make the mistake of targeting only high-volume keywords. The problem with high-volume keywords is that competition is high, it’s harder to rank for, and competitors are established, so they’ll rank for that keyword and you won’t. Instead, find a balance between search volume and competition. The higher the search volume and the lower the competition, the more likely it is that YOU will rank for that keyword. Don’t choose a keyword with a high search volume and high competition. 

Step 5: Target long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are more specific, longer keywords, often referred to as keyword phrases. For example, a short-tail keyword would be ‘SEO’, whereas a long-tail keyword that targets the same topic would be ‘how to do keyword research for beginners’. 

Long-tail keywords will typically attract more qualified traffic, convert better and have lower competition. While their search volume might be lower, they collectively drive significant traffic in comparison to short-tail keywords. 

Step 6: Analyse competitor keywords

When it comes to finding the right keywords to use, one of the best places to go is your competitors’ websites. You should look at their copy and identify the keywords they’re using. While investigating, ask yourself the following questions:

• What keywords are they trying to rank for?
• What types of content rank better than other types of content?
• How in-depth is the content they’re producing?
• Are there any backlinks present to support it?

You might now be wondering how you can get the answers to those questions. Well, using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush will help here. They allow you to enter competitor URLs and see their ranking keywords. This reveals keyword gaps and content opportunities accurately, allowing you to capitalise on those missing links.

Step 7: Evaluate keyword metrics

When choosing keywords to use in your content, whether it be a website page or an article, you need to examine keyword difficulty, search volume, cost per click (CPC) and search engine results page (SERP) features. Let’s take a closer look at those metrics below:

• Keyword difficulty – how hard is it to rank?
• Search volume – monthly search frequency
• CPC – higher CPC often signals commercial value
• SERP features – are there featured snippets, ads, videos or “people also ask” sections?

Step 8: Group keywords into topics (keyword clustering)

Rather than targeting one keyword per page, group related or relevant keywords together. This is also known, in the industry, as keyword clusters. It’s possible to create one comprehensive article that covers them all naturally. This improves topical authority and avoids keyword cannibalisation. Examples of keyword clusters include: 

• A keyword research guide
• A ‘how-to’ article on keyword research
• Keyword research for beginners
• Having an SEO keyword strategy

Step 9: Prioritise based on business goals

Not all traffic is equal. For example, ranking for “ what is SEO” may bring the traffic in, but “best SEO software for small businesses” might bring in more customers. With this in mind, you should be asking yourself the following questions:

• Does this keyword attract my target audience?
• Does this keyword align with my product or service?
• Can this keyword generate revenue for me or my client?

Step 10: Track & refine

Keyword research isn’t a one-time activity. It needs to be ongoing as keywords can constantly change, even day-to-day. With this in mind, even after you’ve published your content, you should be tracking rankings, monitoring traffic levels, updating content regularly and identifying new keyword trends. SEO is dynamic, and so are search behaviour changes. As such, your tracking and refining should be constant.

Common keyword research mistakes to avoid

Despite knowing everything there is to know about keyword research, after reading this article, there are still some easy mistakes to make when it comes to researching and implementing them. So, how can keyword research and integration go wrong? Here are a few mistakes that you need to avoid to ensure effective results every single time:

• Targeting only long-tail keywords and phrases
• Igrnoing search intent
• Overlooking long-tail opportunities 
• Failing to analyse your competitors
• Keyword stuffing

Kumo proudly delivers premium digital marketing services to clients nationwide. No matter your industry, our team provides exceptional SEO, PPC, content creation and website design solutions – along with many other tailored strategies – to help elevate your brand and increase its visibility. If you’re ready to stand out from the competition and drive more traffic, leads, conversions and sales, contact our friendly and experienced team today. We’d be delighted to discuss how we can support your growth.