Searching for keywords
Keyword research is one of the core search engine optimization tasks. In this chapter, you will learn how to find the right niche for you and how to find profitable keywords that you can rank for.
searching for keywords
Creating content without keyword research does not pay off. The content will not rank without proper optimization and your site visitors will be low. You simply have to know which keywords to target to generate enough quality traffic.
Where do you find the keywords?
There are different ways to find keywords.
Your first task is to come up with the initial keywords – the phrases you will use as a starting point for finding more keyword ideas. If you run a blog about coffee, simple phrases like “coffee beans,” “coffee machines,” or “espresso” will work great.
searching for keywords
Classic keyword research methods: Google Suggestions.
Google offers many keyword suggestions directly in the SERP. Features like Google autocomplete, people also ask, or related searches can be a great source for keyword ideas.
With the autocomplete feature, just type your initial keyword into a Google search and the suggestions will appear automatically.
Google autocomplete for keyword search.
You can combine the initial keyword with different letters of the alphabet to find more autocomplete ideas (eg email marketing A, email marketing B,...)
Here is another example of keyword ideas that can be found on the Google results page:
keyword research - seo
All suggestions are based on real search queries used by people all over the world.
Keyword Tools. Seo
There are many free keyword research tools that can give you hundreds of keyword ideas based on one primary keyword.
Keyword Planner. Seo
One of the most popular is Google Keyword Planner although its primary focus is researching keywords for PPC ads.
Free seo tools.
Another popular free tool is AnswerThePublic. It automatically generates hundreds of Google autocomplete suggestions.
Of course, free tools are very limited in their features. They offer many keyword suggestions, but what do you do with 500 keyword ideas?
Paid SEO Tools
Professional paid keyword tools provide useful SEO metrics and helpful statistics for evaluating and selecting the best keywords. Besides, it saves you a lot of time which gives you a competitive advantage.
Among the top paid and cool keyword research tools in order are:
SEO SEMrush:
This is the best company in the field, providing you with many SEO tools, among these tools, tools for keyword research, tracking and ranking tracking while deciding how difficult it is to rank in each keyword, but it is expensive, you can choose the trial for free for 7 days.
Ahrefs Seo.
This is also an excellent site for doing a site audit as well as knowing the volume of keyword searches and many other features. You can also get the service for free for 7 days.
KWFinder SEO.
KWFinder is the perfect choice for Arabs to search for keywords, it provides excellent features, yet it does not compare with SEMRUSH, you also get 10 days for free.
Other tools for keyword research:
- Majestic
- Long Tail Pro
- Alexa
- Keyword Tool
- serpstat
If your site is very large, we recommend SEMrush, if it is medium or small, we recommend KWfinder, and if your site is very small or new, we recommend using Google Keyword Planner.
Keyword Tool from kwfinder. seo and keywords
Along with keyword suggestions, it calculates keyword difficulty as well as your site's SERP position for each keyword to help you estimate your chances and analyze competitors.
Try KWFinder with a 10-day free trial. No credit card needed. You will discover that you were living in the Stone Age until you discovered these tools
advice:
You can also search for keywords your competitors rank in simply by typing in their location.
Do I need a paid keyword tool?
My rule of thumb is: If you are making money from your website in any way, a quality keyword tool is a great investment that will pay off sooner or later.
other platforms. To search for keywords:
You can search for keyword ideas just about anywhere. Focus on the websites that professionals use to ask questions, communicate, and share ideas.
Some of the most popular platforms for finding keyword ideas:
- Youtube
- Qora
- Wikipedia
- Forums
Keyword Metrics
In the past, content creators performed keyword research only to find keywords with high search volumes. They stuff it into the content to trick search engine algorithms and ensure high rankings in organic search. This is no longer useful because keyword research has become more complex!
These days you have to work with more metrics, think about the Google RankBrain algorithm and the actual SERP you plan to rank in.
Google RankBrain
RankBrain is a component of Google's algorithm based on artificial intelligence. It helps Google understand the intent of a query and provide the most relevant results thanks to the machine learning system.
Relevant keywords with high search volumes. and low keyword difficulty – the perfect combination of the three most important keyword research factors.
Imagine it, like a three-legged chair, if one of the legs was broken, the chair would fall.
With the same idea, there are three pillars on which the keyword research process is based:
- The first column: that the keyword has a large or good search volume.
- The second column: is that the keyword is sortable.
- The third column: is that the content of the site is suitable for that keyword.
If one of these columns drops, it means that you failed to search for the appropriate keyword.
Unfortunately, it is not always that easy and you need to find a balance between these factors.
Long keywords vs search volumes.
Start by searching for long tail or middle tail keywords.
Long tail keywords.
It has lower search volumes but there are thousands that represent the opportunity for you. Count them and you will see their huge potential.
Visitors who find you through long-tail keywords will interact with your content more often and have higher conversion rates. That's because the query is specific enough to find relevant results. And you want to be on top of these relevant results.
The largest number of long tail keywords is search volume. Sometimes, it might be up to 100 searches per month. This is why you need to find the right balance and a metric called keyword difficulty will help you achieve that.
Difficulty with keywords.
Once you've found the keywords you want to rank for, you'll need to assess how difficult it is. Keyword difficulty is a very useful metric that will help you with this.
The value is usually indicated on a scale from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the more difficult it is to rank on the first SERP for the keyword.
Searching for keywords in seo.
There are many keyword research tools on the market to calculate keyword difficulty. Values may vary – you can see a score of 30 on one tool and 50 on another for the exact same keyword.
This is because the calculations are based on slightly different metrics and algorithms. The important thing is to compare the results in one tool.
The intent of searching | search intentions
SERP analysis is a very important part of keyword research. It helps you know if:
You can compete with websites in the first SERP
The intent of researching the keywords that you want to improve your site or page for
By looking at the SERP search results page, you can determine the purpose behind the query. When you're looking for a "homemade pizza recipe", you probably don't want to buy a pizza.
Always keep this in mind so you don't end up optimizing for the wrong keywords.
There are 4 different types of search intent:
Navigation – search for a specific website/brand (“google search console”)
My Information - Find general information (“How to make coffee”)
Transactions – the user wants to buy something online
(“Buy an iphone xs”)
Commercial – User performs research prior to purchase (“canon 6d review”)
If you run a blog about pizza recipes, you wouldn't need to rank #1 for the keyword “pizza” (with over 4 million monthly searches globally)? Look at the SERP for the keyword:
SEO keyword research
It wouldn't make sense to be there unless you plan to compete with Pizza Hut or Domino's. Yes, these types of keywords are very attractive but in most cases, they are not relevant to your niche. What's more, they represent only a few of all searches across the world. The majority of searches are long tail queries.
How not to search for keywords
Newbies and impatient content creators usually find a high-volume keyword in Google Keyword Planner or any other keyword research tool without thinking of other metrics.
As we explained above, finding the perfect keyword isn't just limited by search volume.
Another error is misinterpretation of the data. A common example is the "competition" degree in Google Keyword Planner. There is confusion between this scale and the difficulty of the keyword.
Competition in GKP represents the level of competition in Google AdWords. It does not represent how difficult it is to rank for this keyword.
Another thing to avoid at all costs is keyword stuffing. Keyword research is no longer about finding the perfect keyword and using it as much as possible.
Instead, select one focused keyword and use it to:
- the address
- Title tag and meta description
- One of the first paragraphs of the text
- A few times in the text (depends on keyword length too)
Google has evolved and understood what content is all about. If it's well written, comprehensive, and easy to use, you can actually categorize keywords that you haven't even used in your text.
If you do not believe me, you will test it, when you will find that you do not rank in a keyword, and yet you get visitors to that page directly from Google, and this means that your page is ranked for another keyword that you do not know and did not optimize your site or page for it, and once Google He saw it as an occasion showing it to a different search query than the one you were looking for.
Instead of using the same keyword over and over, try searching for LSI keywords.
Keywords .LSI.
(latent semantic index) are keywords related to the semantic of the primary keyword. It's a great addition to keyword research.
Keywords and Latent Semantic Index - Search Engine Optimization Guide.
Separate on-page SEO and improve website content.
LSI lyrics change all the time based on the current trend. Adding semantic keywords to your content is a good idea. You can use LSIGraph to generate a set of useful keyword ideas.