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Getting Started with Keyword Research for SEO: A Beginner's Guide

by Jaselyn Royan

  • 2024-04-23

Keyword research is the heart of SEO. But newbies may wonder: What is keyword research, and how do I do it? That’s a crucial question because one irrelevant or wrong keyword can cost a lot.

SEO is a broad discipline divided into smaller blocks. Its main function is to capture traffic or earn valuable backlinks. Without SEO, no website can gain visibility. It is the main factor in generating traffic and ranking on the search engine.

This blog contains everything you need to learn about keyword research for SEO. It is not difficult, and I hope you will enjoy reading it.

What is Keyword Research?

Finding the words and phrases that people mostly use to surf the search engine is known as keyword research. These words and phrases are termed search queries. This research helps you find out what people want to search for.

The search engine matches users’ search queries with all the indexed information and returns the most relevant results. That’s why keyword research has a major role in Search engine optimization.

It allows the user to get the intended results. The audience might be searching for:

  • A product or service

  • Nearby location (café or car showroom)

  • How to tutorial

  • Celebrity or brand

  • Study material

The search engine comprehends the user’s query and shows the best matching results.

Why is Keyword Research Important for SEO?

If I elaborate on the importance of keywords in one sentence: "Keyword research is the first thing to consider for SEO success”.

SEO is all about making the web page searchable and relevant. Subject-related terms or keywords are used to increase relevance. Knowing what the audience wants is important for increasing content searchability.

Content relevancy is the main factor to consider if you want to be on the top page of SERPs. Search engines show users the best-matched results. Knowing the demand for niche-related keywords guides marketers and SEO experts in optimizing the content effectively.

The Factors to Consider

Some factors to keep in mind while searching for keywords must be known by every SEO person, as these are the basics of keyword research.

1. Is the Keyword Relevant to Niche?

The first and foremost aspect of keyword research is relevancy. The relevance of the keyword and the niche is important. Irrelevant keywords are difficult to fit into the content.

There is another aspect of keyword relevancy. The content on your website must be relevant to the user’s search query.

2. The Search Volume of Keywords

The search volume of the keyword is measured in keyword research. It shows how many people are searching for the same keyword.

Keywords with high search volume are useful for increasing brand awareness, while low-volume keywords are excellent for conversing directly or marketing products.

3. Keyword Difficulty

It is essential to analyze the keyword difficulty of all the keywords during keyword research. It defines how difficult it is to rank for a certain keyword.

Keyword difficulty, or simply KD, is displayed from 1 to 100. It is divided into low difficulty (0-30), medium difficulty (31-60), and high difficulty (61-100).

KD is an important factor to consider while choosing the right keyword. Low-difficulty keywords have low search volume, but they are easier to rank for. Keywords with medium difficulty must be a good choice for established websites. Lastly, high-difficulty keywords work for websites with a strong online presence.

4. Does it Serve the User Intent?

User intent is the most important factor in keyword research. The content must fulfill the user's search query intention, and the keywords and title must match what the user wants to see.

The content is created for the user, so the user's intention must be prioritized. Another reason to serve the user intent is that the search engine ranks relevant content only.

5. Keyword Gap Analysis

Keyword gap analysis allows you to search for the keywords other websites rank for. It is a side-by-side analysis of competitor keyword profiles.

Keyword gap analysis is important to take advantage of the words that your competitors use and rank for. Identify and close these gaps.

How to Research Keywords for SEO?

When researching a keyword, the first thing to do is to view it as a reader. Putting yourself in the user's shoes allows you to find better solutions for the problems. Good knowledge of the niche is important for effective keyword research.

1. Define Some Seed Keywords Related to Your Niche

The first and foremost step in keyword research is to define the seed keyword. A seed keyword is a topic, idea, or primary keyword related to your product or business. This seed keyword will help generate keyword ideas.

For example, if your niche is child clothing, your seed words may be “athletic wear” or “outerwear”.

Seed keywords can grow a full tree of related keywords for your content. You will get new and trendy ideas for your blogs.

2. Competitor Analysis

Identifying the main competitors is crucial for keyword research. To rank better, perform a competitor keyword analysis. Analyze the competitors' websites to gain useful insights. Look for high-quality but low-competition keywords for which your competitor is ranking.

While conducting research, you will learn about your competitors. Your direct competitors are those who are using the same keywords as you.

3. Keyword Insights

After defining a seed keyword and conducting a competitor analysis, the next thing is getting keyword insights. It is the study of how many people are searching for this keyword. It is important to know the popularity of the keyword.

If only a few people search for it, try a broader term. Instead of “athletic wear for kids,” start with “kids wear.” Broader terms will attract more people to the website. If users search for micro niches like “blue outerwear for kids,” you can always go for the keyword.

A single keyword does not impact the whole strategy but symbolizes whether you should continue. Good search volume, CTR, and KD are all factors to consider for keyword research.

4. Get Inspiration from the SERPs & Snippets

There are many ways to do keyword research, such as research tools, insights, and more. The most underrated but effective technique is to explore search engine result pages. Featured snippets are the related questions that people often click on.

“Related Searches” and “People Also Ask” are very effective for finding keywords for the blog. The questions in these sections include keywords you can add to your list.

5. Get Experts Help – SEO Penguins

Invest in your blog to get better rankings and insights. Many website owners perform every tactic but still don’t get results. If you are one of them and your strategies are not working, hire an expert.

Experts can help you identify keyword research and strategy mistakes, and SEO penguins can help you increase your website's visibility. It maximizes the website's authority and credibility.

SEO Penguins can help you target the right keywords, organically connecting your website with the right traffic. SEO Penguins is a local SEO service that maximizes traffic and ranks the website on the top search results.

Expert help can save you from a lot of unnecessary hard work. Experts can create a detailed plan for the website to align with the current trends and your expertise.

Final Words

For effective SEO, conducting keyword research is important. There are certain factors to consider when searching for keywords. The search volume, keyword difficulty, gap analysis, relevancy, and user intent are considered while searching for the keywords.

The best solution for keyword research is to get help from the local SEO agency, SEO Penguins. SEO Penguins is an expert solution that can help you achieve all your digital goals. It offers customized plans for users to boost their online presence.

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