SEO best practice: How to do keyword research

Keyword research

Understanding how to do keyword research is a critical element for anyone thinking of joining the blogging world. There will be no SEO without keyword research, and thus whoever is blogging without doing proper keyword research must have other things in mind other than monetization.

To monetize a blog, you must start by making its online presence known. This implies that your blog must be found when searched by online users. While there are other ways of enhancing online presence, keyword optimization is by the most effective yet the cheapest method. But do you know how to effectively do keyword research? Read on to learn how.

• Start by knowing your seed keyword

Understanding seed keywords is the initial step that can lead to easy keyword research. A seed keyword is the like a niche, an industry or a product. It is broad, and inside it there are many other keywords that can be used profitably.

Usually, it is advisable to turn to your niche, blog name, services or anything that your blog is based on, for seed keywords. Remember that seed keyword basically defines the general field of your article.

• Keyword brainstorming

After determining the seed keyword, the next thing is to sit down with you team and think of any key phrases that can come from the “seeds.” Brainstorming involves bringing any potential keyword to the fore. Here, there will be no single keyword that can be considered a loser, since each one of them has the potential.

At this level, pretend to be the customer or the online user. Imagine what you would key in the browser in order to land to the blog that you want to write. You are free to use the Google or amazon toolbar to help you understand what online users are looking for within you niche.

For those with an online presence, you can use your already ranking blogs to find out which keywords are ranking, and the kind of traffic they are attracting. These metrics will be instrumental in guiding you as you do your SEO research.

• Analyze your competition

Understanding your competitor can be a great way of understanding the best keywords to rank for. By analyzing their sites or listings, you can easily tell which keywords they are actually ranking for. Tools such as site explorer can help you find sites and identify those keywords they rank for. The information you get about keywords on all the sites that are on the first page will be more than enough for your keyword research.

• Make use of research tools

One thing that most people do wrong is trying to reinvent the wheel by doing too much than necessary. There is literally a tool for any platform you want to conduct keyword research on, and utilizing these tools can prove worthwhile.

There are many research tools; some are free while others come at a small cost. With these tools, you can be sure to get profitable keywords at a fraction of the cost that you would have spent were you to do it manually. Also, you get to know those keywords that are profitable yet your competitors are not aware of. A tool such as Google trend can give you invaluable information that can help you bring in more revenue, all for free.

• Be organized

Organizing the data and information that you have gathered can help boost your SEO strategies. This is usually the keywords that you have gathered, both from the paid tools as well as the free ones.

These keywords need to be arranged in a spreadsheet with columns for the actual keywords, variations of the keywords, monthly search volume and other statistics of the keywords. Failing to organize your keywords can be detrimental to your keywords research as you might get mixed up along the way.

• Prioritize your keywords

After doing keyword research, you need to understand those that should be given more priority when doing your content writing. Prioritizing your keywords is critical as it plays a crucial role when determining which keywords to use at any particular time.

With keywords arranged according to their priority, it becomes easier for you to easily pick those that are most profitable and use them in your most valuable blog that can bring more conversions and leads.

When prioritizing the keywords, there are a number of things that should guide you. Some of them include the following;

• Estimated traffic potential
• Competition of the keyword
• Resources to be invested in building a competitive page using the chosen keyword
• The ROI of that keyword, based on traffic potential

Researching keywords might be much easier if you are working as a team. However, a simple mistake done when your teammates are not aware can prove costly both in monetary terms as well as time. This is why it is recommended that you always keep your teammates updated on everything you do during keyword research.

Keyword research is an invaluable investment, as it can give you keywords that can bring in more traffic and thus help you beat your competition. It is always good to invest in paid research tools, as they give you more detailed metrics that free ones are unable to reveal.

In conclusion, I must stress the need for keyword research for any type of content you are dealing in. this is not just for the newbies, but to the seasoned bloggers as well. As it has always been said, content is king. But it will be worthless if you have the “king” that cannot be found on the first page of SERP. With these keyword research tips, you can be sure to utilize your content writing skills to earn more from your blogging career.