{"id":62766,"date":"2019-03-12T20:49:18","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T03:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/?page_id=62766"},"modified":"2023-09-16T18:53:17","modified_gmt":"2023-09-17T01:53:17","slug":"keyword-research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/seo\/keyword-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Keyword Research \u2013 How to Select Keywords"},"content":{"rendered":"
Keyword Research:<\/strong> The research phase of an SEO project where you identify how your visitors search and establish those keywords as ranking and traffic targets for your SEO project. It includes brainstorming, competitor analysis, analytics, and tools research to build a comprehensive list of viable SEO projects. It is commonly the first and most important search engine optimization step.<\/p>\n In this SEO lesson, you learn the basics of how to do keyword research, try out free keyword research tools, and start your SEO plan of attack!<\/p>\n The first task is simply\u00a0brainstorming<\/strong>. Ask yourself some basic questions to select keywords that might make good targets for search engine optimization, like:<\/p>\n Most people can make a short (or long) list of keywords that might be used to find their own site. You should extend that step to ask other people what keywords they would use to search for your product or service without your brand name and add their keyword suggestions to your list. Doing so will help you go beyond the words that only you and insiders know. When doing keyword research for SEO, you want to discover what real people in your target audience<\/em> would query to find what your site offers.<\/p>\n Don’t limit your ideas. Brainstorm whatever subjects and phrases could lead the kinds of visitors you want to lead visitors to your site. Your brainstorming will “prime the keyword pump.”<\/p>\n This initial list will be expanded upon and refined in the next few steps. But start with the logical keywords.<\/p>\n If your site is already live, you may have hidden keyword gold just waiting to be dug up.<\/p>\n Take advantage of free keyword research tools to find additional keywords. Our\u00a0Keyword Suggestions Tool<\/strong>\u00a0below shows you keyword ideas that are related to any seed word you enter.<\/p>\n Type in one word or phrase at a time.<\/em> The resulting suggestions come from search query data, so select the keywords that match your website content and add them to your growing keyword research list.<\/p>\n With our tool, you can see keyword suggestions with data on the average click-through rate (CTR) and cost per click (CPC) for advertisers bidding on that keyword.<\/p>\n It reveals how many webpages contain those words in their title tag (not necessarily as an exact phrase) under AllInTitle. These metrics indicate how competitive a keyword phrase may be.<\/p>\n You can also see an Activity column, which shows the approximate number of monthly searches for that keyword (also known as “search volume”).<\/p>\n CAUTION:<\/em><\/strong> Don’t get greedy looking at keyword activity counts.<\/p>\n Record this activity number with the keyword in your spreadsheet. But keep in mind that a keyword’s search volume should not overly influence your choices, especially at this point. You want to select keywords for SEO<\/a> only if they reflect what your website is truly about<\/em>. Going after high-volume keywords that don’t relate to the rest of your content would be deceptive and even punishable as spam.<\/p>\n Search volumes do cast light on your keyword research. They reveal what people actually call things, and they help you prioritize similar keyword phrases.<\/p>\n For instance, a retail site might choose to use “rolling backpacks for kids” (1,600 monthly searches) rather than “wheeled backpacks for kids” (320 monthly searches) because the first keyword phrase gets searched 5 times more often. However, that retailer should not pin its hopes on ranking for the broad term “backpacks,” no matter how attractive that word’s sky-high search volume looks.<\/p>\n The moral: Don’t be tempted by the huge numbers for broad keywords.<\/em> With enough time and effort, you might be able to rank for them, but you’d be battling large, established brands for unfocused visitors who might not even be ready to buy. (We’ll talk more about broad keywords later in this guide.)<\/p>\n Save that keyword spreadsheet! You’ll find out more about how to select your best SEO keywords in the coming steps. Next, you learn how to identify your real SEO competition<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>Getting Started with SEO Keyword Research<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Find Keywords People Already Use for Your Business<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Get Keyword Suggestions<\/h2>\n
SEO Tools \u2013 Use our free Keyword Suggestions Tool:<\/h3>\n
What the Keyword Data Tells You<\/h3>\n
How Should You Use Search Activity Data?<\/h3>\n