Keyword Research Basics: How To Find The Right Keywords

Keyword Research Basics: How To Find The Right Keywords

Keyword research refers to the process of finding and analyzing what relevant audiences search for in search engines such as Google. You can create content that is more likely to rank highly in search results. Keyword research is important for SEO as it tells you what relevant audiences are looking for and helps you prioritize ranking opportunities.

Why is Keyword Research Important for SEO?

By creating content that satisfies target users’ needs, you can earn organic rankings in search results. Just like the ones below. And get more valuable traffic to your site. Plus, using keywords on your page can help it rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Google says content relevance is one of the most important factors when ranking search results. Additionally, “The most basic signal that information is relevant is when content contains the same keywords as [the] search query.” This means it is helpful to know the exact wording that searchers use.

Some Basics of Keyword Research

Monthly Search Volume

Monthly search volume shows the number of searches for that keyword for any given month. This is an indication of demand for that keyword. When searching for keyword data for Google US, CA, AU, and UK, you will have the option to view Monthly Volume in Keyword Suggestions, Keyword Lists, and Ranking keywords as either a single number or a range.

Monthly search volume is calculated by taking an average of the search volumes of the last 12 months to account for seasonal fluctuations. Monthly volume is expressed as a single number showing you a precise volume prediction. Viewing volume this way simplifying keyword research process and gives you a single number, on which to base your strategy and choices.

It is a predominant measure of keyword value. It’s a useful metric as a starting point to consider if anyone is searching for that keyword, but it shouldn’t be used in isolation or as the only measure of value. Just because a keyword has a high MSV doesn’t mean it is the right keyword for you to rank on. High-volume keywords generally deliver ‘browsing’ traffic at the top of the funnel. They are useful for brand awareness but not for direct conversion. Low-volume keywords can be much more valuable because they can deliver users who are ready to buy a product.

User Intent

User intent is the searcher’s main goal when typing a query into a search engine. Common types of search intent, include informational, commercial, navigational, and transactional. For instance, if you’re looking to buy a new laptop, your search intent would be commercial, as you’ve indicated you plan to purchase. The intent of a search isn’t straightforward and needs more research and tools to understand. The closer the content you create matches the search intent, the better its chances of appearing in search results.

To understand keyword search intent, you need to start by looking into what a user is actually trying to accomplish when they type in certain queries. There are different types of search intents, like informational, navigational, transactional, and commercial investigation, each requiring tailored content to meet the user’s needs.

User intent is important in two ways, firstly because your primary aim in creating content and pages on a website is to provide a user with information that they want to know. There is no point in creating a page about what you care about, but your user only cares about their problems and needs. Secondly, Google considers the relevance when serving results pages. So, the better your page fits user intent, the better it might rank.

Relevancy

When Google considers which pages it will show in search results, the algorithm will look at other pages that users are clicking on for that query. For instance, you have query regarding cupcake, Google has to consider if a user wants to know what a cupcake is, how to make a cupcake, or wants to buy a cupcake.

Reviewing the search results page of a query is a part of your research process for every keyword that needs to be considered. As a critical component of SEO, keyword relevance determines how well content aligns with user search queries and impacts search engine rankings. Understanding keyword relevance helps in crafting content that meets user intent. Further, effective keyword research and analysis significantly enhance online visibility and engagement.

Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords fall to the right of the search demand curve, where the graph looks like a long tail stretching to the right. Search demand curve graph showing keywords with high volume to the left and lower search volumes to the right. Long-tail keywords are highly precise search engine queries people use when they are searching for something specific or searching conversationally. These queries attract relatively low search volumes and face relatively low competition from websites trying to show in search results.

Long-tail keywords, as an important part of SEO, are relatively easy to rank highly for, driving high-quality traffic, and have high collective search volumes when grouped, and can also help you appear in AI-generated responses. Further, if you target a long-tail keyword on your website, you should find it relatively easy to earn a high unpaid ranking. Which is important because top-ranking results get the most views and clicks.

For instance, [iPhone 13] is a head term with high volume (2.7 million MSV), and [Best affordable iPhone 13 cases] (210 MSV) is a long-tail keyword with far fewer searches but would have a high conversion rate.