A Complete Guide to Keyword Research for SEO (With Examples)

Keyword research is one of the most important aspects of any SEO campaign. Unfortunately, the keyword research process can be one of the most complicated.

Despite how complicated keyword research is, it is worth it. As a beginner, it is recommended to target long-tail keywords as they are easy to rank.

Long-tail keywords make up 70% of all searches and it’s your only opportunity to start ranking high on Google for keywords that can bring targeted traffic to your website, in a relatively short amount of time.

In this guide, we cover every aspect of the keyword research process, from the basics of keyword research to in-depth keyword research strategies and some free tools.

What is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of finding and selecting keywords that are relevant to your business or website. The purpose of keyword research is to find words and phrases that people are searching for in order to drive targeted traffic to your site. The main factors to consider while doing keyword research are the keyword difficulty and search volume.

What is a Keyword?

A keyword is a word or phrase that is used to describe a particular topic or subject. Keywords are typically used in search engines to help people find information on a particular topic.

For example, if someone is looking for information on the Technical SEO Checklist 2023, they might type in the keyword “Technical SEO Checklist 2023” into a search engine.

What are the 4 Types of Keywords?

There are four types of keywords:

1. Short-tail keywords: These are single words or short phrases that are very general in nature. For example, “shoes” would be a short-tail keyword.
2. Long-tail keywords: These are longer phrases that are more specific in nature. For example, “men’s running shoes” would be a long-tail keyword.
3. Local keywords: These are keywords that are specific to a particular geographic location. For example, “shoes in New York” would be a local keyword.
4. Negative keywords: These are keywords that you do not want your ad to show up for. For example, if you are selling men’s shoes, you would not want your ad to show up for the keyword “women’s shoes.”

Why is Keyword Research Important for SEO?

There are several reasons why keyword research is important for Search Engine Optimization.

First, it allows you to identify the keywords that are most relevant to your business.

Second, it provides insights into how potential customers are searching for your products or services.

And third, it helps you to select the most effective keywords for your SEO campaigns.

Keyword research is an essential part of any successful SEO strategy. By taking the time to do keyword research, you can ensure that your SEO campaigns are targeted, effective, and likely to generate the results you want.

How to Do Keyword Research in 7 Minutes for Free?

There are a number of different methods for conducting keyword research:

1. Brainstorming Keyword Ideas

There are a few different methods you can use to brainstorm keyword ideas, but one of the most effective is to simply think about what potential customers might search for when looking for your product or service. Write down a list of potential keyword phrases, and then try to think of variations on those phrases that would be more specific or targeted.

For example, if you sell bicycles, potential customers might search for “bicycles,” “buy a bicycle,” or “bicycle shop.” But more specific or targeted keywords could be “road bikes,” “mountain bikes,” “kids’ bikes,” or “bicycle accessories.”

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You can also look at your competitors’ keywords to get an idea of what terms they are targeting. By doing this, you can come up with a list of keywords that you may not have thought of on your own.

Once you have a list of potential keywords, it’s important to do some further research to make sure they are worth targeting. You’ll want to look at things like search volume and competition level. This will help you determine which keywords are most likely to bring you traffic and leads.

You can do further research by using free or paid sing Keyword research tools as explained below.

2. Using Keyword Research Tools

The most common method of doing Keyword Research is to use a keyword research tool like ahrefs, Ubbersuggest, or Semrush. This tool allows you to enter specific words or phrases that you think people might be searching for, and then provides data on how often those terms are actually being searched for.

There are two types of keyword research tools including paid keyword research tools and free keyword research tools.

1. Paid Methods

When doing keyword research, paid tools are the most effective. They have more data and resources than free tools. Their data is also more accurate since they have the budget to source the data.

We won’t be discussing the paid tools because I rarely use them. Here is a list of a few paid tools I have used and tried.

– Semrush Keyword Magic

Semrush is a paid keyword research tool. It has a free plan where you can use some of its tools and conduct 10 searches a day. The reason it is my favorite is that it is among the best keyword research tools you can find on the internet. Semrush also provides more data than others tools.

– Ahrefs Keyword Explore

Ahrefs is the second on my list. It is also a paid tool on the expensive side with their most expensive plan at $999/month. Their free trial cost $1/day but you have to pay$7 for the 7 days trial. To use it, they have a free similar tool but you get very limited output. For more data, you need to be in their paid plan.

Other paid tools are:

– MOZ Keyword Explore (10 searches per month -free)

– Mangool (7-day trial)

– Google AdWords Keyword Planner (you need to be running ads to access it)

– Ubbersuggest (Paid + 3 free searches per day)

Here is a blog post listing 15 free keyword research tools that you can use if your budget is tight. 15 Best Free Keyword Research Tools For Blog Optimization

2. Free Methods

Each of these tools works in slightly different ways, but they all have one goal: to help you find the right keywords to target for your website.

They’ll provide you with data such as search volume and competition level, which will help you determine which keywords are worth targeting.

– Semrush (Free Version)

This is my favorite tool. Even though you get limited output, you can’t compare it with other tools. So, how do you use it?

First, go to Semrush.com, and type the keyword you want to rank for example “keyword research”.

You can see all the metrics like volume, keyword difficulty, intent, trend, and cost per click. As you scroll down, you can see keyword variations, related questions, etc.

From the images above, you can see that that question is very hard to rank for as it is very difficult. So, how can you find easy-to-rank keywords? From the right side menu, click the keyword magic tool. Add the necessary filter as seen in the image below.

You can see that our keywords have been filtered and a few easy-to-rank keywords are available. Choose the one that you want to rank for. In my case, I choose “outsource keyword research“

Click on the result to perform keyword research for that term or a specific keyword.

You can see all the metrics like volume, keyword difficulty, intent, trend, and cost per click. As you scroll down, you can see keyword variations, related questions, etc.

This keyword is easy to rank and I can write a blog post and optimize it on that specific keyword. If you do SEO correctly, it will be easy to rank #1 on Google.

– Ubbersuggest (Free Version)

Ubbersuggest has a paid and free version. We will be using the free version where you can do 3 keyword searches per day.

To use Ubbersuggest, simply type the keyword you want to rank for like “keyword research“.

You can see different metrics like global keyword search volume, keyword difficulty, cost per click, etc. So, how can you find easy-to-rank keywords? From the right side menu, click the keyword ideas. Add the necessary filter as seen in the image below.

You can see that our keywords have been filtered and a few easy-to-rank keywords are available. Choose the one that you want to rank for and optimize your content around it and related terms.

– Ahrefs Keywords Generator

To use Ahrefs Keywords Generator, simply type the keyword you want to rank for like “keyword research“.

You can see different metrics like global keyword search volume, keyword difficulty, and when the data was last updated.

You can as well see the related “questions”. Some of these questions will be easy to rank for compared to your target keywords because they are long-tail keywords.

The issue I have with ahrefs is that you get very limited results compared to Semrush and Ubbersuggest. One thing to note is that Ahrefs and Semrush provide the most accurate data. Scheme through the results and find the keyword that works best for your blog/website.

Other Free keyword research tools include:

– Keyword Everywhere

– Google Trends

– Exploding topics

Is Your Budget tight? Here are free options: Best FREE Keyword Research Tools For SEO

Once you are done with keyword research, you can start writing a quality blog post and rank it #1 on Google.

Suggested Blog? 9 Ways on How to Improve your Ranking Potential?

What are The Benefits of Keyword Research for SEO?

There are many benefits to conducting keyword research for SEO:

1. Identify the most relevant keywords

Perhaps the most obvious benefit is that it can help you to identify which keywords are most relevant to your business and your products or services. By targeting these keywords, you can ensure that your website is more visible on search engine results pages (SERPs), which can in turn lead to increased traffic and conversions.

2. Understand the searcher’s intentions

In addition to helping you to identify relevant keywords, keyword research can also give you insights into how customers search for your products or services, what their intentions are, and what kind of language they use. This information can be incredibly valuable when it comes to optimizing your website and your overall SEO strategy.

3. Stay updated with the trend

Finally, keyword research can also help you to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in your industry. By keeping an eye on which keywords are being searched for the most, you can make sure that your website is always using the most relevant and up-to-date keywords. This will help to keep your website ranking high in SERPs, and can ultimately lead to more traffic and conversions.

Now that you have done keyword research, you can start writing your blog post or optimizing your website.

What is the purpose of Keywords?

Keywords are an essential part of any SEO strategy. They help search engines understand what your website is about, and they can also help you attract targeted traffic to your site.

When choosing keywords, it’s important to select ones that are relevant to your business and that have a high search volume. You should also consider the competition level for each keyword.

How many Keywords should I use for SEO?

This is a difficult question to answer, as it depends on a number of factors, including your website’s topic, competition, and target audience. Generally speaking, though, you should aim to use a few relevant keywords throughout your website’s content, including in the title, in the headings, and in the body text.

Using too many keywords, or keywords that are not relevant to your website can actually hurt your SEO efforts. So, aim for quality over quantity when it comes to keywords.

What is the fastest way to rank a Keyword?

There is no definitive answer to this question. However, some SEO experts believe that the fastest way to rank a keyword is to create high-quality content that is keyword-rich and to promote that content through social media and other channels.

Additionally, it is important to ensure that your website is properly optimized for search engines so that your content has a chance of ranking high in the search results.

How do I find the Best Keywords? and What is the best tool for Keyword Research?

There are a few different methods you can use to find the best keywords for your website or blog. The first is to use a keyword research tool likeUbbersuggest [free] or semrush.com [paid and 10 free searches per day]. Both of these tools will allow you to enter a seed keyword and get related keywords back.

Another method is to look at your competitor’s websites and see what keywords they are targeting. You can use a tool like semrush.com to spy on your competitor’s keywords.

Finally, you can use Google’s Suggest and Related Search features to find keywords that are related to your seed keyword. To do this, simply enter your seed keyword into Google and scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the suggestions and related searches.

Conclusion

There you have it. That is how you can do keyword research for SEO for free. To wrap up, keyword research is a vital part of SEO, and it is important to do it right in order to rank #1 on Google. There are a few key things to keep in mind when doing keyword research:

1. Make sure to target the right keywords. Targeting the wrong keywords will not only hurt your chances of ranking #1, but it can also damage your overall SEO efforts.
2. Make sure to use the right tools. There are a variety of tools available for keyword research, and it is important to choose the right one for your needs.
3. Make sure to keep your keywords relevant. Keywords that are no longer relevant to your site can hurt your chances of ranking #1 on Google.

By following these three key tips, you can ensure that your keyword research is on point and that you have a better chance of ranking #1 on Google.

Closing Remarks!

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