How to Carry Out Effective Keyword Research: Tips for Great Results

You’re probably here because you’ve already heard of the term “keyword research” and are beginning to understand that it’s pretty important. Before we delve into how to actually do your research, it’s essential that we establish common ground and explain the whats and the whys of this term.

What Is a Keyword?

As Techopedia says, “A keyword, in the context of search engine optimisation, is a particular word or phrase that describes the contents of a web page.”

We also refer to a “keyword” as the word or phrase which a user types into a search engine. Search engines, such as Google, interpolate the results and search through billions of pages which exist on the internet, returning the 10 most relevant articles depending on the use and context of the given keyword and other related terms.

Why Is Keyword Research So Important?

You have an awesome publication with a good supply of news and fresh blog posts, but you’ve only got a handful of users checking in (which you probably know to be your partner, some very good friends, and your mum.) Why? Well, probably because you haven’t really optimised your content for search engines.

The first step in achieving rising success is to learn who your customer is (more on that can be found here in our more focused post on customer personas, which includes a free template) and consequently move to better defining your niche. The customer persona helps you see how your typical customer would think and act, allowing you to discover the words and phrases which your potential readers would use in search engines like Google or Bing, amongst other typical behaviours that would be useful to you as a brand on the market.

Once the personas have been identified, we recommend building a content strategy. This should walk hand-in-hand with your SEO strategy, allowing you to plan topics and content well in advance. Search Engine Optimization is what will help your website build an online presence and become visible, increasing the chances of being seen by your target readers. For each particular article which falls within the strategy guidelines, we then recommend indepth keyword research to increase its individual effectiveness.

But What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process that takes you through the potential reach (number of searches) and the difficulties of particular keywords. Effectively, it is an effort on your part to try and get the best value for your time, money, and effort when creating new content. It is based on the concept of short and long tail keywords.

Long tail keywords are composed of (at least) 3-4 words. These kind of keywords are very specific, which means that they attract less traffic to your site. The good thing, however, is that this traffic would naturally be one of more quality - the customer’s intent is clearer and thus easier to serve when writing an article, resulting in what in the field of e-commerce we would call a better conversion rate (i.e. likelihood of sale). A simple example of two similar but actually quite distinct searches would be “What are the best brands for red shoes?” as opposed to “red shoes” - the former very clearly states what the user is looking for, and thus his/her need can be better met. If you’re interested in e-commerce, we recommend checking out this Moz guide which explains the marketing funnel, and delves deeper into how your content relates to the stage a user is in within their purchasing process.

On the other hand, short tail keywords are composed of less words. They attract lots of traffic to your site, but this traffic is much more generic. This means that, despite having a significant total number of visitors, bounce rates would be higher and the conversion rate would be lower. This is caused by people hitting the ‘back’ button not long after entering the site, as the first search results will not necessarily respond to their query and/or need.

So, to re-iterate - the difference between the two types of keywords is that whilst someone using a short tail keyword would be looking for “cake”, someone using a long tail keyword would be searching for “double chocolate cake with raspberry filling”. The latter is looking for a whole lot more precise and detailed information related to this delicious dessert.

Finding the correct keywords is crucial for good implementation of your content strategy. That is why it is imperative that this process is carried out correctly and given the appropriate amount of attention.

How Does One Carry Out Keyword Research?

After all that we’ve learnt above, it is time to put the knowledge into practice and start drawing up your own content strategy and using it to grow your online publication.

1. The Brainstorming

First of all, make a list of your topic-related keywords. It would be very beneficial to set aside some time for a good old brainstorming session. Google autocomplete and Google Trends are among other convenient tools that could help you come up with ideas faster.

All your work must be based on what you have already discovered about your customer persona, combined with your own business goals.

2. Don’t Forget To See What Others Are Doing

It would also be of great use to see what kind of words your competitors are using and add some of them to your own thoughts. You can examine their most shared content and analyze what they have done to have that kind of success. Don’t forget - if they are your potential competitors, they must be doing something right.

3. Write Everything

Now that you have your own ideas and have also valued what your competitors are doing, it is time to write the definitive list of everything that comes to mind in relation to your main topic. You will probably start by writing short tail words, and later introduce long tails into the list. This is a very good start to your campaign research.

4. Tools For Researching Keywords

This brings us to the next step - getting your list and researching the qualities of each word you wrote on there. You can use some tools, like SemRush or Moz, that are very easy to use and effective for this part of the process.

On these platforms you will find information about the volume of searches and how difficult it might be to position the keyword in Google. This information will help you decide what kind of words you should use for your content. As both of those tools are paid, you could use Google Adword’s keyword research or suggestion tools instead. Log in just as if you want to advertise on these keywords, input them, and you will get an estimate search volume - the ranges can be fairly wide but will still provide you with a good indication, especially if your combination is not researched at all.

P.S. Various long tail (4+) keywords will very rarely have research data available. Remember that here you would be looking to get a large amount of different combinations, rather than a large volume from a single article.

5. Find The Perfect Word Combination

At this moment, you’ve probably already managed to come up with lots of combinations that turn your keywords into great headlines. Now is the moment to value these titles. You can use the same tools as you have before.

You will notice that some titles are giving you (as well as your potential audience) the type of content you want to share, whilst other kind of headlines you have thought about simply aren’t. This takes us back to the concept of observing and learning from what your competitors are doing, and using that to support your final decisions.

If you’ve followed all of the steps above, then you should finally have a good understanding of keyword research. But you’re not quite done! Practice, practice, practice. Only experience will make you better at this. If you find it too time consuming, that’s ok - there are various professionals, like ourselves, who would be more than happy to help you out.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve grasped the basics of keyword research, one of the pillars for the growth of your publication. Note that your success depends on your understanding and execution of various tactics, including the ones listed here. Do not feel disheartened if you do not see instant results - there are various other factors at play when it comes to search engines and a good effort will still take months to start paying dividends, so keep at it! All the efforts you put into this part of your work are not lost, but rather an investment in the growth of your publication.