Do you know how this online marketing works?

Well whether it's paid marketing or organic marketing, both work on keywords, and that’s why keyword research is very important for your content optimisation and content marketing.

Whenever you type any query on the search engine, it will show you the number of results in a few seconds. The results are sometimes in the millions. However, on the first page of SERP, you only find the top 10 results. These results are the most relevant and have value-adding answers to your query.

So how do these top 10 websites get the chance to rank on search engines?

The answer is that the content marketing team behind these websites put much effort into Keyword Research for their content optimisation.

So, in this blog, we are going to discover how keyword research is important for content optimization. Also, I have shared a step-by-step guide to do the right keyword research that will help you in creating valuable, engaging, problem-solving and relevant content.

Why is Keyword Research important?

Keywords are the set of words which help the internet user to find suitable answers to their queries. Keywords can be both long and short and these are the main reasons by which you can directly target your audience and showcase to them what your business is all about. Let's see what role keyword research plays in the optimization of your content and helps you in making the right SEO strategy.

1. Rank on Search Engine:

Search Engines use their bots to produce the right and relevant answers to a user's query. And these bots work on keywords. They read the content on different websites and give rankings to them. If you give importance to keyword research then there are high chances that your website’s content will rank on the search engine’s first page.

2. Relevant Content:

As I have already discussed search engines’ bots give a high ranking to relevant content. Here relevance means the answers which search engine is showing to the user are aligned with what that user is actively searching for. So, by doing keyword research you can produce relevant content that will increase user engagement and their satisfaction as visitors on your business website.

3. Strategize your content:

The most important part of content marketing is to create a content strategy for your brand so that you can post content that is relevant, valuable, authentic, engaging and problem-solving.

Keywords will guide you in creating different forms of content such as blogs, videos, articles, infographics and other forms of content that address your targeted audience's needs. With the help of content strategy, you can produce the right content at the right time to attract and retain your targeted audience.

4. Conversion Rate:

Placing the right keywords in your content can give you a higher conversion rate. By targeting specific long-tail keywords you can attract your targeted audience to convert into your clients. Always focus on user intent and then place keywords accordingly for higher conversion rates. Long tail keywords help you to find those audiences that have more chances of taking actions such as signing up, contacting you, or buying your product.

5. Cost Effectiveness:

Keyword research can do wonders in bringing traffic to your website organically. When you put the right keywords in your content, search engines find it relevant and give it a high ranking, which increases the chances of ranking on the Search Engine Result Page (SERP). Also, by targeting relevant keywords which have lower competition, you can effectively use your budget on pay-per-click (PPC) advertising as effective keywords help in optimizing ad campaigns.

6. Long-Term Planning:

The process of keyword research is ongoing and not something that happens once. You have to keep researching keywords according to changes in your users’ behaviour. This will keep you ahead of your competitors as you are keeping an eye on the latest trends and updating your content accordingly.

7. Targeting Niche specific Keywords:

Using long-tail keywords, you can target specific groups of your industry, this will help you in creating content in a particular area of your industry and show yourself as the expert in it. This will help you to attract a more focused and interested audience and give you higher engagement and valuable interactions.

8. Brand Authority:

As I have mentioned in a previous point, how you can become an expert in your industry by creating content niche-specific. Your brand becomes known as an authoritative source in your industry when you provide high-quality content centred around thoroughly researched keywords. By doing this, you build credibility and trust with your audience.

Step-by-Step Guide to Conduct Keyword Research

To conduct effective keyword research, follow these steps:

1. Define Your Content Goals/ Objective:

Content Marketing can elevate your business by engaging audiences with your brand. And by this, you will get meaningful results in the form of conversion and revenue. 

But this whole thing may go wrong if your content strategy has no goal. Your content strategy has no goal, you will lack focus and direction, that’s why setting a content goal before creating any content is important.

Firstly understand the main goal of your business. Like you want brand awareness, boosting the traffic of your website, generating leads, increasing customer loyalty, gaining customer retention, etc.

When you align your content goal with your business goal then you can create a creative cohesive and impactful content strategy for your brand.

2. Consider Targeted Audience:

Knowing your target audience is also a crucial part of your content strategy.

Ask yourself the following questions to know more about your targeted audience:

• Who is your right audience?
• What do they do?
• What are their behaviour patterns?
• What do they like/ dislike?
• What do they need?
• What challenges do they face?
• Will your brand give a solution to their problem?

Search a lot about your audience, understand their pain points and then create content that revolves around their pain points, content that addresses their pain, gives them the solution and makes them feel relatable and personal.

3. Brainstorm Primary Keywords:

Priming keyword brainstorming is the most important part of your SEO strategy. By knowing the primary keyword you can generate organic traffic to your website.

Focus on “core topics” which are related to your business, you can also analyze competitor keyword strategy to obtain primary keywords in your industry.

Like if you are running a beauty salon then your primary keywords will be “Beauty Salon”, “makeup”, “hairstyling”, etc..

After finding primary keywords, find variations, synonyms, and related terms of the topic you are going to create content, this will expand your primary keyword list. These primary keywords are also known as seed keywords.

Such as “Bridal Makeup”, "Keratin treatment”, “ Nail Extension", " Manicure”, Pedicure”, etc.

Use tools like Google Autocomplete Answer the public, and Google Keyword Planner to find more primary keywords.

Also, focus on the intent, that with which intent, the audience is searching for something on the internet. Include commercial, transactional, informational, and navigational keywords to cover different stages of the customer journey.

Like “Hairstyle for short-length hair”. Here the audience intends to gain information not to purchase something.

Include location-based keywords if applicable, especially if your business serves a specific geographic area. Like “Makeup artist in Gomti Nagar Lucknow”, “ Bridal Makeup in Noida sector 131”, etc.

4. Use Keyword Research Tools:

Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, SEMrush, and Ahrefs help in doing keyword research, and provide a great amount of data on keyword search volumes, competition, and suggested bid values for pay-per-click advertising. 

You can find terms with big search volumes and little competition, providing you with an advantage in the online market. These tools are a great source for doing content analysis and also you can understand competitors’ strategies.

So don’t forget to keep a share in your marketing budget dedicated to the paid version of these quality keyword research tools. It is a smart decision that can significantly boost your website's visibility and drive organic traffic to new heights.

5. Analyze Keyword Metrics:

Analyzing keyword metrics is an important part of your SEO strategy. Keyword metrics give you insights with the help of that you can know the capability of a particular keyword and how it will perform when you use it in your content.

Keyword metrics help you choose the right keyword for your content so that your content becomes optimized and ranks on search engines. The keyword metrics are as follows:

• Search Volume: Search volume tells us how much a particular keyword is being searched in a search engine in a given time frame. If the keyword has a high search volume there must be a traffic potential in that keyword and when a keyword has a low search volume it is more niche specific. Tip: If your website is new, then always go for keywords that have lower search volume because this will increase your chances of getting ranked on the first page of the search engine.
• Keyword Difficulty: Keyword difficulty tells you the difficulty of ranking on that particular keyword on a search engine result page. If the cable difficulty of any keyword is high then it means that that keyword is highly competitive and we should make an SEO strategy by using keywords that has both low and high keyword difficulty.
• Click Through Rate: Click Through Rate (CTR) is the percentage of user clicks on search results that were displayed on the 1st page of the search engine result page. If any keyword has a high click-through rate, then this means that the keyword is relevant, appealing content, and engaging and all these things help you gain a higher ranking on search engines.
• Cost Per Click: Cost Per Click (CPC) Is a metric used to know how much amount a brand search or an advertiser has to pay for a specific keyword on each click. This matrix is mostly used in Search Engine Management (SEM) which is a paid version of marketing for getting search visibility on the internet.

6. Understand User Intent:

The underlying purpose or goal of the user while searching a query on the internet refers to user intent. Understanding this user intent and giving them the solution accordingly will give you high engagement and high conversions.

User intent is of four types:

1. Informational
2. Navigational
3. Commercial
4. Transactional

7. Long-Tail Keywords:

Long-tail keywords are longer in length and are more specific.

They contain more than three words and are dedicated to a specific problem, query or particular topic. Unlike the short-tail keywords, long-tail keywords have low search volume but they are more targeted and have conversion potential. Some of the characteristics of long-tail keywords are as follows-

Higher Conversion Potential- As I mentioned above, long-tail keywords have higher conversion potential as they have clear intentions of what problem they are solving.

Low competition- As long-tail keywords are specific they reflect more accurately the user’s intent, it are more relevant to any search query. And because they are specific hence they have less competition than primary keywords. Due to low competition, it is easier to rank on long-tail keywords.

Improved Search Engine Visibility- Focusing on long-tail keywords allows you to capture a smaller, but highly targeted, segment of your audience. This can lead to improved search engine rankings and visibility for specific niche topics.

Content Ideas- Long-tail keywords are a good source of content ideas. Each long-tail keyword can inspire a dedicated piece of content that fully addresses the topic.

For example, let's say you have a website for a digital marketing

 agency. The broad keyword might be " digital marketing tips" which is highly competitive and vague. A long-tail keyword, in this case, could be "how to do SEO of any website in WordPress" This keyword is more specific and targeted, attracting users who are specifically looking for ways to do SEO of their website which is made on WordPress.

8. Pay Attention to Seasonal Trends:

You can use seasonal trends for keyword research and this can help you identify ‘What are the peak search terms of your industry that are relevant to specific times of the year. 

I recommend you use Google Trends to explore which keywords are gaining popularity. You can also analyze the previous data and statistics related to your business and predict upcoming trends. 

Your content will remain fresh and attract a targeted audience during times of strong demand if you keep an eye on seasonal fluctuations in trends and adjust your strategy accordingly.

9. Analyze Competitor Keywords:

Before analyzing the keyword strategy of your competitor, first identify your main competitors. In this process, tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can help you in finding organic and paid keywords that your competitor is using to rank and drive traffic to its website.

Determine which keywords are appropriate for your audience and niche. Prioritize valuable keywords by analyzing keyword difficulty and search volume. 

Find areas where your competitors aren't doing well and take advantage of those gaps. This will help you to compete with your industry competitors and gain a higher position in search engine rankings.

10. Refine Your Keyword List:

Only keep the keywords on your list that are most beneficial and appropriate for your post. Choose those that are consistent with your content goals and have a good balance of search volume and competitiveness.

Simplifying your keyword list is necessary for efficient keyword research. Prior to anything else, organize your keywords into topics while keeping user intent and relevance in mind.

Use keyword research tools to assess search traffic, competition, and trend data.

Eliminate irrelevant or overly competitive keywords.

Examine the efficiency of the keywords that are currently used on your website. Include keywords that have a high chance of conversion.

Regularly update your list to reflect changing trends and performance markers.

Conclusion

One of the most important steps for making your successful content marketing strategy is by conducting keyword research. With the help of keyword research, you can generate relevant and interesting content to attract your target audience. 

Keyword research helps in identifying user intent and their needs and for doing this don't forget to use keyword research tools. You can boost your organic traffic, attract a larger audience, and accomplish your content marketing goals with a properly implemented keyword research and content optimization approach.

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