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How to Do Keyword Research for SEO: A Beginner’s Guide

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What is keyword research?

Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing search terms that people enter into search engines with the goal of using that data for a specific purpose, often for search engine optimization (SEO) or general marketing. Keyword research can uncover queries to target, the popularity of these queries, their ranking difficulty, and more.

Why is keyword research important?

Keyword research helps you find your SEO sweet spot ā€” the overlap of keywords that arenā€™t too hard to rank for and keywords that you can confidently produce excellent content on. It also identifies the queries that your target audience is actually searching on Google.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VG4l39h_qFU%3Ffeature%3Doembed

I talked to HubSpot Growth Manager Amal Kalepp, who says that keyword research ā€œdetermines who your competitors are and which area of the search landscape you can rank for. Doing keyword research and understanding where your blog or website sweet spot is ā€” thatā€™s what gives you rankability.ā€

ā€œDoing keyword research and understanding where your blog or website sweet spot is ā€” thatā€™s what gives you rankability.ā€”Amal Kalepp, Growth manager, HubSpot.ā€

Insights from actual search terms can inform your content strategy as well as your larger marketing strategy.

Your Purranormal Detective Agency may have the best ghost-detecting kittens in the business, but if nobodyā€™s searching for ā€œcat paranormal detectiveā€ (they arenā€™t; I checked), you arenā€™t going to have much luck ā€” or traffic ā€” if you base your content strategy on that keyword.

Your SEO Sweet Spot. Two overlapping circles. One says ā€œKeywords that arenā€™t too hard to rank forā€ and the other says, ā€œKeywords that you can confidently produce excellent content on.ā€ The overlap says, ā€œInsights that will inform your content strategy.ā€

People use keywords to find solutions when conducting research online, so if your content successfully gets in front of your audience, you stand to gain more traffic.

Therefore, you should be targeting those searches with content that features those keywords in a meaningful way.

Additionally, inbound methodology focuses less on creating content around what we want to tell people. Instead, we should be creating content around what people want to discover.

In other words, our audience is coming to us for helpful content that provides the answers theyā€™re looking for. And it all begins with keyword research.

Benefits of Keyword Research

Conducting keyword research has many benefits, the most popular being:

Marketing Trend Insight

Conducting effective keyword research can provide insights into current marketing trends and help you center your content on relevant topics and keywords your audience is looking for.

Traffic Growth

When you identify the best-fitting keywords for the content you publish, the higher youā€™ll rank in search engine results ā€” and the more traffic youā€™ll attract to your website.

Customer Acquisition

If your content meets the needs of your users, adding a strong call-to-action will lead them into the buyer journey from the awareness stage to the point of purchase.

By researching keywords for their popularity, search volume, and general intent, you can tackle the questions that most people in your audience want answers to.

For instance, the Purranormal Detective Agency would do better to produce excellent content on the broader topic of paranormal investigators, which has a monthly search volume (MSV) of 800.

Keywords vs. Topics

ā€œSearch intentā€ is something I frequently hear about from HubSpot SEOs. Thatā€™s because the reason a user types in a particular keyword matters ā€” a lot.

Our content has to solve usersā€™ problems. If you found your way to this article via the search term ā€œSEO keyword strategy,ā€ we have to anticipate your questions on this topic. And then answer them.

SEO is evolving at breakneck speed, but keyword research is still foundational to search intent. It tells you what topics people care about and how popular those topics actually are among your audience.

The operative term here is ā€œtopics,ā€ plural. By researching keywords with a high volume of monthly searches, you can identify and sort your content into topics or buckets that youā€™ll use to create content.

Then you can use these topics to dictate which keywords you look for and target.

Feat%20Image%20 %20KWR%20Template%20

Keyword Research Template

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Learn moreDownload our free keyword research template.

Elements of Keyword Research

There are three main elements to conducting keyword research.

1. Relevance

Google ranks content for relevance.

This is where the concept of search intent comes in. Your content will only rank for a keyword if it meets the searchersā€™ needs.

In addition, your content must be the best resource for the query ā€” Google wonā€™t rank your content as highly if it doesnā€™t provide better value than its competitors.

If youā€™re starting an SEO business specializing in small businesses, you might assume that ā€œSEO tips for small businessesā€ would be the most relevant keyword. But take a look at the Ahrefs keyword research dashboard:

Screencap of Ahrefs results for the keyword ā€œSEO tips for small businesses.ā€

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ā€œSEO tips for small businessesā€ has an MSV of 300 and a high keyword difficulty. Its parent topic, ā€œsmall business SEO,ā€ has an MSV of 2,500 and a very high keyword difficulty.

2. Authority

Google provides more weight to sources it deems authoritative.

You can become an authoritative source by enriching your site with helpful, informative content and promoting that content to earn social signals and backlinks.

Both HubSpot.com and the HubSpot Blog are well-established sites, and we work hard to make sure we provide the content our readers are searching for. As a result, the root domain and subdomain have very high domain authority:

Screencap of Mozā€™s link explorer results for blog.hubspot.com. ā€œDomain authority: 93. Linking domains: 222.1K. Inbound links: 9.8m. Ranking keywords: 628.9K.ā€

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Screencap of Mozā€™s link explorer results for hubspot.com. ā€œDomain authority: 93. Linking domains: 408.2K. Inbound links: 909.4m. Ranking keywords: 803.3K.ā€

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If youā€™re not seen as authoritative in the space, or if a keywordā€™s SERPs are loaded with heavy sources you canā€™t compete with (like Forbes or The Mayo Clinic), you have a lower chance of ranking.

3. Volume

You might rank on the first page for a specific keyword, but if no one ever searches for it, you wonā€™t see any traffic. It’s like setting up a shop in a ghost town.

Volume is measured by MSV (monthly search volume), which means the number of times the keyword is searched per month across all audiences.

Compare Ahrefsā€™ results for ā€œcat detective agencyā€ versus ā€œparanormal investigatorā€:

Screencap of Ahrefs results for the keyword ā€œcat detective agency.ā€

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Screencap of Ahrefs results for the keyword ā€œparanormal investigators.ā€

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Even though kitten detectives are your businessā€™ differentiating factor, absolutely not a single soul is trying to locate a cat who can sniff out their resident poltergeist.

ā€œParanormal investigatorsā€ isnā€™t a wildly popular search term, but it gets significantly more volume than ā€œcat detective agency,ā€ so itā€™s a much better keyword to try to rank for.

Kalepp says that one of the common mistakes people make is assuming that a higher MSV is better. ā€œā€˜Instagram marketingā€™ might seem like the best choice to rank for because it has millions of searches,ā€ she says. ā€œBut it makes it much more difficult to rank for that.ā€

ā€œYou might have better luck with something like ā€˜Instagram marketing for small businessesā€™ ā€” and then that can be your niche.ā€

She says that you could get ā€œa lot more traffic ranking for a keyword that has a lower MSV and lower competitionā€ than one with a high MSV.

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How to Research Keywords for Your SEO Strategy

  1. Make a list of important, relevant topics based on what you know about your business.
  2. Fill in those topic buckets with keywords.
  3. Understand how intent affects keyword research and analyze accordingly.
  4. Research related search terms.
  5. Use keyword research tools to your advantage.

Iā€™m going to lay out a keyword research process you can follow to help you come up with a list of terms you should be targeting.

That way, youā€™ll be able to establish and execute a strong keyword strategy that helps you get found for the search terms you care about.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=YihexeVmlE4%3Ffeature%3Doembed

Step 1. Make a list of important, relevant topics based on what you know about your business.

To kick this off, think about the topics you want to rank for in terms of generic buckets.

Youā€™ll come up with about five to 10 topic buckets you think are essential to your business, and then youā€™ll use those topic buckets to help come up with some specific keywords later in the process.

If youā€™re a regular blogger, these are probably the topics you blog about most frequently. Or perhaps theyā€™re the topics that come up the most in sales conversations.

Put yourself in the shoes of your buyer personas. What types of topics would your target audience search that youā€™d want your business to get found for?

List of keywords and respective MSV via SearchVolume.io.

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HubSpot, for example, might have general topic buckets like:

The number in parentheses is the MSV, according to Ahrefs.

That data allows you to gauge how important these topics are to your audience and how many different sub-topics you need to create content on to be successful with that keyword.

Screencap of Ahrefs results for the keyword ā€œCRM software.ā€

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To learn more about these sub-topics, we move on to step two.

Step 2. Fill in those topic buckets with keywords.

Now that you have a few topic buckets you want to focus on, itā€™s time to identify some keywords that fall into those buckets.

These are keyword phrases you think are important to rank for in the SERPs (search engine results pages) because your target customer is probably conducting searches for those specific terms.

For instance, if I took that last topic bucket for an inbound marketing software company ā€” ā€œmarketing automationā€ ā€” Iā€™d brainstorm some keyword phrases I think people would type in related to that topic.

Those might include:

  • AI marketing tools
  • marketing automation tools
  • how to use marketing automation software
  • what is marketing automation?
  • how to tell if I need marketing automation software
  • lead nurturing
  • email marketing automation
  • top automation tools

The point of this step isnā€™t to come up with your final list of keyword phrases; you just want a brain dump of phrases you think potential customers might use to search for content related to that particular topic bucket.

Weā€™ll narrow the lists down later so you donā€™t have something too unwieldy.

Keep in mind that Google is encrypting more keywords every day, so another smart way to generate keyword ideas is to determine which keywords already bring users to your website.

To do this, youā€™ll need website analytics software like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or HubSpotā€™s Sources report, which are available in the Traffic Analytics tool.

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Drill down into your websiteā€™s traffic sources and sift through your organic search traffic bucket to identify the keywords people use to arrive at your site.

Repeat this exercise for as many topic buckets as you have.

Remember, if youā€™re having trouble brainstorming with relevant search terms, you can always head on over to your customer-facing colleagues in sales or service. Ask them what types of terms their prospects or customers have questions about.

Those are often great starting points for keyword research.

Here at HubSpot, we use the Search Insights Report. This template is designed to help you do the same and bucket your keywords into topic clusters, analyze MSV, and inform your editorial calendar and strategy.

Featured Resource: Search Insights Report Template

keyword research - search insights report template

Download the Template

Step 3. Understand how intent affects keyword research and analyze accordingly.

User intent is now one of the most pivotal factors in your ability to rank well on search engines like Google.

That means itā€™s vital that your web page addresses the problem a searcher wants to solve rather than simply including the keyword the searcher used.

So, how does this affect your keyword research?

Itā€™s tempting to take keywords at face value, but they can have many different meanings.

And because the intent behind a search is so important to your ranking potential, you need to be extra careful about how you interpret the keywords you target.

Letā€™s say youā€™re researching the keyword ā€œhow to start a blogā€ for an article you want to create. ā€œBlogā€ can mean a blog post or the blog website itself, and the searcherā€™s intent behind that keyword will influence the direction of your article.

Does the searcher want to learn how to start an individual blog post? Or do they want to know how to launch a website domain for a new blog?

If your content strategy only targets people interested in the latter, youā€™ll need to determine the keywordā€™s intent before using it.

To verify a userā€™s intent, itā€™s a good idea to simply enter this keyword into a search engine yourself and see what types of results come up.

I did a quick search for ā€œhow to start a blog,ā€ and it looks like most users are searching for info on how to start a website with a blog, not an individual blog post:

Google search results for ā€œhow to start a blog.ā€

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Make sure the type of content Google is displaying relates to your intention for the keyword.

Step 4. Research related search terms.

This is a creative step you may have already thought of when doing keyword research. If not, itā€™s a great way to fill out those lists.

If youā€™re struggling to think of more keywords people might be searching about a specific topic, take a look at the related search terms that appear when you plug a keyword into Google.

I searched Google for ā€œAI search grader,ā€ a new free product from HubSpot. At the bottom of the first page, I can see that users are also searching specifically for a free AI search grader.

List of search terms people use who have also searched for ā€œAI search grader.ā€

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These keywords can spark ideas for other keywords you may want to take into consideration.

Want a bonus? Type in some of those related search terms and look at their related search terms. Looking at the related search terms for ā€œAI search grader free,ā€ I can see that people are also searching for the best AI search grader.

Alt text: List of search terms people use who have also searched for ā€œfree AI search grader.ā€

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Step 5. Use keyword research tools to your advantage.

Keyword research and SEO tools can help you brainstorm more keyword ideas based on exact-match keywords and phrase-match keywords based on the ideas youā€™ve generated up to this point.

Some of the most popular ones include:

1. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Some of the best SEO reports and keyword research Iā€™ve seen have come from SEO experts using Ahrefs Keywords Explorer.

Screencap of Ahrefsā€™ keyword explorer tool.

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Their webmaster tools offer plenty of detail into any verified domains you own if youā€™re looking for an overview of backlinks and organic keywords.

2. SE Ranking

I found SE Ranking was not quite as user-friendly to dive into as some of the other options.

When I typed in my keyword ā€œkeyword research,ā€ I was prompted to set up a free seven-day trial, and it immediately asked for the domain I wanted to track.

Screencap of SE Rankingā€™s keyword suggestion tool.

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While it gave me some good intro data, I had to do some digging to get to the keyword research and keyword suggestion tools. However, when I found them, the resulting data was comprehensive and gave me lots of great ideas.

Itā€™s free and doesnā€™t require setting up an account.

3. SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool

Semrush is one of the most comprehensive SEO companies out there, so I wasnā€™t surprised to find that their keyword magic tool was comprehensive as well.

Screencap of SEMrushā€™s keyword magic tool.

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While you do need to set up an account, itā€™s free. Then, you can type in your keyword, get a list of similar keywords, and sort based on how specific you need your results to be.

Feat%20Image%20 %20KWR%20Template%20

Keyword Research Template

Build your SEO strategy with this free template.

  • Search Volume
  • CPC
  • Ranking
  • Keyword Difficulty

Download the Free Template

Learn moreDownload our free keyword research template.

4. Ubersuggest

Iā€™ve been a fan of Ubersuggest for quite some time. You get up to three free searches a day, and itā€™s so easy to use.

Screencap of Ubersuggestā€™s keyword research tool.

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In addition to finding out specific keyword performance, you can find related keywords and do a quick reverse search to find out what your site is already ranking for.

Itā€™s one of the easiest, most comprehensive free options, if you donā€™t mind the limitations of the free searches.

5. Free Keyword Research Tool

I found Ryrobā€™s keyword research tool easy to use. When I plugged ā€œkeyword researchā€ into the ā€œExplorerā€ tab as my keyword, it gave me several related keywords that could be solid blog topics.

Screencap of Free Keyword Research Tool.

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Then, when I shifted to the ā€œIdeasā€ tab, it gave me other keyword cluster ideas that are more likely to be specific search terms that I might want to include in future articles on keyword research.

6. Google Keyword Planner

Googleā€™s tools are always gold. Theyā€™re free, and itā€™s always good to get the info straight from the horseā€™s mouth. Once you sign in with your Google account, you can search for keyword ideas based on the keyword or your website.

Screencap of Google Keyword Planner.

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7. Keywords Everywhere

Keywords Everywhere comes highly recommended, but itā€™s not a free tool.

Screencap of Keywords Everywhere.

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Itā€™s a browser extension and it takes a little more setup than browser-based options. The lowest price tier, ā€œbronze,ā€ is $2.25/month and limits you to 100K keywords annually.

Since itā€™s a browser extension, every time I do a Google search, I get data about related keywords and similar searches, which gives me lots of ideas for new content.

For the price and the detail, itā€™s one of my favorite tools.

8. KeywordTool.io

Using KeywordTool.io is exactly what they promise in the headline. When I typed in ā€œkeyword research,ā€ I got a list of 502 keyword ideas.

Screencap of KeywordTool.io.

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Although I only see search volume, trend, CPC, and competition for the first five, I can see all of the keywords, which provides a solid search starting point.

9. KWFinder

KWFinder is another easy tool. While I quickly found that an account is needed to get started, itā€™s free and quite easy to dive in. I was able to quickly start finding the top keywords.

Screencap of KWFinder.

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10. SearchVolume.io

When I plugged in a handful of keywords into SearchVolume.io, after doing a quick ā€œAre you a human?ā€ check, the monthly search volume immediately popped out.

Screencap of SearchVolume.io.

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A quick cross-comparison with other tools showed that the data was consistent with other platforms.

11. Rank Tracker

Rank Tracker by SEO PowerSuite is a solid tool for monitoring SERP data and doing keyword research.

There are a lot of great features, but Rank Tracker works best as a tool to rank relevant keywords, identify keyword gaps, and autocomplete phrases on different search engine tools.

Screencap of Rank Tracker.

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Rank Tracker allows you to see all the phrases a particular domain ranks for, along with search volumes and keyword difficulty.

Their keyword gap tool allows you to determine which keywords competing websites are ranking for that you might be missing out on.

Rank Tracker also integrates with Google Search Console and Keyword Planner, providing a free version for unlimited testing.

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