Keywords are an essential part of SEO. Using keywords in your content optimizes it for what users are searching for, increasing your chances of ranking fast and being found by your target audience. Let’s look at seven keyword research tools to help you figure out which keywords you should be targeting!
What Are Keywords?
When users want to find something—be it a recipe, washing machine, sneakers, shoes, handbags or how an appliance works—they enter search words or search phrases into search engines. This is the language they (and this includes you) use to speak to search engines. The words and phrases users enter are search queries, and these search queries yield search results.
As a content creator or owner of an eCommerce store you will also need to speak the language users speak. This means using users’ words and search phrases in order to provide them with content that is relevant to their needs. In short, content that offers answers or solutions to their problems.
Why Keywords Are Important For Your Content
There are various reasons why keywords matter in your content.
- They help search engines determine what your content is about and which search terms are relevant to your target audience.
- Your website is more likely to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) if you include relevant keywords in your content. Consequently, your website will become more visible and receive more visitors from organic traffic.
- By using keywords that align with the needs and interests of your target audience, it’s more probable that you will provide them with the right answers to their queries. In turn, they will convert into customers or take the appropriate action.
- Keywords help you organize and structure your content. You do this by strategically adding keywords to your headings, subheadings, and throughout the body of your text. This makes it easy for users to navigate your content. It improves readability, and allows search engines to find your content quickly and serve it to users.
Types of Keywords
Keywords can be classified into different types based on their length, level of competition, and user intent. Here are some common types of keywords:
Short-Tail Keywords: These are short and generic keywords, typically consisting of one or two words. They have a high search volume but are highly competitive. Examples of short-tail keywords include “shoes,” “digital marketing,” or “pet food.”
Long-Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific phrases, typically consisting of three or more words. They have a lower search volume but are less competitive. Some examples of long-tail keywords include “red high-heeled shoes for women,” “digital marketing strategies for small businesses,” or “best organic pet food brands.”
Branded Keywords: These are keywords that include your brand name or variations of it. They help in promoting your brand and attracting users who are specifically searching for your brand or products. Examples of branded keywords include “Nike shoes,” “Coca-Cola,” or “Apple iPhone.”
LSI Keywords: LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords are related terms and synonyms that are semantically connected to your main keyword. They help search engines understand the context and relevance of your content. For example, if your main keyword is “car insurance,” LSI keywords could be “auto insurance,” “vehicle coverage,” or “insurance premiums.”
What is Keyword Research?
When creating content that offers value to users in your niche, you will need to find out what users are searching in order to identify relevant themes and topics. After that you will select keywords that have the driving organic traffic and achieving your goals.
That’s where keyword research comes in. It is the process of identifying and analyzing the keywords that are most relevant and beneficial for your content.
A comprehensive keyword research strategy typically involves the following steps:
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Identify your target audience: Understand who your target audience is, what their needs and interests are, and what keywords they are likely to use when searching for information related to your content.
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Brainstorm relevant topics: Make a list of topics that are relevant to your industry, products, or services. These topics will serve as a starting point for generating keyword ideas.
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Use keyword research tools: Utilize keyword research tools to explore different keyword ideas, analyze their search volume, competitiveness, and relevance to your content. These tools will help you uncover valuable insights and identify high-potential keywords.
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Analyze keyword competition: Evaluate the competitiveness of your chosen keywords by analyzing the current ranking pages, their domain authority, backlink profiles, and content quality. This will help you determine whether it is feasible and realistic to rank for those keywords.
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Select target keywords: Based on your research and analysis, select a set of target keywords that align with your goals, have a reasonable search volume, and present a realistic chance of ranking high in search engine results.
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Optimize your content: Incorporate your target keywords strategically into your content, including headings, subheadings, meta tags, and throughout the body. However, ensure that your content remains natural, informative, and user-friendly.
Let’s explore the top 8 keyword research tools that can help take your content to the next level.
1. Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a valuable resource in optimizing your website and generating targeted traffic. This powerful tool allows you to conduct keyword research based on search volumes and competition, which allows you to gauge the keyword’s performance.
It is free and accessible through Google Ads. It provides keywords suggestions based on the seed keyword you input. You can narrow down results by using filters like location, language and search network.
The search volumes are accurate and its integration with Google Ads allows you to create powerful advertising campaigns based on keyword research.
2. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is among the top rated keyword research tools that allows you to find hidden keyword opportunities and optimize your content for high visibility in search results.
With Ahrefs you can conduct comprehensive keyword research and competitor analysis. It provides detailed insights into search volume, keyword difficulty, and the organic search traffic of your competitors.
With this tool you can explore keyword ideas, analyze trends, and discover related keywords. Advanced competitor analysis allows you analyze your competitors keyword strategies, top performing keywords, backlinks and to find gaps in your competitors keywords strategies. All this gives you a competitive edge.
It has a high price tag and a steep learning curve give the amount of data you have to analyze.
3. SEMrush
SEMrush is another comprehensive SEO and analytics tool that offers a wide range of features that cover every aspect of search engine optimization.
Its extensive database of keywords allow you to explore related keywords, search volume, competition level, and trends. It offers valuable insights into organic search data, competitor analysis, and much more.
In addition, it provides backlink analysis, position tracking, and on-page optimization recommendations. It analyzes the organic search traffic of any website and identify the keywords that are driving the most traffic
SEMrush is highly priced and may not be affordable for beginners. It also has high learning curve givens its many features and huge amount of data.
4. Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest has a limited free version and a paid version that gives you access to more advanced features. It is the perfect keyword research tool for finding content ideas, get the scoop on your competitor’s keywords.
With Ubersuggest you can analyze keyword difficulty, explore related keywords, assess search volumes for specific locations and languages.
It also provides keyword suggestions based on search volumes, trends, and competition. Competitor analysis: The tool allows you to analyze your competitors’ organic search keywords and gain insights into their strategies.
5. KeywordTool.io
What sets KeywordTool.io apart is its ability to pull keywords from various search engines including Google, YouTube, Bing, Amazon, Ebay, Instagram, Tiktok and more. It also has a simple and user-friendly interface.
It helps you uncover untapped keywords using autocomplete data, it offers a wide array of keyword suggestions that people are actively searching for.
It provides filters to help you refine keyword results based on specific parameters. While it has a broad coverage of different search engines, competitor analysis.
To get access for advanced features you will need a Pro version.
6. KWFinder
KWFinder is a user-friendly keyword research tool that specializes in finding long-tail keywords with low competition for your niche and so you can optimize your website to attract targeted traffic. You can explore keyword suggestions, assess search volume and difficulty and track keyword ranking.
You can find what makes top-ranking pages rank for specific keywords thanks to the SERP analysis feature. KWFinder also offers a keyword score that shows how easy it is to rank for a particular keyword.
The free version has search limits, the paid version opens up more capabilities.
7. Moz Keyword Explorer
Moz helps you improve your search engine rankings by allowing you to find relevant keywords. In addition to giving data on search volume and competition, it allows you to track your keyword rankings and monitor competitors’ performance.
Moz also provides insights into organic click-through rates (CTR) and provides recommendations for on-page optimization.
8. vidIQ
Last on out list is vidIQ. This is a keyword research tool specifically for the world’s second largest search engine: YouTube.
“vidIQ helps me in many ways. One is their Video Boost which finds the most relevant keywords and tags.” —Chad Wild Clay