Good keyword research is the basis of successful content management. So if you are planning your content as part of a winning SEO strategy, you should plan enough time for keywords. Finding valuable keywords that match you and your offers in terms of search intention and topic is tricky: It is exhausting, takes time and, above all, requires expertise.
But it does result in your content actually ending up in the top spots in relevant search engine rankings. In the end, however, this investment pays off with a visibly better range and a higher Google ranking.
In the following chapters, we will address the magic question: How do I find the best keywords? You will find out what you should pay attention to when doing SEO keyword research and when you should rely on professional support when it comes to SEO.
What is SEO Keyword Research?
Keyword research is an important part of content optimization and therefore of your SEO strategy. If you want to achieve the best possible results in the search engine rankings with your website, you should invest time and work conscientiously on your content.
Of course, there are also technical aspects that you should consider when it comes to SEO, but in the long term, you cannot avoid content maintenance for good ranking results.
In order to be able to pursue this goal as precisely as possible, it makes sense to clarify in advance for which search terms you would like to be found. Because nothing else is “keywords”. It doesn’t matter whether it’s organic or paid content via Google Ads.
You think about which search terms users should enter in Google or other search engines to land on your site. This then results in: Which keywords you should use on your website in order to be displayed on the SERP of the searchers among the first results.
The most important commandment here is to always keep an eye on what your users are looking for. Where can you offer help with your content and provide content that will help your users?
What keywords do I need?
What are “right” keywords anyway? And what types of keywords are there? These can be divided into different categories:
Different forms of keyword types:
- Short tail keyword: The shortest form of a keyword is just a single word and is often the start of your SEO keyword research as it describes a very broad topic such as “keywords”. Shorttail keywords usually have a very high search volume but are also highly competitive in the SEO world. These keywords are very general, which is why high-ranking sites have a good chance of getting a lot of traffic, but the competition is so high that it is difficult for smaller companies in particular to assert themselves against it.
- Mid tail keyword: Midtail keywords usually consist of 2-3 individual keywords and often give you a better idea of what your users are actually looking for. You can probably imagine more under “research keywords” than just under “keywords”. The problem with mid-tail keywords is that they usually have a little less search volume than short-tail keywords, but the competition is usually still quite high.
- Long-tail keyword: The most specific form of keyword expression is the long-tail keyword. Because this is where most of the information is already in the search query. If your user describes the problem he/she is facing in more than 4 words, it is much easier for you as a website operator to understand what exactly the person is looking for. Because users already know more precisely what they are looking for with this type of search query, long-tail keywords usually have a higher conversion rate. Although the search volume here is much lower than for the two types listed above, the competition is also lower.
- Keyphrase: A keyphrase is practically used as a synonym for “keyword”, but the term means more than a single word. This means that this also includes mid-tail and long-tail keywords, i.e. terms that contain several words. For example, if you want to optimize blog articles on your WordPress website for search engines and have downloaded the Yoast SEO plugin , you are probably familiar with the term “keyphrase”.
The search intent of different keyword types:
The intention behind a Google search can also be divided into four categories and is a very important indicator for your SEO strategy:
- Informational: Informational searches expect an answer to a question and, as the name suggests, require information. From this it can be deduced that the person who would land on your page via this keyphrase is still at the beginning of the customer journey .
- Navigational: When users make navigational searches, they already have a better understanding of what they’re looking for. They expect a specific website from a well-known organization because they have either already visited this site or firmly assume that the information they are looking for can be found on a subpage.
- Transactional: Those with the goal of making a transaction use transactional keywords for the search query and tend to be at the end of the customer journey. It doesn’t matter whether it’s about buying a product or downloading a “free keyword tool”: The person searching already knows exactly what to expect from the search result.
- Local: Local searches always have a local reference. In addition, many search queries of this type can also be assigned to transactional searches if they are made in connection with a service, for example “digital agency Cologne”.
Note: Of course, it is sometimes difficult to define exactly what the search intention is, in particular. Therefore, some keywords can often be assigned to different types, resulting in mixed forms.
When Do I Do SEO Keyword Research?
For every new website we design and every blog article we write, we first do keyword research. Because this research is the basis and important to understand the thematic environment and to have an overview of the intention for which content is designed, namely the question: what is being searched for?
You should keep this question in mind throughout the process. In the case of a relaunch, SEO keyword research is just as important as when we completely rebuild a page or set up a Google Ads strategy.
And for what content is SEO keyword research important? The keyword research is mainly carried out as part of on-page optimization and it is best to add the keywords off-page to the anchor texts of your backlinks in order to have a positive influence on the search engine ranking.
Depending on the type of content you are looking for keywords for, you proceed only slightly differently, or you take a different perspective. Below we have listed the two most common types of content for which you should conduct keyword research.
Landing pages :
When it comes to adding keywords to individual landing pages, the search for the right terms starts with you and your product. It is best for you to think about which (search) terms best represent your products or your company. As is generally the case in marketing: Always look for the USP (Unique Selling Point).
What does your organization have that others don’t? This principle also applies to keyword searches. So in order to rank well for individual landing pages, you try to orientate yourself thematically on your achievements and skills. Based on your keyword analysis, you then create your page structure.
Other principles, such as the goal of wanting to solve or answer problems or questions, of course also apply here.
Blog articles :
If you want to offer your target group an important problem-solving tool, professional articles on your own blog are a very good option. The same applies here: Your users – and thus also the search engines – should be able to find your valuable help.
For this, you need SEO and accordingly also the right keywords.
When you search keywords for blog articles, you start the search from a main topic that is already buzzing in your head, such as one of the main topics that you have already dealt with when doing keyword research for one of your landing pages.
Based on this main topic, you then start the basic keyword research for your article. It is important to keep an eye on how well your article then describes the topic.
Why is keyword analysis important?
In the first section, it was already mentioned that SEO keyword research is an important part of content optimization. Of course, we cannot say exactly how big the impact of keywords, alt tags, snippet adjustments, page speed, and other SEO adjustments on the Google ranking actually is, after all, Google updates the algorithm regularly, which means that the weighting of individual measures changes again moves.
And yet all these adjustments can contribute to high positions in the organic search engine ranking and thus to more traffic to your site. With that, we have already listed an important reason to conduct thorough keyword research.
You present your expertise to the outside world through the content on your website or your blog. Your goal is to establish yourself among your users as well as among the search engines and thus increase your brand awareness in the long term and sustainably, which brings us to the next important point: serving demand. As with any new product that comes out, the first thing you should do when writing is to understand the needs of your target audience.
Before launching a new product, a market survey is usually carried out to find out what the target group needs, what features a new product should have, etc. You can roughly equate this procedure with your keyword analysis. You want to know what people are looking for
In addition, keyword research helps you to identify trends at an early stage and thus helps you to find content inspiration for further blog articles or the expansion of your corporate agenda.
Briefly summarized again :
A professional SEO keyword research as part of content optimization ensures:
- a visibly higher position in the search engine ranking
- more traffic to your website and a higher conversion rate
- Increase brand awareness
- and a lasting relationship with your users by responding to their wishes and problems
- Inspiration for setting the corporate agenda by recognizing trends at an early stage.
What is a good keyword?
We have already clarified what a “ keyword ” is. What terms should you know for keyword research?
On the one hand, good keywords summarize your content concisely, on the other hand, the search terms should also have a few other properties. When using various tools to assist in keyword research, you will come across the following terms:
Keyword Metrics:
- Search volume: The search volume describes the amount of searches for the keyword or keyword and thus indicates how often the keyword is searched per month.
- CPC (Cost Per Click): The CPC value indicates the cost of a click on this keyword in AdWords.
- CPS (Clicks Per Search): This value shows you how many different search results are clicked after entering a search term. It thus shows the relationship between the search volume and the generated clicks.
- Search intent : The search intent shows you what the searcher expects from the results of the search term: do they want informational, navigational or transactional search results?
How do I find the best keywords?
How Do I Conduct SEO Keyword Research?
We would like to use an example to explain to you how we proceed in order to be able to identify suitable keywords. If you are dealing with writing a text, ideally you already have an overarching main topic in mind, for example, “Keywords”.
A step-by-step guide:
1. Brainstorming:
Take a few minutes and first collect all the terms that come to mind in association with this topic and that could be relevant as possible keywords. Don’t lose yourself in compulsive brooding. Just think about which aspects of your topic could be interesting and important and write them down.
“keyword research”, “keyword research tool”, “free keyword tool”, “search volume”, “keyword metrics”, “identify keywords”, “keyword research tips”
You collect all these so-called seed keywords in a table and gradually enrich them with additional ideas as the process progresses.
2. Finding similar search terms:
In the first step, you are welcome to write down synonymous or similar terms, such as “search term”, “keyword”, etc. You can also get support from various dictionaries, or support from the Obtain autocomplete function from Google.
3. Check competitor keywords:
Seeing which keywords the top Google Search results are using can be very helpful to get a first impression of your competitors ;). Therefore, you can, for example, enter the keywords you have found so far in Google and look at the terms used by the competitors for the best SERP positions.
Which topics and questions arise directly? What subtopics do these pages cover? So you can see what is often searched for on the main topic. Another contact point can also be the “Similar search queries” section of the SERP.
Tip: It is best to use the incognito search to get a relatively objective overview.
4. Find specific questions and other search terms :
There are various tools that we will introduce to you in the next paragraph and that will help you to further complete your keyword list with data.
On the one hand to get even more ideas about the direction to go thematically, but also to get metric data on the individual keywords, such as the search volume and data on the competition.
For example, we use the Sistrix keyword tool for this. Ubersuggest or Answer the Public are also very useful for understanding what exactly your target group is looking for.
5. Sort, prioritize, and categorize keywords:
Once you have your list complete, it is a matter of sorting out keywords that you do not consider to be so suitable or that may have too strong competition. Conversely, you can color-highlight keyphrases that have particularly interesting metrics (high search volume and low competition).
Then it is helpful to group all keyphrases into clusters and assign them to different subtopics.
Make sure your completed SEO keyword list includes a good mix of short-tail, mid-tail, and long-tail keywords
6. Set focus keyphrase:
You might assume that using the main topic of your text as a focus keyword is quite sufficient. Sometimes that’s true, but mostly the research only begins here. In order to meet the demands of your target group and to be able to offer them the most concrete possible solutions to problems, you should specify your topic as well as possible and, if possible, look for a niche that you can serve.
For your focus key phrase, you should therefore use a mid-tail & long-tail keyword, such as “determine keyword search volume”, if you want to achieve a higher conversion rate. You can set the keyphrase earlier in the SEO keyword research process, but it’s always a good idea to
7. Determine secondary keywords:
After you have determined your focus keyword, you pick out a few more keywords from your list that you would like to display thematically in your text. Using our sample topic, this could be: “identify keywords”, “keyword research tool”, “keyword search volume”, “monthly search volume”, and “what is high search volume?”
8. Determine structure:
If you were able to find the right keywords, you build up the structure of your article.
9. Store keywords in the text:
Once you have found your top keywords, you only have to incorporate them into the text during the writing process. When it comes to the question of where best to store the collected keywords in your text, there are a few things to consider but don’t worry, the task is not that complex, and with a little practice, you’ll soon get a feel for it. In the end, you should depict the individual topics and questions in your article as well and precisely as possible with your keywords.
10. Check:
After a few weeks, it’s worth checking to see if your SEO keyword research has paid off. You control for which search terms you were actually able to take which positions. Of course, these results change all the time, especially just after your content is published. After a few weeks, however, your article should have leveled off to some extent.
Keyword tools that can be helpful for Google SEO:
Free Keyword Tools:
- Google Autocomplete: Also known as Google Suggest, it completes your query as soon as you type it in the search box. Depending on which topics are currently trending or which search terms you have already searched for, the Google algorithms will show you suggestions that might interest you.
- Google Trends: With Google Trends you can see how much interest there is in different keywords over time. You can also see in which regions the interest was particularly high and which similar search queries were made. Trends also show you suggestions for related topics.
More keyword tools
- Answer the Public: This tool gives you a good overview of the most common searches for the keywords you enter in the search box. This tool therefore helps you in particular to better understand your target group. You can read both graphically and in tabular form which search queries are made in connection with these keywords and export the results as a .csv file. In the free version of Answer the Public, as a User:in you will receive 3 keyword queries per day that you can use. In this case, think carefully about which keywords you would like to receive suggestions for. In the Pro version, prices here start at $79 per month.
- sistrix: The Sistrix tool is an all-around package for keyword searches. The keyword discovery function gives you numerous suggestions for related search terms that you can easily add to your keyword list. It also shows you the individual metrics for the keywords at a glance, which definitely simplifies the selection process. Sistrix provides you with a few free SEO tools, such as the visibility index, which you can use to calculate the current visibility of your domain, or the SERP snippet generator, which you can use to optimize your website’s snippet. However, if you would like to use the various keyword tools from Sistrix, the costs for startups start at 99 euros per month, “small companies with growth ambitions” already pay 199 euros for the same period.
- Ubersuggest: This tool also gives you 3 free keyword queries per day. In addition to the keyword suggestions, you also get precise metrics for the searched keywords. Ubersuggest costs you 49 euros per month in the Pro version with access to all functions, such as SEO training & consulting and various SEO tools, including page audit, keyword research and competitor analysis, as a small or medium-sized company, larger companies pay 99 euros.
- KWFinder : The KWFinder also offers you a clear overview of all metrics for the individual keywords and the option of examining different domains for keywords. In terms of price, the tool starts at EUR 29.90 per month with a basic annual subscription. If you book monthly, it is already 49 euros per month.
When do I need professional keyword research from an agency?
As you may have already read from the sections above, proper content management and conscientious keyword research takes a lot of time.
A specialized digital agency with an SEO focus supports you in professional keyword research with the following services:
- Defining the right keywords: A good keyword set will have specific search terms, but also some generic terms to increase visibility. Keyword experts evaluate the potential search terms according to sensible criteria (e.g. search volume, competition, CPC, and more) and filter out the keywords with the most potential for you.
- You get a change of perspective: Often, as a company or self-employed person, you are too deeply involved to look at the products or services you want to offer from the perspective of potential customers. In this way, valuable keywords that may be higher up in the user journey and even further away from the product can fall by the wayside regardless.
- On the other hand, if you use keywords that are too generic, you will get high wastage and thus a relatively low conversion rate.
- Agencies have access to the full range of (paid) keyword tools and can draw from the full to find the right terms for your business.
- Don’t know where to start? Anyone who has done keyword research themselves and discovered a lot of potential in the process may know this feeling of powerlessness that quickly overcomes you. With an agency by your side, you can rely on the evaluation of potential (e.g. using a keyword map) and know how to improve your content step by step.
A keyword analysis is just the beginning of a successful SEO strategy. In the overall context of your website, it is important that the structure of the sitemap and the optimization of the individual sub-pages mesh and support your keyword strategy. And on a technical level, there are a few things to consider when it comes to SEO.
Conclusion
Professional keyword research means a lot of time and perseverance. Because if you want to tackle the SEO topic conscientiously, a few simple main keywords are not enough.
That’s where the work usually just begins. You can also carry out basic research as a layperson and with a few helpful keyword research tools you will definitely be able to find some terms.
But in order to be able to evaluate and classify the metrics and key figures behind the individual search terms, you have to invest money and also need know-how about the profession and, above all, experience.
Conscientious research of the right keywords is just one discipline of many. For a target-oriented SEO strategy, it is crucial that both content and technical levels are taken into account and that you have enough time and resources as well as staying power for the topic of SEO & keywords.