What is keyword research?
You perform keyword research to find out which terms your target audience uses in the search engine . When you then use these terms in your blog post, you increase the chance of being found.
It may seem unnecessary to do this. After all, you know what terms your target audience searches for, right? But it is more important than you might think at first! By conducting keyword research, you will not only know what terms your target audience uses, but also:
- How often a keyword is searched for (search volume)
- And how much competition there is in Google (difficulty level)
With this information you can make a much better decision about whether it is interesting to use a keyword.
Suppose you want to write a blog post with more information about different relaxation exercises, the keyword relaxation exercises seems like a logical choice. However, a keyword research shows that this word is indeed searched for a lot, but the competition is also incredibly high.
A better choice would be to write a blog post about relaxation exercises for anxiety . It is less searched for, but the chance of being found is also many times greater.
By conducting keyword research you will actually discover these kinds of ‘gems’ that can help you to be found better.
But in addition, keyword research also helps in coming up with good blog topics . You will simultaneously gain inspiration for new blog posts. In the example above, you can see that it is also interesting to write a blog post about relaxation exercises for stress and one about relaxation exercises specifically for the neck.
Instead of one blog post about relaxation exercises, where the chance of being found is small. You now suddenly have 3 blog posts, which might actually generate visitors from Google.
And that’s exactly why you want to learn how to do keyword research!
(free) keyword research tools
There are a lot of different tools available for keyword research. Some of them are very expensive (think $99 per month), but there are also good affordable options, such as Ubersuggest, SE Ranking and.
In addition to being able to view the number of monthly searches and competition for each keyword, Ubersuggest has a number of other useful features:
- Content ideas – per keyword you get an overview of what others have already written about this topic (incl. number of unique backlinks and shares on Facebook and Pinterest). This way you can see directly which content is popular.
- Average number of backlinks and domain score of pages in the top 10 – This way you can immediately see how strong the competition is. But be careful! The numbers mentioned here can be strongly influenced by one outlier. For example, 9 results can only have 1-4 backlinks and 1 result can have 60. So always look at the scores per result.
- SEO competition research – see which keywords your competitors are found on and which pages generate the most visitors. A handy feature to get inspiration for new blog posts.
If you use Ubersuggest , you will notice that there is a limit to the number of searches you can do per day. A subscription with 100 reports per day costs €29,- per month.
SE Ranking
SE Ranking is a comprehensive SEO tool that also has a keyword research tool. No super special features, but just what you need to do keyword research.
SE Ranking ‘s keyword research tool is the most affordable option on this list. If you have your search engine ranking (an additional feature of SE Ranking) checked weekly and for up to 250 pages, you only pay €17.40 per month*. For that, you also get access to a large number of other SEO tools . Such as the competitor research tool (recommended!) and the ability to track your website’s performance in search engines.
If you want to use SE Ranking for free, you will unfortunately only see 10 keyword suggestions per keyword. In addition, there is a limit on the number of searches per day. If you just want to check how high the search volume is for your keyword, you can go to SE Ranking.
* Please note! You can then request reports for a maximum of 100 keywords or competitors per day.
KWFinder
The tool I use myself for keyword research is KWFinder. Just like SE Ranking, this tool simply offers everything you need. The tool is user-friendly and also gives good keyword suggestions.
Unlike the other two tools, you can’t use KWFinder for free. There is a 10-day trial, but this also has a daily limit. In addition, the costs for KWFinder are higher than for the other two tools. You pay €49 per month and that gives you 100 searches per 24 hours. You do get access to the other tools of Mangools.
Which tool to use?
If you are only using the tool for your own website or blog, you probably don’t want to take out a yearly subscription. With extensive keyword research, most people will get ahead for a few months.
So which tool do you choose? Below you can see a comparison of the 3 tools for 7 different keywords. The first number is the search volume (the average number of searches per month) and the second number is the difficulty (how difficult it is to be found).
For keyword research it is important to know how often a keyword is searched and how much competition there is. This information must therefore be as accurate as possible.
In the table above you can see that the search how to build telemarketing data volume data is very similar between the 3. But the difficulty information is not always. For each keyword you can see that SE Ranking and Ubersuggest still deviate from the average a little more often than KWFinder.
But KWFinder is also the most expensive option. If you are looking for a good, affordable option, I can definitely recommend SE Ranking ! For me, the data from SE Ranking would lead to the same conclusions as the data from KWFinder.
How do you do keyword research?
In the next part of the blog post I will show you how to do keyword research and give you tips on how to find good keywords for your blog posts.
Please note! In this blog post I will show you how to do an extensive research. Of course you can also search for the most suitable keyword for one blog post in between. You can use the same tips for this.
Step 1. Check which keywords you are already found for
For this step you will need Google Search Console . If you have just created an account, you can skip this step for now.
In Google Search Console you can see which keywords you are already found on. You can find this information under Performance. Note! Make sure you also set average position ‘on’ and set the date to last 28 days.
In the spreadsheet, you then make a list of all your pages and the keywords you are found on per page. Only mention the most important keywords. For example, the keywords with the highest number of impressions and keywords with at least 50 impressions (per month) that put you in the top 10.
Using this information, you can then check whether you have optimized each page for the correct keyword and whether any improvements are needed per page.
In addition, the information is also a good starting point for finding new keywords.
Step 2. Find keywords using the keyword tool
Next, you start working with the keyword a og den anden halvdel ser version tool (e.g. SE Ranking). Once you have completed the first step, start filling in the monthly search volume and difficulty for the keywords you are already found for.
If you have done this (or if you cannot perform step 1 (yet)), open a new sheet in your spreadsheet. We will now search for new keywords for your website.
Below are some tips for finding good keywords :
Check out the keyword suggestions for the keywords you are already found on. Are you using SE Ranking? Then click on Detailed report under related keywords. You will then get an extensive overview of keywords that could be interesting for your website. If you have found a good keyword, use it again to search further!
Think about what you want to blog about . What information do you want to share and what words might visitors use when searching for that information? Use your own expectations as a starting point!
Look at the related searches in Google or the predictions . If you don’t get good keyword suggestions, search for your topic in Google. Then look at these terms in your keyword tool.
Use Answer The Public to find out what possible questions people have about a certain topic . This tool can also be useful for determining the content of your content, because it allows you to better determine what information your visitor is looking for.
Step 3. Determine which keywords you will use
When do you know when to add a keyword to your spreadsheet and when not?
For this you look at the search volume and the difficulty level . It seems logical to choose the keyword with the highest search volume, but this is not always the best choice.
Keywords with a high search volume often also have a high difficulty level, making it difficult to get into the top 10.
It is therefore much better to choose so-called long tail keywords . These are specific keyword combinations that often consist of multiple keywords.
If you use the words from the right column in your content, the chance of being found is greater than if you were to use the words from the left column.
Within your keyword tool you will also america email regularly come across keywords between 20-50 searches per month . Is it worth choosing these keywords? If the difficulty level is low, then absolutely !. Better 10 visitors per month thanks to a long tail keyword, than no visitors because you have chosen a keyword with a (too) high difficulty level!
Keyword research example
Want to know what the keyword research will look like in the end? Download the keyword research example .
I created this example for a hypothetical company that offers personal branding workshops. In the first tab you see the new keywords and in the second tab the analysis from Google Search Console. The keyword research was done in 09/2020 with the tool SE Ranking.
Using Keywords
Once you have chosen a keyword for your blog post or page, it is important to use it in the right places in the text.
Want to learn more about optimizing your blog post for search engines? Then definitely read my blog post about SEO Copywriting !
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really always have to use a keyword for my content?
When you use the right words in the right places (and of course create incredibly valuable content) the chance that your website will score higher in Google is considerably greater ).
What can I do if I can’t find a suitable keyword?
There comes a time when you want to share certain information with your visitor, but then you can’t find a good keyword. Then you can actually do two things. You can write the blog post and then check which terms your blog post is found on. Or you can share the information not via your website, but another channel. For example in your newsletter, on social media or via a video on YouTube.
How is it possible that the information from the keyword tools does not always match the information in Google Search Console?
The keyword tools get data from Google, but this information is not 100% correct. For example, the keyword tool may indicate that the search volume is 20, but Google Search Console indicates that the keyword generates 70 impressions each month. This does not mean that the information from the keyword tool is useless. It still helps you to find good keywords.
