This is the ultimate guide to SEO keyword research guide for beginners.
In this new guide, I’ll show you the following:
Let’s dive deep;
Have you ever wondered how search engines like Google understand what you’re looking for?
It all boils down to one crucial element: keywords. These little words hold the immense power to connect you with the information you seek in the vast ocean of the internet.
Think of keywords as magic words that open doors to the content you want to see. They’re the secret sauce that helps websites appear when you type a query into a search engine.
But why are keywords so important?
Well, imagine you’re a chef with an incredible recipe – if you don’t tell anyone what’s cooking, how will they find your dish?
Keywords work the same way for websites, helping them get noticed and visited by people interested in what they offer.
In my journey through this guide, I’ll uncover the mysteries of keywords and how they work their magic in the world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
You don’t need to be a tech wizard to understand this – it’s about understanding how the right words can make your website shine and attract visitors.
Whether you’re new to all of this or have some experience, get ready to learn about the heart and soul of effective online presence: keywords.
We’ll explore how to find the best ones for your website, connect with your audience, and make your mark in the digital realm.
Let’s begin the adventure of mastering the art of keywords in SEO!
Have you ever wondered how search engines like Google understand what you’re looking for?
In this fundamentals guide, I’ll show you the following:
Let’s dive deep;
The keyword is a query the searchers enter on the Google search bar or major search engines.
Searching on Google for “Best keyword research tools” indicates you want to know the best relevant result of your query and that you need the best keyword research tools list.
Google knows the terms and provides the best relevant search according to your search query. But how can you find out the search query of your targeted audience? That’s the main point to understand the concept of keyword research.
Including Google and keyword research tools provide approximate and relevant keywords for free or paid.
Keyword search is the backbone of your SEO journey; without a strong and steady backbone, no one can stay steady as keyword research should be strong, effective, and, most importantly, has to be unique with relevant experience.
A keyword is the key to the content you are writing based on, and you are ready to provide the full-detailed information about this query.
Keyword research allows you to understand the language your potential customers use, enabling you to create content that directly addresses their needs.
Secondly, targeting the right keywords increases your chances of appearing in search results when users actively seek information or solutions related to your industry.
Because you know your targeted audience’s interest demand and you are ready to provide the quality content for themselves.
Proper keyword research gives you higher visibility for the board’s organic audience. This organic visibility leads to higher website traffic and potential conversions.
Moreover, keyword research helps you stay ahead of your competition by uncovering valuable insights into market trends and user preferences.
Ultimately, implementing a well-researched keyword strategy enhances your website’s visibility and improves user experience and the likelihood of achieving your business goals.
Keyword research enhances a website’s visibility in search engine results. People search for information, products, or services online using specific keywords.
As a beginner, it’s a really tough part of your SEO career, and you need to spend some time gathering experience in keyword research.
Look, you just enter the seed keyword into your keyword research tools, and they provide thousands of keywords, and you pick them to use.
It’s not that easy to think. it’s really tough, and you need some logical thinking about your niche and think of the keyword reality.
Before getting started with keyword research for any particular niche, think about the niche relevancy and reality of this niche.
You should not always rely on any tool’s data that shows its search volume is 1000 per month and keyword difficulty is less than 20.
No, it could be changed, and you can make a real user search with that keyword to see the search result of that keyword.
Practically, you should analyze the top 10 SERP items of that keyword, and you may get an idea of what content should fit that keyword.
Keyword research isn’t just about finding words to rank for; it’s about understanding your target audience’s keyword sentiment and real-time experience.
When searching, beginners can use keyword research to gain insights into their potential customers’ phrases and terms.
By identifying and optimizing for these keywords, you can ensure that your content speaks directly to your audience’s needs and interests.
Here is a simple rule to target the exact audience: You have a keyword, and you are ready to provide the whole answers, problems, and solutions regarding that keyword.
When someone enters your URL and starts reading your content, they should feel that your content provides 100% potential for their needs and wants.
When you conduct effective keyword research, you discover the words and phrases that can attract organic traffic.
These keywords help your website rank higher in search results, making it more visible to people searching for related information.
If you can fill in all the relevant information in your content, visitors will spend more time on it and read it genuinely.
Considering the user’s behaviours, Google and major search engines will consider your content valuable for them, and it will get a higher rank after a certain period.
Note: Ranking is not an overnight factor; it takes time and sustains for long.
Implement your keyword in your content naturally and strategically. will understand the suffixes and prefixes of any sentence, so don’t try to push keywords with extra effort.
Have you ever wondered how search engines like Google understand what you’re looking for?
In this Keyword Research guide, I’ll show you the following:
Let’s dive deep;
First, you have to select the topic or niche you already know about or are learning on this topic.
Don’t have any niche you are not covered with your knowledge; selecting your nearby niche will help boost your knowledge base.
If you are an experienced person with your niche, you can find out the relevant topic of your primary niche; it will help you write more relevant content based on your topic.
If you select a micro niche like cat food, you should understand and need a clear audience statement.
Divide the niche category, sub-category, user’s interest, age group, and gender. It will help you to target specifically to your audience specifically.
What do your traffics want from you? If you can answer this question, your niche selection is 60% done. You are now good to go with your niche.
If just find out what’s the need for your audience and what they search on Google and major search engines.
That means you got it and are ready to research for keywords deeply. I will cover the details below.
Including Google and other major keyword research tools allows you to find the best potential keywords for your niche. (Click to enlarge image)
Keyword research tools are indispensable assets for anyone serious about optimizing their website’s search engine visibility.
These tools simplify the often complex process of identifying the most effective keywords for your content.
Here are key phases for understanding the importance of keyword research tools:
Google Keyword Planner:
This free tool by Google provides valuable insights into keyword search volume and competition. It’s ideal for beginners and integrates seamlessly with Google Ads.
SEMrush:
SEMrush offers a comprehensive suite of SEO tools, including keyword research. It provides data on organic and paid search, competitor analysis, and more, making it suitable for advanced users.
Ahrefs:
Known for its backlink analysis, Ahrefs also offers a powerful keyword research tool. It provides data on keyword difficulty, search volume, and clicks, making it beneficial for competitive niches.
Moz Keyword Explorer:
Moz’s tool offers insights into keyword difficulty, click-through rate, and priority scores. It’s user-friendly and suitable for those new to SEO.
Ubersuggest:
This tool, developed by Neil Patel, provides keyword suggestions and insights into search volume and competition. It’s a good option for budget-conscious users.
Almost every tool is the same, and you can easily navigate them after using one or two hours. However, keyword research is not as easy as that tool’s features.
Getting keyword opportunities and finding a proper keyword isn’t easy, but you have to try to find out what can help you get a higher ranking based on your keyword research.
Remember: You should not slight the keyword researching process; it’s the root of your SEO journey, and SEO is all about keywords.
Start with Clear Objectives:
Before diving into any keyword research tool, define your goals. Are you looking to increase website traffic, drive sales, or improve brand visibility?
Your objectives will guide your keyword research.
Choose the Right Tool:
Select a tool that aligns with your goals and expertise. Beginners may find Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest more user-friendly, while advanced users may prefer SEMrush or Ahrefs for their extensive features.
BUT! Don’t switch your keyword research planning with different tools; it will hang your research, and you may get different results from different tools.
As a beginner, you should use Google Keyword Planner for free and Ubbersuggest for the limited version with a daily limit.
Remember: those tools provide approximate data only; no one is accurate.
Understand Keyword Metrics:
Familiarize yourself with key metrics such as search volume, keyword difficulty, and click-through rate. These metrics help you evaluate a keyword’s potential.
Explore Keyword Variations:
Keyword research tools often provide related or long-tail keyword suggestions. These can be gold mines for discovering untapped opportunities.
Don’t run after only a short-tail keyword or only for the long-tail keyword; you should pick at least 10 keywords for a single article to enhance ranking visibility.
And try to get relevant keywords for more opportunities for ranking.
Competitor Analysis:
Many tools allow you to spy on your competitor’s keywords. Analyzing their strategies can provide insights into keywords working well in your industry.
Analyze their already ranked content, and you will get the idea to bid them organically; if you can get their strategy, your work is done here. You need to apply.
Refine Your List:
As you collect data, refine your list of keywords based on relevance and potential. Focus on keywords that align best with your content and audience.
Don’t write content that does not give you or your audience value; low-quality content can ruin your website’s ranking performance badly.
So, provide quality content; for that reason, you need to refine your keyword lists and cut off the less valuable keywords from the list.
Track and Adjust:
Keyword research is an ongoing process. Regularly monitor your keyword performance and be prepared to adjust your strategy as trends and competition change.
There is no chance to stop monitoring your ranking progress. SEO is a dynamic field, and you are ready to get the results from this field after a certain period.
It’s all about working hard on your content and on your audience’s needs; focus on it, and you are good to go.
Effectively using keyword research tools is crucial in optimizing your website’s SEO strategy. These tools empower you with data-driven insights, enabling you to target the right keywords and improve your website’s visibility in search engine results.
Keywords are all short, mid, and long tails keyword consolidation; it’s a combined version that allows you to rank for different keywords.
But here is the catch: You need to pick every version of your targeted niche; it helps get a higher rank easily, and you need less effort.
Suppose there are some types of keywords: Short-tail, Mid-tail, and Long-tail well-known, and also there are some types like Branded and Non-branded.
Let’s have a look;
Short-tail Keywords:
These are typically one to three-word phrases that are broad and general. They generate high search volumes but often have fierce competition. (Click to enlarge image)
Examples include “shoes,” “smartphones,” or “travel.”
Short tail keywords are always competitive; you need higher authority and E-E-A-T to get top rank.
As a beginner, you should not focus on short-tailed keywords the first time; it will take much more time, and you won’t get the expected rank initially.
Also, you should not ignore them; it can be beneficial in the future. But keep it less.
Long-tail Keywords:
These are longer and more specific keyword phrases, often containing three or more words. They usually have lower search volumes but are more targeted and have less competition.
Examples include “Red Running Shoes for Women,” “Best budget smartphone under $300,” and “How to Plan a European Vacation on a Budget.“
Do you want to get a higher rank with ease? You need to focus on Long-tail keywords; they are very long, and their search volume is comparably lower than short-tail keywords.
So, you get more chances to get ranked easily.
Branded Keywords:
These include your brand name or variations of it. (Click to enlarge image)
For example, my brand is “AH DiGi LTD,” a branded keyword might be “AH DiGi.” They are important for building brand recognition and capturing brand-specific searches.
More simplified, your business name is your brand; it can be your blog or company site. Whatever it is, if you have a named business, that is your branded keyword.
Non-branded Keywords:
These keywords do not include your brand name and are related to the products, services, or information you offer.
For example, “AH DiGi” provides digital marketing services worldwide, including SEO Services, PPC Specialist, SMM, and Website Design and Optimization.
If someone searches with these services and finds us, it will be non-branded keywords.
Non-branded keywords help attract new customers who may not be familiar with your brand. For example, “SEO Service” is a non-branded keyword.
Informational Keywords:
Informational keywords are used by people looking for information or answers to their questions. (Click to enlarge image)
They are often in the form of questions or phrases like “how to tie a tie” or “symptoms of the flu.” Content targeting informational keywords should provide valuable and informative content.
Also, it can start with who, how, what, when, where, while, and these kinds of interrogative words.
Navigational Keywords:
Navigational keywords are used when looking for a specific website or webpage. They usually include a brand or website name, such as “Google Ads” or “Google Analytics.“
Most of the time, navigational keywords are going to brand keywords, and searchers know their website and want to go to a specific URL.
So, they search for it with navigational keywords and go to their website.
Transactional Keywords:
Transactional keywords indicate that the user is ready to purchase or take action.
For Example, include “buy iPhone 15 Pro online” or “book a flight to Paris.”
Content targeting transactional keywords should focus on facilitating conversions. Transactional keywords are intricate that searchers willingly want to convert and are going to for conversion.
Understanding these types of keywords is crucial for effective SEO and content strategy. As beginners, you don’t need to memorize these keyword types.
Keyword research is not a specific thing you are stuck in; it’s all about your targeted audience’s point of view.
You should research your audience; you are ready to go if you find the right audience and their needs.
Have you ever wondered how search engines like Google understand what you’re looking for?
In this Keyword Research guide, I’ll show you the following:
Let’s dive deep;
Keyword brainstorming is a crucial step in the SEO keyword research process. It involves generating a list of relevant keywords related to your website’s niche or industry.
You will get keyword data from any keyword research tools, but tools are not human beings that can think like humans.
But you are, and you should think about the keyword, audience, behaviors, intents, and what they actually want.
You need to take the opportunity from the searchers that they are actually satisfied with the information, and you are the lucky one who fulfils their needs.
For the first time, you won’t be able to grab 100% of the potential of your industry; you need some major experience with it.
But be patient; you can also explore the potential of your keyword search with the help of your brain.
Brainstorming about keywords is not rocket science, and you don’t need to complete thousands of books for it; it’s all about experience, and you will gain experience day by day.
Identifying Core Themes:
Start by identifying the core themes or topics that are central to your website’s niche.
For example, if you run a fitness blog, core themes might include “weight loss,” “strength training,” and “nutrition.”
In short, it’s called seed keyword; using these seed keywords, you will get thousands of short-tail, mid-tail, and long-tail keywords from any keyword research tool.
Core keyword ideas will open an ocean of keywords that you can identify from the deep of your audience.
Subtopics and Categories:
Once you have your core themes, break them into subtopics or categories. Continuing with the fitness blog example, under “weight loss,” you might have subtopics like “diet plans,” “exercise routines,” and “healthy recipes.”
Narrow targeting makes you more narrow; you won’t get bulk traffic from narrow or single niche-based websites.
It’s okay to target a single niche but not a certain keyword; it makes your content very low.
Try to get some extra branches of your focus keywords. You don’t know 100% of your audience; they can search for anything they need.
Targeting with sub-topics and sub-categories will make your content more informational and helpful for the audience.
Brainstorming Content Ideas:
For each subtopic, brainstorm specific content ideas. This can include articles, guides, product reviews, or any other type of content that aligns with your niche.
Consider what your target audience would be interested in reading or learning about. Just writing content isn’t enough to get rank and readers satisfaction.
You need to outsource the ideas from the real-time searchers’ needs, and when you get the idea, execute it in your own ways.
Seed Keywords Definition:
As I said before, when you have the seed keyword, you can easily expand that keyword to 10-20 with ease with the help of any keyword research tools. (Click to enlarge image)
Seed keywords are the initial keywords that you start with. These are usually broad and directly related to your niche.
For instance, if you have a gardening website, a seed keyword could be “gardening tips.” And with this keyword, you can expand the list from the next one;
Expanding Keyword List:
Use seed keywords as a foundation to expand your list of potential keywords. You can do this by considering variations, synonyms, and related terms.
For example, for “gardening tips,” you might expand to include “organic gardening tips,” “flower gardening tips,” or “beginner gardening tips.”
These are just examples; you will get thousands of keywords for your core niche.
Keyword Research Tools:
Leverage keyword research tools like;
These tools discover additional keywords related to your seed keywords. It also provides insights into search volume, competition, and related keywords.
Brainstorming and expanding seed keywords will provide you with a healthy and solid keyword list that help you to write some quality content for your website.
You have a bunch of keywords and now need to analyze your competitors to write quality and helpful content for your targeted traffic.
Why are you writing content? It’s a simple and solid answer rank! If you don’t say it publicly, but in the back of your mind, rank is real.
For any keyword, you need to analyze at least 10 competitors who are already ranked. They are ranked because they have the quality of their content. And they could provide value for their audience.
In this phase, you’ll identify your online competitors operating within the same niche or industry.
As you are targeting a certain audience, you need to identify your competitors first; here, you need to complete two things first;
You have done your first one, and now it’s time to analyze it to write quality and helpful content better than your competitors.
Your competitors are websites vying for the same audience’s attention and keywords as you. This step is crucial because understanding who your competitors are will help you gain insights into their keyword strategies and potentially discover untapped opportunities.
Once you’ve identified your competitors, the next step is to delve into their websites and content to uncover the keywords they are targeting.
You can analyze your competitor’s website for keyword ideas using Ahrefs, Ubbersuggest, SEMrush, and other similar tools.
Keyword ideas allow you to get more detailed information to write quality content; don’t try to write content at your own whim. It won’t give you any ultimate benefits from your content.
Website analysis involves thoroughly examining their web pages, blog posts, product descriptions, and any other content they have.
It helps to get insights driving organic traffic to their sites, and you can understand which keywords are perfectly relevant to your niche.
Plus, it will help you identify gaps in your keyword strategy and discover high-potential keywords you may have overlooked.
It’s essentially a way to learn from your competitors and use their successes and failures to inform your own keyword research and content creation efforts.
SEO is all about experience and the A/B testing process; you can’t stay stuck with your website and content.
Your competitors always try to take you over and will do it. So, it’s a competition that never stops.
Almost every keyword research tool provides approximate metrics about any keywords; they don’t have any specific information about a keyword.
So, you should not 100% rely on a tool; these metrics are approximate, and you need to work with those data.
It’s a real experience of your keyword research journey; you are not the only person facing this. We all are the same here, and we work with approximate data.
Ahrefs, SEMrush, and other tools assume the searcher’s history and analyze it with their own crawler; most of the time, Google doesn’t share the data with them. But analyzing the other data and factors, they provide metrics to you.
Also, keyword metrics are essential for effective keyword research and SEO strategy. They provide valuable insights into the potential of keywords and how they align with your goals.
Search volume refers to the number of times a specific keyword is entered into a search engine over a given period, typically on a monthly basis.
As I mentioned, it’s not a 100% accurate result you get from tools, but you can get 5-10% plus or minus with the result.
For example, If you see a keyword’s search volume of 1000 per month, then you can consider it as it’s almost 1100 above.
You know the trends in your keyword and targeted audience’s behaviors, so don’t overthink; just focus on your unique and helpful content.
Importance:
It helps you gauge the popularity and demand for a keyword. High search volume keywords are more competitive but can bring significant traffic if you rank for them.
Don’t try to get a higher rank for high search volume keywords or very low search volume; both make it harder to get potential traffic for your website.
Pick the average search volume keywords that are easy to rank and get minimal potential traffic from it.
Low search volume keywords may be easier to rank for but may not attract as much traffic.
Keyword difficulty assesses the difficulty of ranking for a specific keyword in search engine results. It considers factors like the authority of competing websites and the number of backlinks.
Importance:
Understanding keyword difficulty helps you choose keywords that are realistic to target based on your website’s authority and resources. Lower-difficulty keywords may be more accessible and offer quicker results.
As a beginner, you need to always focus on low-competitive keywords that help you get quicker results.
You know, money is the best motivation; if you get quicker results from your website, it will encourage you to focus on effects.
Ultimately, you can work with high-competitive keywords after a certain period of time.
It’s more important to know your audience’s intent, why they search for a topic, and the motive behind their search.
It provides the exact content that they need. By reading their intent, you can provide a more appealing meta description and title to increase your Click-Through Rate (CTR).
CTR is the percentage of users who click on a search result after seeing it. Deciding where they will click generally takes 10-20 seconds.
Within this time, you have to optimize your meta content to make it more eye-catching and appealing for them.
In reality, when you search a query on Google, you click the most relevant result that comes to you. With your own experience, you need to optimize in the same way that boosts your organic traffic.
User intent refers to the underlying reason behind a user’s search query, whether informational, navigational, or transactional.
Grab it and try to optimize.
Importance:
CTR indicates how attractive your search result is to users. High CTR suggests that your content aligns with user intent and searchers’ expectations, positively impacting your search rankings.
When they click on your title, google will consider it valuable, and it’s fit for better ranking; it’s a real organic boosting that sustains for a long.
Understanding user intent helps you create content that satisfies user needs, improving user experience and search engine rankings.
Incorporating these keyword metrics into your keyword research process helps you make informed decisions about which keywords to target, assess competition realistically, and align your content with user intent, ultimately enhancing your SEO strategy’s effectiveness.
Have you ever wondered how search engines like Google understand what you want?
In this use of a keyword guide, I’ll show you the following:
Let’s dive deep;
For beginners, the best practice is to select long-form keywords that have low search volume but are easy to rank.
Long-tail keywords make it easier to get a first-page rake than any short-tail keywords. To get earlier results, you should research it.
Long-tail keyword research is a crucial aspect of SEO that involves targeting longer, more specific search phrases rather than short, broad keywords.
That approach has several benefits for website owners and marketers, as it can lead to more targeted traffic and higher conversion rates.
Lower Competition:
As I said before, long-tail keywords take a lot of time to write, and a few users search using long-tail queries.
So ultimately, here you face lower competition than short-tail and mid-tail keywords.
Long-tail keywords are often less competitive than generic keywords. This means ranking them in search engine results is easier, making it an attractive strategy for newbies like you or smaller websites.
Higher Conversion Rates:
The long-tail keyword makes more specific and more intentional searches by the searchers, like “Buy running shoes,” indicating that they want to buy shoes.
But if they search for “Shoes,” what does it mean? Only shoes do not mean anything about the searcher’s intent.
So, the ultimate benefit for you is to use the long-tail keyword that grabs potential traffic and improves the conversion rate.
Improved Relevance:
Long-tail keywords allow you to create highly relevant content that covers topics from start to end.
You can address specific queries and demonstrate in-depth knowledge about the topic. It allows you to tailor your content to answer questions, solve problems, and other insights that make your content more helpful.
Niche Targeting:
Long-tail keywords are often associated with niche markets or specific demographics. You are a beginner; you don’t have any authority about any particular topic, so a niche-based website is the best choice to start.
You can reach a more focused audience interested in certain products or services that you actually provide through your content.
Voice Search Optimization:
58.6% of people use voice search in the USA, which is increasing daily. Ask yourself, when you use your phone and search for something on Google, will you write to press the mic?
For long-tail keywords, voice search is the main key to getting ranked. People tend to use more conversational, longer queries when using voice assistants.
So, making long-tail optimization crucial for voice search visibility.
Keyword Research Tools:
Utilize keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz Keyword Explorer to discover long-tail keyword variations. 
(Click to enlarge the image)
I discussed about keyword research tools in (Lesson 2 – Effective Keyword Research Techniques).
Google Autocomplete:
Start typing a broad keyword into Google’s search bar, and it will suggest long-tail variations.
Act as a searcher, and type the keyword initial to see the suggestion from Google. Note it.
These suggestions are based on real user queries and can be a goldmine for discovering relevant long-tail keywords.
Related Searches:
Scroll to the bottom of Google’s search results page to find a list of related searches. These related searches are also based on real user queries and related topics, so don’t ignore to find long-tail keywords. (Click to enlarge image)
Make a bunch of potential keywords, and drive into the content writing with these.
Competitor Analysis:
Analyze your competitors’ content and keywords, traffic sources, website structures, and overall user experience.
It will help you to make your website more appealing than your competitors, and you can provide the best value to them effectively.
Customer Feedback:
Engage with your audience through surveys, reviews, and social media. Pay attention to their language and phrases when discussing your products or services. These insights can help identify valuable long-tail keywords.
Note: For beginners, Customer Feedback is a hard thing, and you don’t need to get the feedback initially; it is a hard topic for a newbie.
By leveraging these methods, you can uncover long-tail keywords that align with your content and business goals, improving your SEO strategy and attracting a more targeted audience.
When you are servicing a certain local area, you need to optimize your content for local customers with localized content.
So, local keyword research is very important to grab the local traffic for your business; it helps to rank faster locally and makes it more visible to your customers.
Local SEO is a crucial component of digital marketing, especially for businesses with a physical presence or those targeting specific geographical areas.
Here’s why local SEO and targeting local keywords matter.
As a beginner, you should remember that you won’t complete a 100% accurate task for the first time, so don’t panic and get frustrated with the result.
Any SEO’s technical or theoretical aspect takes time to mature and provides long-term results. So stay focused on the following;
Increased Visibility:
Local SEO helps your business appear in local search results, making it more visible to potential customers in your area.
For better navigation, access, and locally connected traffic, local SEO is the must thing that may increase your visibility.
Local SEO ensures your business is among the top results when people search for products or services near them.
Relevance to Local Audiences:
By targeting local keywords, you align your content with the search intent of local consumers. This relevance can lead to higher click-through rates and conversions because users find what they’re looking for in their vicinity.
You should know their actual and nearby needs so that you can target them with their daily demands.
Local search always happens with related topics to your needs, and they search based on location. Keep in mind that localized-based search acquired potential traffic.
Competition:
Don’t think that you are an individual who targets your local audience; there can be a massive number of your competitors, and they are always trying to get a higher rank for local search.
Local SEO allows small and medium-sized businesses to compete effectively with larger, national, or international brands. Focusing on local keywords enables you to carve out your niche in the local market.
Google Maps and Listings:
Another important thing that you should do first with your niche is Google Maps and Local Citation. These are important for localizing experience to your customers so they can easily find you for your services or products.
Local SEO often involves creating and optimizing Google My Business listings. It can improve your chances of appearing in Google Maps results, making it easier for users to find your physical location.
To succeed in local SEO, incorporating location-based keywords is essential. Here’s how you can do it effectively:
Identify Target Locations:
It can be specific locations or regions that you want to target; also, it can be a single city or a part of a whole city. Wherever you want, first, you need to identify your targeted locations.
Targeting the specific locations helps to get personalized and specific keywords for those locations, and you can easily optimize it to provide quality content (services/products) to your customers.
Keyword Research:
Use keyword research tools to find relevant keywords with local intent.
For example, if you run a bakery in New York City, you might target keywords like “best New York City bakery” or “NYC artisan bread.”
Here, you optimize for “Best Bakery Shop”, which will show the overall bakery shop’s result that is actually not relevant to your customers.
Keep in mind that you are targeting the localized customers of your nearby; here, a local name is important. Most of the time, local search depends on the Location Name.
On-Page Optimization:
Incorporate these location-based keywords naturally into your website’s content, including meta titles, descriptions, headers, and within the content itself.
As a beginner, your soft mentality will force you to stuff your keyword for on-page optimization, don’t do that; it may ruin your overall performance, and Google won’t like it.
You should tell search engines that your content is relevant to local searches in a natural way, not forcefully.
Google My Business:
If you have a physical storefront, ensure your Google My Business listing is accurate and complete. (Click to enlarge image)
Before listing your business on GMB, you need a physical store to verify, and Google My Business Guidelines don’t allow you to list your business without a physical store.
GMB usually provides location (Google Maps) based services, so physical location is required here to verify. Otherwise, you may get suspended.
Include your business’s physical address, phone number, hours of operation, and high-quality images. Google uses this information to rank local businesses in search results.
Always keep up to date with your business hours, and use proper descriptions of your products so that Google can present your business locations to the right audiences.
Local Citations:
It’s very important that you list your business details with local business directories that will help Google and your customers find you for their relevant needs. Importantly, you need to ensure that your business information is consistent across various online directories and citation sites.
Customer Reviews:
Position customers’ review is the main key to your business; it will organically boost your sales and overall business performance. You can show off your customer satisfaction review to other upcoming audiences who can convert.
Customer reviews may encourage you to provide high-quality services, and you may also identify the problem or lack of your services.
Even bad reviews may help improve your services for the next time, so overall, all customer reviews are a must thing that you need to collect from them.
Mobile Optimization:
According to Exploding Topic’s research, 55%of traffic comes from mobile devices, in case it can be more or less. But in the current situation, mobile traffic is increasing daily, and you should prioritize optimizing for mobile.
Think in reality: What type of device does Google Maps use?
The straightforward answer is Mobile devices because navigation only works on GPS tracking devices like mobile or tabs.
So, Local SEO should be mobile-optimized to provide your audience with a 100% seamless experience. It also improves conversion rates.
By implementing these strategies for local keyword research and optimization, You can enhance your online presence, attract local customers, and drive more foot traffic or online sales.
Every keyword is not evergreen, and you can not select all evergreen keywords; it can be sessional or trendy keywords that only works for certain time and season.
Suppose you have an eCommerce website where you sell “Winder Jecket.” It clearly shows that it’s a seasonal keyword that only works in the Winter. Isn’t it?
The same goes for trendy keywords that provide trends for certain topics, that “Fifa World Cup.” it’s not an evergreen keyword that people search regularly.
It’s a trend that works when the actual Fifa World Cup is held.
The phase involves continuously tracking and analyzing the performance of selected keywords over an extended period.
Using Google Trends, you can view the overall insights, states, interests, changes, and more for free.
Monitoring keyword trends over time is crucial because what’s popular today might not be tomorrow.
Trends are a trend; you couldn’t expect to see the same result for trending topics, so monitor your keyword’s trends and update it according to the changes.
By closely monitoring keyword trends, you can adapt your content and SEO strategies to remain relevant and competitive.
Utilizes keyword research tools, analytics platforms, and historical data to track keyword performance.
Not only Google Trends but also you can check the trendy keywords using SEMrush, Ahfres, and similar keyword research tools that may help you identify the trendy keywords.
Regularly update keyword lists, identify rising or declining trends, and adjust content strategies accordingly.
As I said before, SEO is a dynamic field, and the trendy keyword is more than changeable, so always refresh the keyword as well as your content that provides fresh value to your customers.
Modifying your keyword strategy to align with seasonal trends, events, or holidays that impact user search behavior and interests.
It’s important to provide valuable content to your traffic, and it will make them satisfied with the help of your fresh and updated content.
Google always loves updated and helpful content that actually provides value to your customers.
User intent and interests can change significantly during different seasons or special occasions. Adapting your keyword strategy ensures your content remains relevant and appealing to your target audience.
Analyze the historical data, understand the season’s impact on your industry, and identify keywords associated with specific seasons or events.
It’s all about your experience, and you can not say you will get 100% optimized keywords from the trending list.
Creating seasonal content, updating existing content, and optimizing product listings with seasonal keywords. This phase aims to capture increased search traffic during relevant periods.
In summary, monitoring keyword trends over time and adjusting keyword strategies for seasonal changes are essential components of an effective SEO strategy.
Keyword research is only half the battle; effectively organizing and utilizing your keywords is equally critical for SEO success.
For beginners, it may frustrate you with this journey, and although it’s a boarding task, you have to face off to complete it.
Here’s a breakdown of the key phases within this process:
When you’ve compiled a list of keywords from your research, organizing them based on searcher relevance to your content and their intent is essential.
Here’s why this step is crucial:
Relevance:
Sorting keywords by relevance ensures that you’re aligning your content with what your target audience is searching for.
It prevents you from using keywords that might attract the wrong audience or dilute your content’s focus.
If you list 100 keywords, it’s not guaranteed to target 100% relevant traffic, which might target a different topic that you actually don’t want.
Traffic is not enough; you need potential traffic that can bring value to you.
Intent:
Keywords can broadly be categorized into informational, navigational, and transactional. Understanding the intent behind each keyword helps you create content that matches the user’s search intent.
For instance, if someone is searching for “best running shoes,” they likely want product recommendations, not just information about running shoes.
It’s all about your own real experience, and you need to think as a searcher. It will help to get keyword intent ideas.
Every keyword is different, and you should think with it that may help to understand their intent and you can optimize for them.
Content Alignment:
You can create content or topic clusters by grouping keywords with similar intent. This approach involves creating a pillar page (comprehensive content) around a broad topic and supporting it with related, more specific content pieces.
It enhances user experience and signals to search engines that your website is an authority on the subject.
This will help you to improve your website’s E-E-A-T.
Targeted Content:
Organizing keywords enables you to map specific keywords to individual pages on your website.
When you know your keywords and are ready to go with the targeted content that actually needs your audience, it’s also tough, but you need to do it.
It ensures that each page has a clear focus and is optimized for a particular or closely related keyword.
Google and major search engines prefer well-structured websites with clear topic associations. Ultimately, user experience is the key for any search engine and you too.
Once you’ve organized your keywords based on relevance and intent, the next step is to group them for specific pages or content types.
Here’s why this is important:
Content Organization:
Grouping keywords helps you structure your website’s content logically. You can assign certain keywords to your homepage, others to product pages, and some to blog posts or articles.
It makes navigating your site easier for both users and search engines. When users are satisfied, Google will automatically determine its helpful content, and your content will be visible upfront of SERP.
Optimized Titles and Headings:
When you have a clear keyword grouping strategy, you can craft titles and headings that include these keywords naturally.
Optimizing titles and headlines provides extra attention to your audience, and they get engaged with the topic you have covered.
It enhances the SEO value of your content and gives users a clear idea of what to expect when they click on a URL.
Efficient Content Creation:
Keyword grouping streamlines content creation efforts. When you know which keywords belong to a specific group, you can plan and create content around those groups, making the process more efficient and ensuring you cover all relevant aspects of a topic.
User Experience:
Grouping keywords helps in creating a better user experience. Visitors can easily find the information they want, leading to longer on-site engagement and lower bounce rates.
In short, provide value to your audience, and they will automatically connect with you.
Creating a keyword list and then organizing and grouping those keywords effectively is pivotal for SEO.
It ensures your content aligns with searchers’ intent, enhances website structure, and contributes to a better overall user experience, all essential for achieving SEO success.
Have you ever wondered how search engines like Google understand what you’re looking for?
In this fundamentals guide, I’ll show you the following:
Let’s dive deep;
It’s time to write content with your keyword list; you may hire a content writer. If you have experience with copywriting, then register by yourself.
You are a beginner; you might have budget issues with hiring a content writer. But it’s good to hire a low-budget writer and complete the proofreading yourself.
Either hire a copywriter or write yourself; you need to optimize your content with complete Google Webmaster Guidelines to help you get rank.
So, let’s have a look;
Keyword stuffing is an unethical SEO practice that involves overloading web content with an excessive number of keywords or keyword phrases in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings.
For example, “best running shoes” is your focus keyword, and you placed this keyword almost in every paragraph, and even it’s unnecessary. Also, you add an extra like to add this keyword.
This tactic was once used to try to fool search engines into ranking a page higher for specific keywords, but it has severe negative consequences.
You might get penalized by Google and get down-ranked for this practice.
Keyword stuffing negatively impacts both user experience and SEO in the following ways:
Reduced Readability:
When content is stuffed with keywords, it often becomes awkward and difficult to read. Even smart human readers can understand that your content doesn’t provide any value to them, and they need to get information about what they actually want from your content.
It leads to a poor user experience, causing visitors to bounce from your page quickly. You know the ultimate result of it.
Penalties from Search Engines:
Search engines like Google have evolved to detect keyword stuffing and penalize websites that engage in this practice. Penalties can result in lower rankings or even removal from search engine results pages (SERPs).
Recovering will take 3-6 months, in case more than 6 months. It’s a considerable time, and you might get demotivated for this.
So, avoid this type of practice with your content and think that Search Engines like Google are more intelligent than us.
Loss of Credibility:
Keyword-stuffed content appears spammy and untrustworthy to users. It will have a negative impact on your website, and you may get negative results from your readers. Credibility is the secret key to ranking, and it may unofficially demoralize. It damages the website’s credibility and can deter potential customers or readers.
Negative SEO Impact:
Overusing keywords can lead to a high keyword density, triggering search engine algorithms to flag the content as spam.
For a single spammy and low-quality content, Google penalized your whole website’s rank and deindexed all pages from the search engine result page.
It’s really a horror thing for a webmaster; you know the risk, so be aware.
Search engines never said that you shouldn’t use your keywords, but it should be natural and practical, not just a random push that you think there should be a keyword inserted. Not like that.
It’s all about your natural way and user experience and what type of content you provide to your audience.
Only focus on the Green Tick of Yoast SEO or Rank Math? No ways. They are just plugins that can manipulate your mind by providing this green tick.
Avoid keyword stuffing and create content that is both search engine and user-friendly; it’s essential to follow these best practices:
Focus on Quality:
Remember, Quality is always better than quantity, and you need to focus on it that may bring excellent and sustainable results.
Google always prefers to provide quality content that provides value to your audience, and they get satisfaction from it.
Instead of obsessing over the frequency of keywords, prioritize delivering high-quality, valuable content to your audience. Write naturally and informatively.
Use Keywords Sparingly:
Incorporate keywords where they naturally fit within the context of your content. It’s okay if you insert a keyword after 1 or 2 paragraphs; it’s good practice. Think that you are writing content in the entire conversational way; if the keyword naturally fits, it’s okay. Otherwise, don’t force.
Synonyms and Variations:
Utilize synonyms and related keyword variations to add depth to your content. It not only improves SEO but also provides a better reading experience.
Connect with your audience’s local experience so they can feel they are reading your content as they are in front of you.
Write for Humans:
Always keep your target audience in mind. Write content that you are speaking directly to them and feels like it’s a one-to-one conversation. Speaks to their needs and interests rather than just optimizing for search engines.
According to Google’s September 2023 Core Update, you should write the content for “by the people, for the people. Creating helpful, reliable, and people-first content makes your content more user-centric.
Proofread and Edit:
After writing:
You can use Grammarly, Quillbot, Small SEO Tools, and similar tools to check those issues.
It’s crucial before publishing your content.
Use Header Tags:
Use header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to structure your content and incorporate keywords that make sense within these headings if applicable.
Don’t use any irrelevant headlines to your content or topic, which may interrupt the reader’s reading flow and harm the user experience.
User Intent:
Understand the intent behind the keywords you’re targeting. Tailor your content to provide the information or solutions users seek.
By striking a balance between incorporating keywords and maintaining natural, user-friendly content, you can improve your website’s search engine rankings and the satisfaction of your website visitors.
User experience (UX) and keywords are vital to successful online content and SEO strategy. Balancing them ensures that your website ranks well in search engine results and provides visitors with a positive and satisfying experience.
Remember, when your user is satisfied with your content, it will pass a signal to search engines, and they can also track the user’s behaviours on your website. Considering the metric, Search engines will determine whether to give a higher rank to your content.
Balancing SEO with a positive user experience involves finding the sweet spot where your content is search-engine-friendly and user-friendly.
Let’s have a look at how you can achieve this balance:
Content Relevance:
Ensure that your content is highly relevant to the keywords you’re targeting. Write topic-based content concisely; there is no need to add extra stories that are irrelevant to your content. But don’t forget to add relevant stories.
Users should find content directly addressing their query when they click on your link from search results.
Quality Content:
Create content that’s informative, engaging, and valuable to your audience. Avoid stuffing keywords unnaturally, making the content difficult to read and diminishing the user experience.
Mobile Optimization:
56% of visitors come from their mobile devices, and Google always refers to mobile optimization first. As a massive number of visitors use mobile, you need to super-optimize your website for mobile, which may help to provide a faster loading and reading experience to your readers.
With the increasing use of mobile devices, ensure your website is mobile-friendly. A responsive design ensures that users on smartphones and tablets have a positive experience.
Page Load Speed:
Slow-loading pages frustrate users. It will increase your bounce rate and ultimately decrease the user-retention. Optimize your website’s performance to ensure pages load quickly. (Click to enlarge)
Overall, page load speed is one of the ranking factors that you should ensure the green mark from Google Page Speed Testing.
Clear Navigation:
Make your website easy to use for users and keep every essential page in front of them; it improves the navigational experience with your website. Use intuitive navigation menus and provide clear calls to action.
Minimize Intrusive Elements:
Pop-ups and intrusive ads can disrupt the user experience. Use them sparingly and strategically.
It’s true that you will earn more revenue if they click on ads, but don’t forget to provide a better user experience and user interaction with your website; it’s the most important thing rather than showing ads.
Ads are always annoying for users, but if you place them in an organized way, they won’t interrupt users’ reading flows or get disrupted.
Accessibility:
Ensure that your website is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This not only improves UX but also helps with SEO.
Ask your developer to add “Accessibility” features on your website that may help special needs persons.
You can even use WordPress Accessibility or similar plugins if you use WordPress CMS for your website.
Incorporating keywords seamlessly into content is essential for SEO, but it should be done in a way that doesn’t detract from the user experience.
I said before that creating content isn’t written like a sentence; it’s all about your experience sharing with others, and you are now an expert on that topic.
Let’s have a look;
Natural Integration:
Keywords should be integrated naturally into your content. Make sure your content has proper coherence and fits into the natural flow. Please don’t write any content based on your own whim; it will ruin your experience and overall your ranking.
Readers do not just come to read your keyword; they want information about their query, so try to add keywords and search intent-related details so that they can get value from your content.
Title and Headings:
Place keywords strategically in titles and headings. It helps both users and search engines understand the structure and content of your page.
While using the title, remember that this is the head of your content, and Google and major search engines will consider it as the primary impression.
It should be optimized and compressed with the summary of your whole content so that anyone can understand the topic you have covered here after reading the title.
Meta Tags:
Optimize meta tags like title tags and meta descriptions with relevant keywords. It makes your website more visible to search engines, and you can also get more eyeballs to your title and headings.
Using appealing meta titles and descriptions will show you different from your competitors and get a higher click-through rate.
Image Alt Text:
Google always the image alt text, and it will consider your image what you have written as alt text.
Use descriptive alt text for images, including relevant keywords. It aids accessibility and can help search engines understand the image’s purpose.
Internal Links:
Internal linking is an interesting process that you should not miss for a while because it helps to connect your readers to another resource of your content.
When linking to other pages on your site, use anchor text that includes a proper anchor that can improve navigation and user experience.
Long-Form Content:
Longer, in-depth content often allows for more natural keyword integration. But to early start long-form content makes you frustrated, and you may get bored.
But logically, long-form content helps users better than short-content. By writing long-form content, you can cover vast topics of your niche and give the potential value to them. It also tends to perform better in search results.
User Intent:
Again, content writing isn’t only inserting keywords; it’s all about fulfilling your user’s needs and what they are actually seeking.
Balancing SEO and user experience involves carefully considering both technical and user-centric aspects. When done correctly, it results in content that not only ranks well but also engages and satisfies your audience, ultimately contributing to your website’s success.
Keyword testing and refinement are critical phases in the ongoing process of SEO. You have already published your content, and now it’s time to track the ranking, right?
A/B testing is the essential process where you may need to re-optimize your content and overall keywords that you have listed already.
It’s normal that keywords may not perform expectedly, but don’t get fed up here. Find a similar alternative keyword, and start working on a new one.
Overall, it will improve the website’s visibility and relevance to user’s search queries.
In this phase, you take the keywords you’ve carefully researched and strategically incorporate them into your website’s content. Enhance content with the relevant topic of your keyword; don’t add unnecessary features that may garbage your content.
Here’s a brief breakdown:
On-Page Optimization:
Integrate keywords into various on-page elements like page titles, headings, meta descriptions, and throughout the body of your content.
However, avoid overusing keywords, which can lead to keyword stuffing and harm your SEO efforts.
Content Creation:
Develop high-quality, informative, and engaging content that naturally includes your chosen keywords.
Always think your audience is smarter than you, so write as they like to read your content to improve their knowledge and fulfil their needs.
URL Structure:
Optimize your website’s URLs by including relevant keywords when applicable. Optimize your website’s hierarchy and reinforce the page’s topic that should optimize.
After implementing keywords, keeping a close eye on their performance is vital. Track your SEO efforts, analyzing data, and making informed changes to optimize your strategy.
Here’s a summary of what’s involved:
Performance Metrics:
Monitor key performance metrics like organic traffic, click-through rates (CTR), bounce rates, and keyword rankings using tools like Google Analytics and SEO software.
Tracking is the most important thing to take further action on your content by analyzing the topic and content.
It will help you understand your content’s current situation, and you may get the opportunity to keyword gap and utilize your content.
User Engagement:
Analyze user behaviour on your website.
Are visitors engaging with your content? Are they staying on your pages and exploring further?
You should ask yourself these types of questions and try to find out the answers to them; it will help to get user-centric data that may help you to provide better content.
Understanding how users interact with your site can reveal if your keywords attract the right audience.
Keyword Ranking:
Keep an eye on how your chosen keywords rank in search engine results pages (You may need to adjust it).
Suppose they are performing differently than expected. You can only sometimes get the expected result from your targeted keyword.
The best practice is to find the underperforming keywords and replace them with new and relevant ones to get the expected result.
A/B testing is important with your content, and SEO is all about experience and how you interact with content and audience.
Competitor Analysis:
Although competitor analysis is the first task that you should complete during keyword research, this is not the end.
After publishing your content, you need to update it with updated and fresh data. Are your competitors are on stuck? Not at all. They also updated their content and wanted to provide fresh and valuable content that suited the audience.
So, Continually assess your competitors’ strategies and rankings for similar keywords. Analyze the insights and ensure you provide unique and fresh content compared to your competitors.
Content Updates:
Google always recommend providing fresh, unique, helpful and updated content for readers so that they get reliable value from a blog.
As this industry is dynamic, most of the niches are dynamic, and they are continuously updating themselves.
So, based on your analysis, update and refine your content as needed.
Backlink Strategy:
This is the off-page SEO process that you need to cover in the long term, and it’s also time-consuming and boring. But it’s effective if you can follow Google Webmaster Guidelines about backlinks.
Consider your backlink profile. Quality backlinks from authoritative websites can boost your rankings for specific keywords. If your keyword strategy is not yielding backlinks, you may need to reevaluate your approach.
In essence, the testing and refining of keywords is a cyclical process in SEO. You should not be demoralized by monitoring, analysis, and adaptation to ensure your website remains competitive and relevant in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
In the concluding section, it’s vital to summarize the key takeaways from the entire discussion on keyword research for beginners.
The recap serves as a quick reference for readers, reinforcing the most critical aspects you should remember.
It might include points such as the importance of keywords, understanding user intent, using keyword research tools effectively, and avoiding keyword stuffing.
In the digital landscape, SEO is a continuously evolving field, and keyword research is no exception.
Emphasizes that keyword research isn’t a one-time task but an ongoing process. Search trends change, user behaviour evolves, and new competitors enter the scene.
To maintain and improve your website’s visibility, it’s crucial to highlight that keyword research should be a regular practice.
That means regularly revisiting and updating your keyword strategy to stay aligned with your target audience’s changing preferences and the dynamic nature of search engines.
By stressing the importance of ongoing keyword research, this phase encourages readers to make it an integral part of their long-term SEO strategy.
What do you learn from this blog?
