There used to be a time when you could install a free Chrome browser plug-in, do the keyword research you need, throw them into an article a couple of dozen times, and then immediately rank for high-volume search terms after hitting “publish” on your WordPress site. Those days are no longer, and that’s not such a bad thing.
What is Keyword Research in SEO?
Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing search terms that people enter into search engines intending to use that data for a specific purpose, often for search engine optimization (SEO) or general marketing.
SEOs have performed keyword research for algorithms since 2005. But keyword research as a practice has evolved a lot since then. Now search engines prioritize well-written content aligned with search intent when ranking content.
To be successful in SEO, you need to figure out what your potential customers would search in Google to find your website and the service or product you offer.
Three main elements of K-R
- Relevance
Search Engines rank content for relevance. This is where the concept of search intent comes in. Your content will only rank for a keyword if it meets the searchers’ needs. In addition, your content must be the best resource out there for the query.
- Authority
Search Engines will provide more weight to sources it deems authoritative. That means you must do all you can to become an authoritative source by enriching your site with helpful, information content and promoting that content to earn social signals and backlinks.
- Volume
You may end up ranking on the first page for a specific keyword, but if no one ever searches for it, it will not result in traffic to your site. Kind of like setting up a shop in a ghost town.
Most Common SEO Keyword Types (with examples)
Branded vs. Unbranded Keywords –
Branded search terms contain the brand in the query.
This could include the official brand names, misspellings, branded acronyms, branded campaign names or taglines, parent companies, or anything else with obvious branded search intent.
Unbranded, or non-branded, terms are all other keywords you may consider. Unbranded terms often describe the customer problem or your business offering.
Some businesses have non-distinct names that can make this delineation more difficult.
Examples:
- Branded: Oral-B electric toothbrush
- Unbranded: Toothbrush
Seed vs. Page-Specific Keywords –
Seed words are the obvious, initial list of words you start with for the keyword research process. They act as the seeds you “plant” to grow your list. Seed words are often relevant to most of your website, if not all of it.
Examples for Home Depot:
- Seed: home improvement store
- Page-specific: deck building supplies
Head vs. Long-Tail Keywords
Those with the highest search demand are called head terms. Conversely, those with relatively low demand are considered long-tail.
Why?
When you graph them out, head terms fall off quickly in terms of the total number of keywords, whereas lesser searched terms seem to go on forever like a tail.
The middle of the graph is often aptly named “middle” or “chunky middle”.
With 15% of searches being new to Google each day, it shouldn’t be surprising that most search queries are considered long-tail, even if each long-tail query gets searched very few times.
Examples:
- Head: Bob Dylan
- Long-tail: Who is Jakob Dylan’s father?
Primary vs. Secondary Keywords
Also labeled “targeted” or “focus”, primary keywords are used to describe your most important keywords. These terms can be used in the context of your entire site or a single page.
Secondary (also called “tertiary” or “supporting”) keywords include all other keywords you are targeting and/or incorporating.
In some contexts, secondary terms are those you are loosely optimizing for, but they’re just not considered a high priority.
Examples for a subscription shaving kit product page:
- Primary: shaving kit subscription
- Secondary: monthly, razors, free trial, custom
Audience Type Keywords
One of the best ways to find out who is searching for a term is to query Google for it and look at the results. Then ask yourself who the top results seem to be talking to.
If Google’s job is to give a searcher what they want, then the target audience for the top results of a query should be the same audience who completed the query.
Examples:
- Patient: Is diabetes hereditary?
- Doctor: T2DM treatment algorithm
Evergreen vs. Topical Keywords
Evergreen keywords have a steady search volume with little variance over time.
On the other hand, topical keywords are either seasonal (e.g., valentine’s day gift ideas), flashes in the pan (e.g., covfefe), or consistently relevant (e.g., Taylor Swift).
Some evergreen keywords can switch to being topical when an event makes them culturally relevant, like searches for a celebrity immediately after their unexpected death or a city when it’s hosting the World Cup.
Google often favors new content for topical keywords because the “query deserves freshness”.
Examples:
- Evergreen: how to know if you’re dehydrated
- Topical: movie showtimes this weekend
Best Keywords for SEO –
Understand that there are no “best” keywords, just those that are highly searched by your audience. With this in mind, it’s up to you to craft a strategy that will help you rank pages and drive traffic.
The best keywords for your SEO strategy will take into account relevance, authority, and volume. You want to find highly searched keywords that you can reasonably compete for based on:
- The level of competition you’re up against.
- Your ability to produce content that exceeds in quality what’s currently ranking.
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