Keyword research is a continuing process useful to modify and update new content. In this year, after the BERT algorithm update “user intent” and “relevance” are the key for top #1 organic search ranking.

This does not mean the end for keyword research.

You have to concentrate on writing meaningful content that matches the user query as close as possible. In addition to that you have to build links and do on-site and off-site page optimization.

If you can include semantically relevant keywords in the content, Google is more easily able to understand the focus of your article.

This is not that easy. It requires time, money and resources to do proper keyword research.

One of the important keyword research tips of 2020, is to find topical words that matches the audience query.

SEO has improved lately, after Google algorithm updates like Panda, Penguin and Rank Brain.

If you can follow the keyword research tips mentioned in this post, you are more likely to benefit from your on-site page optimization.

Why Keyword Research still matters in 2015

Keyword Research Tips

Competitor Analysis to find Keywords using Ahrefs tool

The daunting task of keyword analysis and research must have been completed by your competitors. If you can find the other meaningful keywords ranked by your competitor for your seed keyword, then your job is half done.

Lot of related keywords to the main topic of your article will be present in your competitor post. You just have to pick the golden keywords and sprinkle in your article.

By modifying the article to include competitor keywords, you can make your article rank #1 in search engines for the targeted keyword.

You can do competitor analysis using Ahref’s keyword research tool.

1. Enter your main keyword in Google.
2. Check the top 10 domains ranking for the seed keyword.
3. Enter any of that domain URL in Ahref’s Site Explorer tool.
4. Click on “Organic Keywords” in the Site Explorer report.
5. Lot of keywords are available for which your competitor is ranking.
6. You can filter them based on volume, keyword difficulty, CPC, traffic, words etc.

Then find those keywords which are relevant and have a different perspective. Most of the keywords are just a modification of one particular keyword, which are not useful. If you want to make your post relevant to the query, you need to include semantic (more meaningful to the seed topic) keywords.

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Make use of Auto Suggest Feature of Google

One of the best ways to find long tail keywords is to use the auto suggest feature of Google. You just have to enter your main keyword which is 3 to 4 words long. Then Google automatically will suggest you different long tail keywords with 6 to 7 words.

google auto suggest feature keyword research tips

You can include this long tail keyword in your slug. Instead of using the same keyword in the title, slug and meta description, you can use different variations, but closely related to the same seed keyword in the above.

In the Google search results, you can find further opportunities.

1. People also ask
2. Searches related to

Both the above features are additional resources to find additional keywords ideas. For example, if you search for “how to download YouTube videos”, you can find “people also ask” questions like –

  • How do I download and save a YouTube video?
  • ***  can I download videos from YouTube on mobile?
  • ^^^ can I download YouTube videos 2019?
  • … can I download YouTube videos to watch offline?

people also ask keyword research

As you can see in the above 4 questions, Google thinks the intent of the user as following.

1. Save
2. Mobile
3. 2019
4. Watch Offline

If you can write good answers related to these queries, you are likely to be present in one of the snippet features of Google.

Similarly in “searches related to” feature, the following additional user relevant ideas can be seen.

1. in laptop
2. in mobile
3. on android
4. on iphone
5. without any software
6. video downloader free
7. on mac
8. 4k video downloader

The above words are additional words to the main keyword. These phrases add relevance and user intent to the main keyword, which make Google algorithm understand the focus intention of the primary keyword.

related searches keyword research

Search Forums for Keyword Variety and Semantic Words

If your niche is “windows 10” then you can search different forums for that topic in Google. One of the many forums is tenforums.com. If you go to the home page, you can see several categories like the following –

keyword research using forums

These are all relevant keywords ideas to your seed keyword of “windows 10”. If you dwell into each category, you can find more posts related to that category topic.

You can use a tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush to find the top post pages ranking for that forum. Then find keywords for that page and include those words in your article. Otherwise, you can search different posts with high views and find keywords that have meaning to that post.

Publish a post on that post topic. Research the internet for some more blogs and find content which is different from the other articles in Google search results.

Make use of Google Keyword Planner

You can get keyword ideas from your competitors using the standard tool of Google. If you search for the keyword “best laptop with high performance”, the first search result is a featured snippet.

If you want to find out the terms in that article, you can copy the url for that post. Then enter your intent keyword in the text box that says “Enter products or services closely related to your business“. You can also select the language and country. If your query is related to a particular product, then you can toggle the switch that says “Include brand names in results“.

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Then enter the competitor url in the box – “Enter a domain to use as a filter“.

Click the button “Get Results“.

In the next report, you can see different keywords based on relevance from the above competitor url. You can also find advertiser bidding competition, top of page bid (low and high range), avg. monthly searches.

google ads keyword planner keyword research tips

In this way, you can repeat this process for other top 10 results in organic search. You can download the keyword ideas in CSV format. Then you can filter them based on competition, volume.

If you have time, you can go through them manually and find the right keyword to include in your content.

Easy Way of Finding Keywords using Tools

As we know that many SEO tools, provide a feature called Keyword Research. The following are some of the tools –

1. Ahrefs
2. SEMrush
3. Soovle
4. UberSuggest
5. Serpstat
6. LongTailPro

Some of them are paid tools. Most of them offer a free trial using which you can do the necessary keyword research. Ahrefs offers a 1 week trial for $1. SEMrush offers different plans with a free trial of 1 week to 30 days.

You can either enter the seed keyword or any url to get different words related to the primary keyword. Different keyword research tools offer seo metrics relevant to the keywords. These include search volume, keyword difficulty, competition, search trends etc.

If you have time, you can dwell more into these keywords manually to get the right keyword. Then you can write content around these keywods or include as sub-headings.

Knowing the Mind of the Search User using Intuition

As we know, to get answers for your query you have to type the right question. Then Google will display search results based on its algorithm. Sometimes, the search engine is not good at understanding the user intent.

But broadly speaking, most of the time for standard queries it will give relevant results. So as a publisher you have to understand what the visitor wants and how Google answers the query.

[wps_note size=”17″ background=”#cdd6c9″ color=”#333333″ radius=”3″]This is called “intuition”. It is most powerful technique for keyword research analysis. Since many SEO tools provide keywords existing in different posts, you may not get new keyword ideas. But if you can imagine new words that are relevant to the user query and not existing in the top organic search results, you are more likely to rank for that keyword.[/wps_note]

This is based on several other factors also. It depends on keyword competition, number of backlinks, quality of the content etc.

keyword research using customers mind

Keyword Research Tips using Customer Mind

For example, if you search for the keyword “best video camera app for android” then the search results for the top organic results are as below.

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The first result is featured snippet listing best Android camera apps.

The second result is about “People also ask” result. From this feature, you can understand the user intent as follows –

1. best video recording app for Android
2. app is best for video recording
3. record video on Android
4. make my Android camera look better.

The third search result is carousel of YouTube videos. The following video titles are mentioned.

1. Best Camera App for Android | 2019 Review
2. Best Video Camera Apps for Android
3. Best Tools for Filmmaking on Android | Moment Pro Camera

The next search results are standard results. They are like –

1. …. 6 best video camera apps for smartphone
2. 11 Free and Best Android Camera Apps for 2019
3. Best Android Camera App
4. 15 best camera Apps for Android

etc.

From the above search results, we can clearly understand that Google is trying to display “video apps” and “Android”.

If you want to rank for search a result, then either you have to make one of the following.

1. Include a question in your article with a relevant answer to video apps on Android.
2. You can make an YouTube video listing the different android video apps.
3. Otherwise, you can include an article with a specific number of best video apps for Android.

Niche Ideas for Keyword Research

You need to start somewhere to create your own blog. For this you need a strategy. First find some markets where the consumer is likely to buy something.

Or else you can find content where the readers are interested to find your information. Just plugging in some keywords in the GKP, will not help you create keywords for your niche market.

You got to create some niche clouds using some mind-mapping software, if possible. Otherwise, you can just take pen and paper and write a few ideas on which you tend to progress your blog.

Then you need to create some buyer personas. This is one of the good ideas to identify other niche markets where the potential customers are likely to be present.

Your keyword research should be reflected in the buyer persona which includes the following details of the audience like :

gender, age, approximate income, hobbies and interests, weaknesses, what are their goals etc.

This will help to come to terms with keyword research. Here you will get ideas where you have missed in the cloud-mapping technique.

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Next is to find some keyword ideas from forums. The best way is to use Google itself. You can use search strings like the following.

  • “keyword” + “forums”
  •                        + “forum”
  •                        + “board”.

For example, if your niche is finanancial market, and your keyword is “stock market gains” : You just have to type that keyword in quotes and with that “forums”.

This will find many forums which have similar keyword topics. Or else, you can use BoardReader.com which is a search engine for forums.

Certain sections and topics in the forums are your next target of article creation.

#Bonus Tip

[wps_note size=”17″ background=”#fae588″ color=”#333333″ radius=”3″] Wikipedia could be another source for creating keyword ideas. Type in the primary keyword in the search box. Then look for the contents section of the page. Then look at the sections of the page. These all give you broader idea on your keyword research.[/wps_note]

 

2 Comments

  1. Nice post Palla. You really pointed out a lot of important things SEO specialists needs to be focusing more on in 2015, especially when it comes to keyword research.
    I feel I should drop this one with you in case you’ve not heard about it before – http://sg.serpstat.com/ – New tool that suggests keywords in queries. A better and faster way to generate content topic ideas….don’t you think so?

  2. SAURABH PAL says:

    Thank you for this amazing information about Keyword Research.

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