Why should you do keyword research?

The importance of keyword research can be hugely underestimated.

Most people or companies armed with a small amount of SEO awareness get the impulse to start building links or content to increase their search engine positioning without giving much thought into choosing the right keywords through Keyword research. And they are missing out! Its not just about building your Brand backlinks. Why?

1. Because its likely that if your potential customers already know your company name that they will find you and your website.

2. You will naturally be gaining brand links if you make steps in the right direction through SocialSEO.

3. You will include you brand links within your keyword targets anyway.

Why spend the time doing research when I already know the keywords that I want to rank for?

1. Just because those are the keywords that you would search for to find your company does not necessarily mean that Joe Blogs or Ms CEO will do the same.

2. Without competitor landscape analysis which is part of the keyword research process you will not know the keywords that your competitors are targeting and which ones they are not.

3. Without keyword research you will not have a comprehensive plan for short term, mid – long term goals, quick wins and longer term gains. But also vitally important is knowing that you have accurate data that you can measure against to show your progress and ROI.

With keyword research you will be able to see whether keyword phrases have dipped or shifted in demand and see developing terms which may lead to new products, services or information that you had not already thought of.

You will be looking for a variety of terms as you conduct your keyword research, here a few tips to get you focused:

1. Key ‘Head terms’ – shorter high volume terms often at the beginning of the potential customers online searching.
2. Longer tail terms – lower volume, longer phrases which are easier to increase search engine positioning.
3. Quick Wins – Head terms where there is a gap in the competitor landscape. Terms within a seasonal environment that are yet to pass and can be targeted to increase search engine positioning.

(once you have your full keyword list you will need to wittle them down based on the above, along with keyword value and ROI.)

When you start your keyword research you or you and your team should start with a brain storming session, for example:

1.What three word phrases best describe your products or services etc.
2.What other words could your customers potentially search for when trying to reach you.
3.Think of the category above those words i.e. SEO for Keyword Research.
4.Review your site (if you have one already) – key phrases, competitor sites key phrases, your brand name.
5.What terms are your competitors targeting? You can tell this from a manner of ways i.e. link text distribution, meta data, taxonomy of site etc.
6. If you already have a website, look at the terms users are currently coming to your site through (web analytics tool).

Top Free Tools to help you with your keyword research

1. The Search Engines i.e. Google Keyword tool and traffic estimator- you will get Global or local user volumes which will give you an indication of their search volume, obviously the higher the better. The search engines also give related terms which will help you build out your initial Keyword List and can give you keywords generated from your website.
2. Googles Insights for search tool – very handy to look back and see trends, declines and new areas developing.
3. Magestic SEO – for backlink accumulation – have your competitors been working on building their SEO links for years or have they just started and at what rate of increase?
4. Google Trends – allows you to compare keyword phrases to see popularity and seasonality/trending over time.
5. Blog search – allows you to see emerging hot topics or associated keywords.