Keywords Secrets: How to Do Keyword Research in 5 Steps

Keyword research entails identifying the words people search on the web, and picking the words that match the objective and which you can rank for. Identify the seed keywords, use keyword expansion tools to identify more keywords, analyze the volume, competition and intent, and select a mix of general and long tail keywords. It should be done quarterly.

Users type in short queries, and don’t scroll. A study based on a log of one billion searches on AltaVista in 1998, had 2.35 terms per query, 25.8% of the queries had just one term, and 85.2% of the queries were satisfied by the first screen of results (Source). The study is old; verify the trend for your website in Google’s Search Console.

This guide explains the basics of keyword research, the keyword research techniques that bring keyword traffic, a five-step process, the tools to use and how to apply the keywords in your content.

What Keywords Are and Where to Find Them?

Keywords refer to the words used when searching on a search engine. SEO keywords get organic listings. PPC keywords generate paid advertising, which means that the user pays money to use them. Keyword research generates a list of keywords in phases, going from general to specific keywords to know what a person wants.

A seed term such as “workout clothes” is broad. A long-tail phrase such as “best women’s running leggings” is specific and reveals the buying intent behind it.

Techniques to Brainstorm Keywords

• Think like your audience: write the questions and problems a customer would type.
• Study competitors: check which terms their top pages target.
• Use autocomplete: type a seed term into Google and note the suggestions.
• Collect People Also Ask: collect the related questions under a results page.

Keyword Research Techniques: A 5-Step Guide

Follow these five steps in order. They make up the core keywords search technique, and each one feeds the next.

1. Define Your Niche and Goals

Document your offering, the target audience and the results that are expected to be accomplished by the content, for instance, generating leads, sign-ups or sales. The objective will determine which key terms are considered winners because an extremely voluminous term may not reflect intent.

2. Brainstorm Seed Keywords

List 10 to 20 broad terms that describe your products, your services and the main topics your customers ask about. Add location terms for a local market. “Running shoes Mumbai” is one example.

3. Expand Your Keyword List

Paste each seed term into a keyword tool and export the related terms, questions and variations. Keep the phrases that fit. Remove the rest after you check the metrics.

4. Analyze Keyword Metrics

Check three numbers for each term: monthly search volume, competition or keyword difficulty, and cost per click. Volume shows demand, difficulty shows how hard the first page is to reach, and cost per click hints at commercial value, so a term with moderate volume, low difficulty and clear intent often beats a popular term that you cannot rank for. Use Search Console to see which queries already send impressions to your pages.

5. Choose the Right Keywords

Use only one primary keyword on every single page and two to five secondary keywords that have the same intent as the chosen primary one. Combine high traffic keywords with long tail keywords. Choose the keywords according to their intent, and discard all other keywords.

Search Intent: The Keyword Research Secret Most Guides Skip

Intent decides what content ranks. Broder’s analysis of 400 AltaVista queries sorted them into navigational (20%), informational (48%) and transactional (30%) intent (Source). The sample is small and dates from 2001, so use the split as a guide to the types and not as a current benchmark. The table below shows how each type maps to a keyword and a page.

Read the first page of results before you commit to a keyword, because if every result is a guide, a product page will almost never rank for it, however well you optimize that page.

Fast Keyword Research: Streamline the Process

You don’t need to pay for any tools to begin. Google autocomplete and People Also Ask offer you actual phrases within minutes, and a free tool like Answer the Public will help you convert one seed keyword into a number of questions. You should save all those phrases in a single sheet and categorize them according to their intent, as that sheet is going to be your content plan for the quarter.

Focus on long-tail keywords first. They match specific needs, and you can check their difficulty scores before you write.

Using Keywords Effectively in Your Content

Place the keyword in places where both readers and search engines look for it: in the title, the opening paragraph, one or two headings, and the meta description, all without being too repetitive, of course. 

The SEO Starter Guide by Google recommends short and meaningful titles that do not repeat words too often because Google Search considers such behavior against its spam policies. Google Search does not use keywords meta tag (Source).

Write for the reader and use variations. Content writing keyword research works when the writer receives a primary keyword, the secondary terms and the intent before drafting starts.

Advanced Keyword Research Techniques

• Intent mapping: label each keyword informational, navigational or transactional, and match it to a page type.
• Search Console analysis: sort queries by impressions, find pages with high impressions and few clicks, and rewrite their titles and openings.
• Keyword clustering: group related keywords into one topic and write one strong page for the cluster.
• Local SEO: add city terms and keep your Google Business Profile current if you serve a local market.

Compare the same date range before and after every change. Change one thing per page. That way you can tie each gain in keyword traffic to the action behind it, and you can reverse any edit that lowers clicks without guessing which one caused the drop.

Free vs Paid Keyword Research Tools

Free Keyword Research Tools

• Google Keyword Planner: free with a Google Ads account, and it shows volume ranges and related terms.
• Google Search Console: shows the queries that already reach your site.
• Google autocomplete and People Also Ask: show real phrases and questions.
• Answer the Public: turns a seed term into questions.

Paid Keyword Research Tools

• Semrush: keyword research, rankings and competitor gaps.
• Ahrefs: keyword data, backlinks and top content by topic.
• Moz: keyword research and difficulty scores.

Use the free options first then move on to a paid option once you exhaust the use of the spreadsheets in organizing your list of keywords, because paid tools offer additional information such as competitor information, difficulty rating and rank tracking not found in the free tools.

Real Example: Jidoka Technologies

In Jidoka Technologies, a Vision AI firm based out of Chennai, India, we undertook 6,600+ keyword research, structured a 23-page website with them and wrote 120 blogs on top of that.

These results are self-reported and the process did include content and link building along with keyword research, hence these results cannot be attributed to just keyword research alone. 

Conclusion

The keywords secrets in this guide come down to a repeatable process: set a goal, list seed terms, expand them, check volume, difficulty and intent, then match one primary keyword to each page and review the results every quarter in Search Console. Start with your five most important pages.

Contact Content Whale to build a keyword plan that brings search traffic to your site.

FAQs

What are the secrets of keyword research?

There is no secret trick. The keyword research secrets are good practices: associate every keyword with an intent, look at the live results before picking one, group similar terms into one page per topic and review your data quarterly, since the keywords that helped last year often fail due to competitors’ publications.

What is keyword searching technique?

This is the technique of finding the phrases that people search for. Start with seed terms, develop the list with the help of autocomplete and special tools, and filter by volume, difficulty and intent.

What is basic keyword research?

Define your goal, list seed keywords, extend the list, analyze the metrics and pick one main keyword per page. And do it all again regularly.

How does traffic keywords research work?

It searches for the phrases that bring traffic to your site and the phrases that bring traffic to your competitors’ pages. Search Console provides the first information, and a paid tool gives the second one.

How is keyword research useful for content writing?

It helps the content writer in knowing which words have to be used in the title and headings, and what questions have to be answered, and what intent needs to be fulfilled by that page.

How do keywords drive traffic from search engines?

A page matching the keywords and intent of a search query can appear in the search results. And a good match would get more impressions, and a relevant title would get the clicks which would convert impressions into traffic from search engines.

How often should you review your keyword research?

Quarterly or even earlier after seeing a fall in traffic or after launching a new product or service or a search update.