Doing keyword research, writing blog posts, and publishing them sounds like everyday tasks for a blogger.
The problem arises when you carry out your job regularly without achieving the desired results.
This sounds like it only needs some proven ways to give it a better direction.
Keyword research is not a new topic for you and me. Fortunately, you will find thousands of results on how to do keyword research for your blog.
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What is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is essentially finding out what people are searching for.
It finds and analyzes search terms that people enter into search engines, giving you an insight into your demographic.
Keywords can be long or short, but the general rule of thumb is the shorter the better.
Businesses and marketers must do regular keyword research to find out what keywords their audience is using – how is your audience supposed to find you if you don’t know what they’re searching for?
However, it’s not just the individuals that you should be doing keyword research on.
Search engines such as Google will use your website to find keywords, and your site will be ranked based on what those keywords are.
Once you’ve researched the keywords for optimizing your blog posts, you should prioritize them, integrate them into the content, and measure your performance.
Here’s how you can do all that.
Buyer intent keywords typically follow formulas similar to these:
‘best x’
‘best x for y’
‘best x under $xxx’
‘best budget x’
This is a great formula when you’re writing ‘Top 5’ or ‘Top 10’ reviews and buyers guides.
Understand Your Niche
Understanding the topics that interest your audience lays the groundwork for identifying relevant queries.
This involves analyzing competitor blogs, engaging with your audience on social media, and staying updated with industry trends.
For example, if you have a gambling-related blog, you might find that your audience is interested in learning about the safest online casinos Canada has to offer or gambling legislation.
The best way is to use your competitor’s keywords. This will be an easy way to find out awesome keywords that will work like a charm.
Use Keywords Your Competitors Use
Which part other bloggers are doing and you are not?
First of all, find out who your competition is.
This can be done on Google search (just search in your main keyword, and see what other sites are at a similar ranking to you), or using a program such as Ahrefs.
Your competition has most likely done the keyword research before you, so find out the main keywords that they rank for, and select the best, most relevant ones.
You may naturally decide to use the keywords that rank highest, but this isn’t always the best way forward.
A keyword can have a high search volume without getting many clicks – and it’s the clicks that you’re after.
Keywords with high competition may be a waste of time, so opt for keywords that have low competition – around 2000 searches per month is a good number.
Use a Keyword Research Tool
There’s an abundance of keyword programs that can help you find the best keywords for your topic/ niche.
Some of the most popular programs and sites are:
- aHrefs
- Moz
- SEMrush
- Ubersuggest
- Soovle
- Jaaxy
- QSR
Some of these programs can be quite costly, so if you’re a beginner, it’s probably best for you to find a free program.
One of the best free keyword finders is Ubersuggest – it’s a free, fully functional keyword research and competitor analysis tool.
Most of these programs will give you a list of relevant keywords in seconds, as well as what your competitor’s keywords are.
These programs and sites can give you plenty of valuable information, such as:
- Growth trends
- Competitors
- Organic keywords
- Keywords tracking
- Traffic estimates
- Keyword difficulty
- Clicks and impressions
- Search volume
- Domain ranking
- Number of backlinks
These programs and websites are great for analyzing keywords.
The whole point of SEO is to outrank your competitors, but you need to find out WHO your competition is first.
Analyze Search Intent
Understanding the intent behind searches is crucial. Keywords can generally be classified into four categories:
- Informational
- Navigational
- Transactional
- Commercial.
Tailor your content to match these intents.
For instance, if the majority of your target keywords are informational, focus your blog on educating readers.
This alignment between search intent and content improves both user experience and SEO performance.
Evaluate Competitor Keywords
Identifying which queries your competitors rank for can uncover opportunities to differentiate your blog or compete directly with them.
Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush allow you to see the keywords for which your competitors rank well.
Use this information to refine your keyword list, focusing on those that can realistically improve your blog’s visibility.
Prioritize Keywords
Not all keywords are created equal. Prioritize your keywords, setting highly relevant keywords with moderate competition levels and, ideally, high search volume, as the top priority.
Aim for a mix of high-volume, competitive keywords and niche, low-competition long-tail queries.
This balanced approach helps you capture both immediate wins and long-term growth opportunities.
When you don’t prioritize your main keywords, your blog will behave like it’s dying.
Integrate Keywords Strategically
With this list, you can start implementing the key terms into your blog.
This includes placing them in titles, headers, meta descriptions, and throughout the content.
However, avoid keyword stuffing.
Your primary goal is to create valuable, readable content for your audience, with keyword integration serving to enhance, not detract from, the reader’s experience.
Monitor and Adjust
Regularly monitor your blog’s performance using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Analyze which keywords are the most effective at driving traffic or are not performing well and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Continuous optimization ensures your blog remains relevant and visible to your target audience.
Wrapping Up
Keywords are extremely valuable in the marketing game, and essential for the online growth of any business.
However, it’s important to remember that this is only one step that needs to be taken.
If you have poor keywords, your site isn’t likely to get much traffic as people won’t find it on the search engine.
Keywords are key to increasing the number of visitors to your site, and they should be well-thought-out before you implement them.
Do you have any more keyword research tips you’d like to share with us?
Let us know in the comments section below, and don’t forget to share this post with your marketing friends.
