How Do I Find Keywords for SEO?
Discovering the right keywords for SEO can be a game-changer. We’ve gathered nine proven strategies from professionals ranging from Senior SEO Consultants to Marketing Directors. From taking a customer-centric approach with Ahrefs to trying iterative keyword brainstorming, dive into these expert insights to enhance your SEO keyword discovery process.
- Take a Customer-Centric Approach with Ahrefs
- Treasure Hunt with Google Planner and SEMrush
- Scrape Reddit Topics with Python
- Discover Keywords with SERanking
- Conduct a Competitor Analysis via SEMrush
- Reverse Keyword Research with Ubersuggest
- Use SEMrush for a Product-Focused Keyword Strategy
- Find Long-Tail Keywords via Answer the Public
- Try Iterative Keyword Brainstorming
Take a Customer-Centric Approach with Ahrefs
Traditional keyword research is broken. It doesn’t work anymore. AI is helping people spam generic content. So we have to do better, or we’ll never rank and convert people with our content.
Do this before keyword research: talk to customers or sales teams.
Step 1: Try to find out what their biggest problem is in these areas:
- Strategy?
- People?
- Processes?
- Systems?
Step 2: Create five article titles
- Write about one problem, then write about how you help solve it (e.g.: stressed employees)
- Write about one roadblock they’ll encounter fixing the problem (work has to get done, clients are waiting)
- Create a Template to solve it (Eisenhower matrix, prioritize important work)
- Case study of a customer who solved this problem
- High-level round-up – some other company/person that figured this out.
Repeat this for every problem the client faces.
Step 3: use Ahrefs to find keywords for each topic.
Benefit: Content that ranks & converts. (I call it Revenue Focused Content)
Dom Jedro
Senior SEO Consultant For Mental Health SaaS, JUST DIGITAL
Treasure Hunt with Google Planner and SEMrush
When it comes to unearthing those precious keywords for SEO success, my secret weapon is none other than the trusty keyword research tools. These marvelous tools are like treasure maps, guiding me to the most valuable keyword gems.
One of my favorites is the Google Keyword Planner, a goldmine of search volume data and keyword suggestions. I also give a nod to SEMrush, a tool that reveals competitors’ keywords and helps me stay one step ahead.
Now, let’s talk about real-life examples, shall we? Imagine you’re a sneaker store owner. With these tools, you can discover that “stylish kicks for women” is a hot keyword, while “footwear for disco-dancing llamas” might not attract much traffic. So grab your tools and get digging for those SEO diamonds!
Himanshu Sharma
CEO and Founder, Academy of Digital Marketing
Scrape Reddit Topics with Python
This one is a method I don’t see mentioned at all anywhere. Using Python to scrape potential topic ideas through Reddit’s API. Ahrefs and SEMrush are great keyword research tools, but they don’t give you actual topics your audience is searching for.
If I use r/SEO for keyword research, I can develop a Python script that finds top-rated questions posted from that specific subreddit. These topics are direct questions people are asking and something you’ll never find through a keyword research tool, meaning less competition.
Taylor Scher
SEO Associate, TaylorscherSEO
Discover Keywords with SERanking
I personally use SERanking to find keywords. The process is quite simple, plug in your “seed keyword” into the app (remember to select the correct target region) and hit analyze. The tool will display a plethora of useful information on the seed keyword along with “similar, related, low search volume keywords and questions (PAA),” based on the seed keyword.
All that’s left to do is to filter these discovered keywords as per difficulty and strategize. I make sure to add a few questions that it suggests into my content to ensure I can get a spot on the People Also Ask (PAA) section and increase my visibility and CTR.
- Set Keyword Difficulty between 0 – 20 (Very Easy)
- Enter the keyword on Google using quotation marks to ascertain true competition.
- Finally, understand the intent behind the keyword query and generate content.
As compared to Ahrefs or SEMrush, SERanking is cost-effective in comparison and gets the job done!
Dhiren Mulani
SEO Consultant, Dhiren Mulani
Conduct a Competitor Analysis via SEMrush
One surefire method I employ for discovering potent keywords for SEO is by conducting a comprehensive competitor analysis. This involves identifying competitors who rank well in my niche and examining their content to understand the keywords they are capitalizing on.
To streamline this process, I use a tool called SEMrush. It is a powerful digital marketing tool that offers an array of features, including a potent SEO toolkit. It allows us to conduct a thorough keyword gap analysis, which involves comparing your website with your competitors’ to reveal keywords they are ranking for, but you are not.
With SEMrush, you can dive into your competitor’s content, backlinks, and keyword strategies. By analyzing their top-performing pages, you can identify high-volume and long-tail keywords that drive traffic to their site.
Madhurima Halder
Content Manager, Recruit CRM
Reverse Keyword Research with Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is a great keyword research tool when you don’t need all the bells and whistles of more expensive tools like Ahrefs. I love that I can plug in a competitor’s URL and see what keywords that article is ranking for. Ubersuggest gives me details like keyword search volume, SEO difficulty, and paid difficulty to see where those terms can fit within my strategy (SEO or paid ads).
This is what I call “reverse keyword research.” It saves me a ton of time trying to come up with my own keywords to research. Plus, Ubersuggest will give me a list of related keywords to include.
Alli Hill
Founder and Director, Fleurish Freelance
Use SEMrush for a Product-Focused Keyword Strategy
The best surefire method for finding product keywords is to begin with what the product is. You need to make sure you’re ranking for your exact product name and description even if the specific term has little-to-no search volume.
This is traffic that you can’t afford to lose out on. You don’t need any special tools to find these keywords, but it is helpful to use products like the Keyword Magic Tool from SEMrush to further fill out related keywords you might have missed.
Temmo Kinoshita
Co-founder, Lindenwood Marketing
Find Long-Tail Keywords via Answer the Public
Answer the Public is an excellent tool for uncovering long-tail keywords. It’s particularly useful for finding question-based queries related to your primary keyword.
By typing in a seed keyword, the tool generates a host of related questions asked by users on search engines. These long-tail, question-based keywords can help you create content that directly answers your audience’s queries, thus improving your chances of ranking higher in search results.
Burak Özdemir
Founder, Set Alarm Online
Try Iterative Keyword Brainstorming
There’s not a tool that can always and 100% replace research. Finding the best keywords takes a lot of work, and most of them need to be done by you.
So what is the best practice: brainstorming. That’s because you need to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and figure out what words they would use to find what you sell.
The good news is that if it doesn’t work, you can do it again, adjust your words and see what happens. Searching and implementing keywords or anything about SEO is not a one-and-done task.
You need to monitor and adjust accordingly because even if something was working great before, it could change later.
Robert Burns
Marketing Director, Oxygen Plus
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