If you want to rank higher on Google and other search engines, you need to optimize your website for SEO keywords. SEO keywords are the words and phrases that users type into the search box when they are looking for something online. By using the right keywords, you can attract more relevant and qualified traffic to your website, increase your conversions, and grow your business.
But how do you find the best SEO keywords for your website? How do you know what your target audience is searching for and what keywords your competitors are using? How do you choose the most effective keywords that will drive results and not waste your time and money?
How to find SEO keywords in 5 easy steps:
- Use keyword research tools to generate keyword ideas
- Analyze the search intent and difficulty of your keywords
- Evaluate the popularity and competition of your keywords
- Select the most relevant and profitable keywords for your website
- Track and measure the performance of your keywords
Let’s get started!
Use keyword research tools to generate keyword ideas
The first step to finding SEO keywords is to use keyword research tools that will help you generate a list of potential keywords for your website. There are many free and paid tools available online, but some of the most popular ones are:
- Google Keyword Planner: This is a free tool from Google that allows you to find keywords related to your business, see how often they are searched, and get suggestions for new keywords. You can also see the estimated bid and competition level for each keyword, which can help you plan your budget and strategy.
- SEMrush: This is a paid tool that offers a comprehensive suite of features for keyword research, competitor analysis, site audit, content marketing, and more. You can use it to find keywords for any niche, country, or language, see the search volume, difficulty, trend, and SERP features for each keyword, and discover what keywords your competitors are ranking for.
- Ahrefs: This is another paid tool that provides a similar set of features as SEMrush but with a different interface and data source. You can use it to find keywords for any topic or domain, see the search volume, difficulty, clicks, and return rate for each keyword, and analyze the top-ranking pages for any keyword.
- Ubersuggest: This is a free tool that allows you to generate keyword ideas from any seed keyword, see the search volume, difficulty, CPC, and seasonality for each keyword, and get suggestions for long-tail keywords, questions, comparisons, and prepositions.
To use any of these tools, you simply need to enter your seed keyword (the main topic or idea of your website) and get a list of related keywords. For example, if your seed keyword is “SEO,” you might get keywords like:
- SEO services
- SEO Company
- SEO tools
- SEO tutorial
- SEO Tips
- SEO agency
- SEO audit
- SEO strategy
- SEO basics
- SEO meaning
You can also use modifiers (such as location, industry, product type, etc.) to narrow down your keyword list and make it more specific. For example, if you are an SEO agency in New York City, you might use modifiers like:
- SEO agency NYC
- NYC SEO services
- New York SEO company
- Best SEO agency in New York
- New York City SEO experts
You can also use negative keywords (words that you don’t want to include in your keyword list) to filter out irrelevant or unwanted keywords. For example, if you are an SEO agency that doesn’t offer web design services, you might use negative keywords like:
- Web design
- Website design
- Web development
- Website development
The goal of this step is to generate as many keyword ideas as possible that are relevant to your website and your target audience. You don’t need to worry about the quality or quantity of the keywords at this point. You will refine and prioritize them in the next steps.
Analyze the search intent and difficulty of your keywords
The next step to finding SEO keywords is to analyze the search intent and difficulty of your keywords. Search intent is the goal or purpose behind a user’s search query. It tells you what kind of information or solution they are looking for and what kind of content they expect to see on the SERP (search engine results page).
Four main types of search intent
- Informational: The user wants to learn something or find an answer to a question. For example: “What is SEO?” “How to do SEO?” “SEO tutorial”
- Navigational: The user wants to find a specific website or page. For example: “Google,” “Facebook,” “SEMrush login.”
- Transactional: The user wants to buy something or perform an action. For example: “Buy SEO services,” “Hire SEO agency,” and “Download SEO tools.”
- Commercial: The user wants to compare different options or products before making a purchase decision. For example: “Best SEO tools,” “SEO services review,” and “SEO agency vs. freelancer.”
Understanding the search intent of your keywords is important because it helps you create content that matches the user’s expectations and needs. You want to provide the most relevant and useful content for each keyword so that you can satisfy the user’s query and persuade them to take the next step in your conversion funnel.
To analyze the search intent of your keywords, you can use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to see the SERP features and the top-ranking pages for each keyword. SERP features are the elements that appear on the SERP besides the organic results, such as ads, featured snippets, people also ask, images, videos, etc. They can give you clues about what kind of content is popular or preferred by the users for a given keyword.
For example, if you see a featured snippet for a keyword, it means that the user is looking for a quick and concise answer to their query. If you see a video for a keyword, it means that the user is looking for a visual and engaging explanation of their query. If you see a shopping ad for a keyword, it means that the user is ready to buy something related to their query.
You can also look at the top-ranking pages for each keyword and see what kind of content they are offering. You can analyze their title, meta description, URL, headings, images, videos, length, format, tone, etc. You can also check their metrics, such as traffic, backlinks, social shares, etc., to see how popular and authoritative they are.
By doing this, you can get an idea of what kind of content works best for each keyword and how you can create content that is better or different from your competitors.
Search difficulty
Search difficulty is another factor that you need to consider when finding SEO keywords. Search difficulty is a measure of how hard it is to rank for a given keyword on the SERP. It depends on various factors such as the number and quality of competing pages, the domain authority and page authority of the top-ranking pages, the relevance and freshness of the content, etc.
The higher the search difficulty of a keyword, the more time and effort it will take to rank for it. The lower the search difficulty of a keyword, the easier it will be to rank for it. However, this doesn’t mean that you should only target low-difficulty keywords or avoid high-difficulty keywords. It depends on your goals, resources, and strategy.
To analyze the search difficulty of your keywords, you can use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to see the keyword difficulty score for each keyword. The keyword difficulty score is a number from 0 to 100 that indicates how hard it is to rank for a given keyword. The higher the score, the harder it is to rank. The lower the score, the easier it is to rank.
For example, if a keyword has a difficulty score of 80, it means that it is very hard to rank it. You will need a lot of high-quality backlinks and content to compete with the top-ranking pages. If a keyword has a difficulty score of 20, it means that it is relatively easy to rank for it. You will need fewer backlinks and content to outrank your competitors.
However, you should not rely solely on the keyword difficulty score to determine the feasibility of ranking for a keyword. You should also look at other factors such as your current ranking position, your domain authority and page authority, your content quality and relevance, your user engagement and retention, etc.
The goal of this step is to analyze the search intent and difficulty of your keywords and see how well they align with your website’s goals and capabilities. You want to find keywords that have a clear and strong search intent that matches your content’s purpose and value proposition. You also want to find keywords that have a reasonable search difficulty that matches your website’s authority and resources.
Evaluate the popularity and competition of your keywords
The third step to finding SEO keywords is to evaluate the popularity and competition of your keywords. Popularity is a measure of how often a keyword is searched by users on search engines. Competition is a measure of how many advertisers are bidding on a keyword on paid search platforms such as Google Ads.
Both popularity and competition are important indicators of how valuable and profitable a keyword is for your website. The more popular and competitive a keyword is, the more likely it is to drive a significant amount of traffic to your website. However, it also means that many other websites are likely targeting the same keyword, making it harder for your site to rank highly in search engine results. Therefore, while a popular and competitive keyword can potentially bring a lot of benefits, it also requires a significant investment in terms of SEO efforts to effectively leverage it. It’s important to balance the potential rewards with the level of effort required when choosing which keywords to target for your website.
Select the most relevant and profitable keywords for your website
Finding your website’s most relevant and profitable keywords is the first step in a successful SEO strategy. This process involves understanding your target audience and their terms when searching for your products or services. You’ll want to select keywords that accurately represent your business and have a high search volume. These are the terms that people are frequently typing into search engines, and targeting these keywords can help drive significant traffic to your site.
However, it’s not just about popularity. A keyword’s profitability is determined by its potential to convert visitors into customers. This means you’ll also want to consider the intent behind the keyword. Are users searching for information, or are they ready to make a purchase? Keywords with a high conversion potential are often more valuable, even if they have a lower search volume. Remember, the goal is not just to attract visitors but to attract the right kind of visitors – those who are likely to become customers.
Track and measure the performance of your keywords
After selecting the most relevant and profitable keywords for your website, the next step is to track and measure their performance. This involves monitoring how these keywords are affecting your website’s visibility on search engines, the amount of traffic they are driving to your site, and, most importantly, how they are contributing to your conversion goals. There are various SEO tools available that can help you with this, providing valuable data such as keyword rankings, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
However, tracking and measuring keyword performance is not a one-time task. It’s an ongoing process that requires regular check-ins and adjustments. Search trends can change over time, and so can the competitive landscape. What works today might not work tomorrow. Therefore, it’s important to stay flexible and be ready to revise your keyword strategy based on the performance data you collect. Remember, the ultimate goal of SEO is not just to rank high on search engine results pages but to attract visitors who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer and convert them into customers.
