Why Keyword Research Is Important – The First Step in SEO

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Many equate SEO with the manipulation of keywords. Actually, SEO is much more complicated with many other equally important aspects.
Keyword research itself is not as simple as it sounds. Even with powerful tools, many still fail to unlock the full potential of keyword research.
In this article, we will learn why keyword research is so important for business and what you can do to optimize this very first step of an effective SEO strategy.

In keyword research, the “key” lies in searcher intent instead of the “word”.

Why Keyword Research Is Important: The Fundamentals

What Is Keyword Research

In short, keyword research is a strategic process to find out the most beneficial and impactful keywords for SEO. Most, if not all, SEO campaigns start with keyword research, but this task never ends.
Be prepared to do it regularly because:

Search engines’ algorithms are evolving to “be more human-like” to serve the users better. They don’t only “read” words but also the intent behind.
As stated in the article Why SEO Is Important, 15% of Google’s daily queries are new, which means the need for information is changing every day.

Why Do We Need Keyword Research

The biggest reason is because keyword research is the foundation for the whole strategy to boost the growth in traffic, conversion and revenue.
In other words, the goals are to improve rankings on SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) AND to keep users stay (longer) on the site once they visit it via a link on SERPs. The latter is more difficult to reach as it requires the help from both high-quality content and intuitive web design.

Take good care of keyword research and your SEO as well as content strategy will enjoy a great momentum from the start.

Quick Tip: In keyword research, one of the most (or even the most) important goals is to find out what the “searcher intent” or search intent is.

Why Keyword Research Is Important: The Process

What is backlinks in SEO

Step 1: Review current keywords

If you haven’t used any keywords before, skip this step.
If you have, it’s time to analyze their performance and trend before making any changes. This may provide you valuable insight for Step 3 below. Just remember to maintain consistency throughout the site.

Step 2: Identify goals and target audience

What is the main objective of this SEO campaign? Which stage(s) in the buyer journey do you want to target? How is it aligned with your previous, current and future plans (focus mostly on SEO and content marketing)?
What is your buyer persona? Remember, users with different demographics will have their own ways to describe the same problems, i.e. they use different words.

Basically, this step is essential in any planning to analyze the situation and set up directions.

Step 3: Do the research

First identify the main topics, then gather information in terms of keywords and related keywords (LSI keywords) for each topic by:

Researching about the searcher intent
Researching about your competitors
Listening to your audience and customers to understand their language

If you haven’t used any keywords before, skip this step.
If you have, it’s time to analyze their performance and trend before making any changes. This may provide you valuable insight for Step 3 below. Just remember to maintain consistency throughout the site.

What is the main objective of this SEO campaign? Which stage(s) in the buyer journey do you want to target? How is it aligned with your previous, current and future plans (focus mostly on SEO and content marketing)?
What is your buyer persona? Remember, users with different demographics will have their own ways to describe the same problems, i.e. they use different words.

Basically, this step is essential in any planning to analyze the situation and set up directions.

Your “SERP competitors” – the top-ranked pages – may not be your “normal competitors” who provide similar products or services. Do research on both types.

Why backlinks are important in SEO

Step 4: Filter and Optimize

Now you should have a long list and it’s time to select the most qualified based on a number of criteria. Many marketers prefer using tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner for this task.
Several common criteria include:

MSV (monthly search volume)
Difficulty
Relevancy
Trends

CPC (cost per click): Even if you don’t intend to buy ads, this factor tells you how competitive a keyword is, especially in industries with heavy advertising.
SERP features: This is about how SERPs present results. Do they prioritize local businesses? Or snippets that lead to more zero-click searches?

Be noted that your final list had better be a mix of head terms and long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords don’t always mean lower volume, so don’t count the number of words in a query to judge its popularity.

According to Ahrefs, “29.13% of keywords with 10,001+ monthly searches are made up of three or more words”.

Quick Tip: Your shortlisted keywords are not only used for content creation but also on page SEO optimization.

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Why Keyword Research Is Important: The Strategies

Let’s take a look at top 3 most recommended keyword research strategies:

Focus on search intent

Search intent answers for the question, “Why do users want to search for this term?”
There are two ways to categorize the search intent:

Is the intent informational, commercial or local?
Or following the buyer journey: Is the intent about awareness (looking for information), consideration (looking for solutions) or decision (looking for providers)?

Quick Tip: To ensure your keywords reflect well the search intent, try inputting them in Google Search and read the SERPs.

Apply keyword localization

Even in the same country, different regions may use different words to describe one thing. Even in the same region, people with different ages and backgrounds may differ in their language usage.
That’s why keyword research in local SEO is very important to businesses who want to improve SERP rankings for a specific geographical area.

On a side note, if your business is expanding to another country and wants to translate your content into that country’s language, first do research on the local’s commonly used terms. The translation can be perfectly right yet bringing you poor SEO results.

Search intent answers for the question, “Why do users want to search for this term?”
There are two ways to categorize the search intent:

Is the intent informational, commercial or local?
Or following the buyer journey: Is the intent about awareness (looking for information), consideration (looking for solutions) or decision (looking for providers)?

Quick Tip: To ensure your keywords reflect well the search intent, try inputting them in Google Search and read the SERPs.

Why backlinks are important to business

Figure out the trends

Keywords have trends. A big local or global event may lead to the birth of unexpected search terms. Powerful tools such as Google Trends can be a big help here.
Also, if your business offers seasonal goods or services, don’t just look for “what people are searching for”, pay attention to the “when” too, to plan for the right content in advance.

Food for thought: Google only?
Though most people use Google Search, there is a certain number of online users frequenting the Search function on Facebook or other channels.
If that describes your target customers, do keyword research on social media to figure out their most often used queries. Remember, high-ranked keywords on these channels may differ from those on Google.

Keyword research has long existed, so there is a huge collection of tools and guides on the market. Unfortunately, it also makes many companies more confused.
No matter how important keyword research is, it is just a part of SEO. That’s why many businesses choose to outsource the whole SEO plan to a trusted digital marketing agency for better resource utilization and higher ROI.

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Why Keyword Research Is Important: The Caution

If you only do keyword research by tools…

… then do “field research” too. Specifically:

1. Input your keywords in Google Search and read the results to know which pages and types of content you are competing against. After all, this is what your users will look at.
2. Find out your customers’ “true language”. Try to talk to them, research on social media, read customer reviews and listen to customer service call logs… There are many ways to find out how they are talking about challenges, problems and solutions. You may be surprised to see that they don’t use many words you use.

If you only target high-volume keywords…

… then think twice. Because:

1. This type of keyword rarely considers the searcher intent.
2. The competition is tougher, especially if your page isn’t strong in content and authority yet.
3. They are expensive, especially if you want to consider PPC together with SEO.
They may attract more users but the conversion may not improve much, because most of these users are still in the first stage of their buyer journey – awareness.

If you have published content without keywords…

… then don’t try to insert new keywords randomly into old content. Keyword research must be done BEFORE content creation.
Instead, follow the recommended process above with the first step: review current keywords.
Be noted that this is different from repurposing content which often means presenting old content in new formats to increase the reach.

… then do “field research” too. Specifically:

1. Input your keywords in Google Search and read the results to know which pages and types of content you are competing against. After all, this is what your users will look at.
2. Find out your customers’ “true language”. Try to talk to them, research on social media, read customer reviews and listen to customer service call logs… There are many ways to find out how they are talking about challenges, problems and solutions. You may be surprised to see that they don’t use many words you use.

… then think twice. Because:

1. This type of keyword rarely considers the searcher intent.
2. The competition is tougher, especially if your page isn’t strong in content and authority yet.
3. They are expensive, especially if you want to consider PPC together with SEO.
They may attract more users but the conversion may not improve much, because most of these users are still in the first stage of their buyer journey – awareness.

… then don’t try to insert new keywords randomly into old content. Keyword research must be done BEFORE content creation.
Instead, follow the recommended process above with the first step: review current keywords.
Be noted that this is different from repurposing content which often means presenting old content in new formats to increase the reach.

What are the most important about backlinks

Learn more: What is LSI keyword and how to optimize these keywords for SEO?

Conclusion

Like any other aspect in an effective SEO plan, keyword research is not a one-time task. It is the very first step to unlock your “authentic SEO”.

There are so many keyword research tools on the market to help you tackle this task more easily, but their potential can only be fully realized by “insiders” – people with SEO expertise and experience.
If you just follow the user guide, it will take a considerable amount of time and effort to figure out the best way to make the tools work for you.

With a proven track record on SEO projects, On Digitals is confident to stay by your side on the journey to amplified digital influence and sustainable growth. Contact us today for free consultancy on your tailored SEO solution.