SEO: How To Keyword Research and What Tools are Good To Use

Keyword Research definition

Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing search terms that people enter into search engines with the goal of using that data for a specific purpose, often for search engine optimization (SEO) or general marketing ¹²³⁴. It is all about finding the keywords your audience uses when they’re looking for a product or service you offer, and using this information to guide your keyword strategy ¹. Without keyword research, you might find yourself lost in your own lingo and miss out on popular keywords that your target audience are already searching for. There are a variety of factors you have to take into account when doing keyword research and setting up your keyword strategy. In this blog post we’ll discuss your mission, your audience, and your competition ¹.

The main purpose of using keywords is to signify the meaning or main ideas of a data set. They often are used as an index to the contents of a data set. The standards provide for four types of keywords: theme (the subject of the data set, such as wetlands, vegetation, etc.), place (the geographic location of the data set, such as Montgomery County, Yellowstone National Park), stratum (the vertical location of the data set, such as seafloor, seabed, troposphere, stratosphere), and temporal (time references for a data set, such as pre-Columbian, World War II).

More Details About Types of Keywords

There are different types of keywords that can be used to optimize your website for search engines. Some of the most common types of keywords include short-tail, long-tail, questions, and intent targeting keywords ¹.

Search themes let you indicate queries that you know your customers are looking for. They are optional and are additive to what queries Performance Max would match you to using your URLs, assets, and more. You can add up to 25 search themes per asset group.26‏/10‏/2023

As I mentioned in the section above, there are four primary types of keywords:theme,place,stratum and temporal.

• Theme: Keyword themes are groups of keywords that are related to a specific topic or idea. They help match your ads with Google searches and reach people when they’re looking for the products and services you offer ². Keyword themes are not simply synonyms or close matches, but words that match a wider theme ³. For example, if your keyword theme is “Digital Marketing”, words that fit into that theme could include “content marketing”, “SEO”, “social media marketing”, and others of similar ilk ³. Keyword themes are words or phrases that help match your ads with Google searches. Selecting the right keyword themes helps you reach people when they’re looking for the products and services you offer.
• Place: as the name suggests, it is related to where your marketing will occur, where your customers are.
• Stratum: A stratum is a layer of rock or soil, a region of the sea or atmosphere, a layer of tissue, or a socioeconomic level of society. As you may say, what kind of customers I’m going to market to or what type of people I will target in my keywords set.
• Temporal: 

Also I found another four different types of keywords(in some other tools terminology): informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional that I will explain more here.

Why Keyword Research Important?

Without keyword research, you might find yourself lost in your own lingo and miss out on popular keywords that your target audience are already searching for. If i to list the benefits of keywords research in general i will put some few points below to help picture the idea:

1. Understanding search intent: Search intent is the most important part of keyword research. The term is interchangeable with user intent. It means understanding what a person is looking for when they search. It sounds simple, but it’s so often overlooked.
2. Understanding your online audience better: Once you get into the process of keyword research, you’ll start to understand the journey people go on to discover your product or service. You will see the types of keywords people search for, and each keyword will give you an insight into their understanding.
3. More sales: see the next points in 6 & 7. Keep reading down.
4. Prioritize your time. When you know what keywords to write for, you can strategically create content that is relevant to your goals. This helps you stay focused and on task with your efforts.
5. Expand your net. As your website ranks for the chosen key phrases, look for relevant similar keywords. Then add more content that targets those additional key phrases.
6. Targeted Insights: Keyword research provides valuable insights into the minds of potential customers. By understanding what terms and phrases they use when searching for products or services, businesses can tailor their content, products, and marketing strategies to align with their audience’s needs and preferences. 
7. Enhanced Visibility: Effective keyword research helps businesses optimize their website and content for search engines. By using the right keywords, businesses can improve their search engine ranking, making them more visible to potential customers. 
8. Cost-Effective Advertising: Keyword research is a cornerstone of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns. By selecting relevant keywords with a high search volume and low competition, businesses can create cost-effective ad campaigns that yield higher click-through rates (CTR) and conversions.

Tools for Keyword Research

There are several keyword research tools available online. Some are free, some are easy. Depending on how sophisticated your keyword research is, choose the most effective tools that provide more reasonable results. These tools below are some of hundreds of tools out there:

1. Semrush keyword research section and its list of sub-tools help you alot to deeply investigate your keyword for advanced SEO professionals.
2. Moz Keyword Explorer:  for the best all-around free SEO keyword research tool
3. Google Keyword Planner: for researching paid keywords
4. Ahrefs:  for simple SEO tools
5. Also AI (ChatGPT and Bard ,etc.) can help with beginning keywords research and in a more simple way to find some ideas and seeds to your keyword and related keywords.
6. Wordtracker: to find new keywords for your marketing plan.
7. Wordstream: to deep investigate your keywords and its volume across the world.

Some are free to use and sign up and others cost more money to bring you results that make money. You can start small and grow your project as you go.

Benefits of Longtails Keywords and Other Types

Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific keyword phrases that visitors are more likely to use when they’re closer to a point-of-purchase or when they’re using voice search. Most long-tail keywords have lower search volume than short or “head” keywords ¹². They are used to target niche demographics rather than mass audiences ³. Long-tail keywords can be hugely valuable if you know how to use them. They allow you to gradually get more traffic to your site and be found by new and motivated audiences ².

Long-tail keywords are a better way to connect with customers ⁴. They can help you find your best long-tail keywords with our Free Keyword Tool ⁴. Managing long-tail keywords is simply a matter of establishing better lines of communication between your business and the customers who are already out there, actively shopping for what you provide ⁴.

Intent targeting keywords are search terms that indicate the user’s intention to take a specific business action, such as making a purchase or inquiring about a service ¹. These keywords are used to attract the right traffic to your website and increase the chances of generating leads and sales ¹.

There are three basic types of search queries: informational, commercial, and transactional ¹. Commercial intent keywords are those that signify a strong intent on the part of the searcher to conduct a transaction, such as buying something or inquiring about a service ¹. By contrast, low intent keywords are those that can be considered either navigational or informational in nature ¹.

One of the best ways to identify high commercial intent keywords is by using WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool ¹. This tool can help you find the right long-tail keywords that are more specific and have lower search volume than short or “head” keywords ²³. Long-tail keywords are a better way to connect with customers and gradually get more traffic to your site ¹.

Templates of Keyword Research

Keyword research templates are tools that help you streamline and organize your keyword research process. They can help you find the right long-tail keywords that are more specific and have lower search volume than short or “head” keywords ¹². Long-tail keywords are a better way to connect with customers and gradually get more traffic to your site ³.

A keyword template generates keywords for each unique value or combination of values in the inventory data selected by an ad group. The value or value combination you specify is called the keyword multiplier.

There are many keyword research templates available online, such as the Free Keyword Research Template by Backlinko ³, which is available in Excel and Google Sheets. This template can help you quickly and effectively do keyword research for a new SEO project, improve your site’s search traffic, or find target keywords for a new piece of content. It includes a step-by-step process to evaluate keywords, find keyword ideas, and expand your list of keywords ³.

Another example is the Keyword Research Template by ClickMinded ⁴, which is designed to help you find and organize keywords in Excel or Google Sheets. It includes a list of categories of keywords and steps to follow while doing keyword research ⁴.

More Resources

• https://yoast.com/keyword-research/ 
• https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-do-keyword-research-ht
• SEO Keyword Research & Analysis Guide | Mailchimp 
• 7 Biggest benefits of keyword research for businesses (topcontent.com)
• https://yoast.com/focus-on-long-tail-keywords/ 
• https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/definition-long-tail-keyword-100-words-sr 
• https://www.wordstream.com/long-tail-keywords 
• The 9 Best Free Keyword Research Tools (ahrefs.com)
• Free Keyword Tool | WordStream 
• Free Keyword Research Tool from Wordtracker
• https://backlinko.com/templates/marketing/keyword-research 
• https://powerpoint.crystalgraphics.com/templates/keyword.html 
• Free Keyword Research Template (backlinko.com)
• The Perfect Keyword Research Template to Jumpstart Your SEO in 2024 (clickminded.com)