There are many methods for keyword research for your online business. In fact there are several tools out there that you can use to help you find the right keywords for your business. And while these tools are great, there are some other ways you can go about finding good keywords for your online endeavours.
Google Autocomplete
Google has become more and more like a partner. These days you barely have to put in two words and it goes about finishing your sentence for you.
This can seem annoying, especially if your partner doesn’t let you get a word in. However, it can be a great tool when used with Google. Once you have your keyword topics and ideas together, simply type them into the Google search bar. This is a great way to understand what people are searching for when it comes to your keywords and topics.
For example if your business makes doughnuts, you don’t even need to type the full word in before you get results. This can easily show you terms you would want to add to your keyword arsenal, or use as negative keywords. Naturally the more you add into the search bar, the more results you will get.
Competitor Research
Head on over to your competitors’ websites. It may seem like you are helping their stats, but really you are helping yourself. By having a good read through their social media accounts, product pages, and content, you are able to look at their keywords and topics. This is a great source of information for your business. Knowing what your competitors are doing can help you in a few different ways.
Firstly, it can help you understand which terms are working for them, and help you identify terms that you could, or should be using. It can act as a source of inspiration for you. While you don’t want to copy their content word for word (because let’s face it, that is not going to get you anywhere), it certainly can inspire you to find some creative alternatives.
Research Related Searches
Similar to Google’s autocomplete function, its related searches are a powerful tool. These are the searches that Google itself thinks are relevant to your topic/keyword. When you have refined your keywords and given google a more specific search to work with, the results can be phenomenal. Even on our basic search of doughnuts, one that pops out is “donut vs doughnut”. This can be useful if your search terms and keywords have multiple spellings or ambiguous words.
People Also Asked
Another great function from Google is the People Also Asked functionality. This is a block of drop-down questions related to your topic. Looking at your ‘People Also Asked’ also one of the great methods for keyword research.
Each of these drop-down tabs can provide you with a huge amount of information about what people are searching for with regard to your keywords. It is a great source of content ideas and a really good place to start understanding search intent and incorporating it into your keyword research.
While you may not have all the answers, giving people the information they are searching for is a great way to earn their trust and help convert potential customers into paying customers.
Crowd Sourcing Keywords
This is one of the methods for keyword research that actually has very little to do with Google. Gaining an understanding of what people are talking about – particularly with regards to your product or service offering is a great way to find keywords. After all you want to know what they are searching for to give them the answers they need.
For this particular keyword tactic, you can look to social media and sites like Reddit. Each has a broad base of people who are talking about products or services similar to yours. This is a great way to see what search terms they are using, the topic headlines and the content they are creating around your topics and keywords.
It is also a fantastic place to identify content ideas. While Reddit (and social media) is a great place for others to comment and give advice or share stories, it is not always a trustworthy place. Being able to answer questions people are actively searching for is a great way to bring in business.
Conclusion
There are a large number of ways to find and research keywords. From keyword research tools to methods such as Google autocomplete, you should be able to find and understand the keywords your potential customers are searching for. These tactics can help you refine your content and website to help your SEO and SERP results.
Keyword research is an important part of running an online business and marketing campaign. But with so many options out there, you shouldn’t run short of ideas anytime soon.
