{"id":21016,"date":"2023-07-25T13:55:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T13:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c1mdev.com\/c1m.ai\/?p=21016"},"modified":"2024-09-18T07:45:15","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T07:45:15","slug":"the-ultimate-guide-to-conducting-effective-keyword-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c1mdev.com\/c1m.ai\/the-ultimate-guide-to-conducting-effective-keyword-research\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Guide to Conducting Effective Keyword Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting potential customers<\/span> to visit your website<\/span>: it\u2019s what digital marketing<\/span> is all about. And no matter what kind of business<\/span> you are \u2013 small and local or big and corporate, or just in the middle \u2013 you need<\/span> a good SEO strategy<\/a>\u00a0to attract those site visitors<\/span>. What\u2019s the best way to get those prospects<\/span> to your site through search engines<\/span>? It\u2019s by doing thorough and thoughtful keyword research<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Keyword Research?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Keyword research<\/span> is\u00a0<\/span>the process<\/span> where you find<\/span> and analyze\u00a0<\/span>search<\/span> terms that people<\/span> are entering into search engines<\/span> like Google<\/span> or Bing<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>By researching<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>these actual keywords<\/span> that people<\/span> are using, you can develop an effective content strategy<\/span> as well as informing your overall\u00a0digital marketing<\/a> strategy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Analyzing Search Volume<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s break it down a little more. If you know<\/span> what your target audience<\/span> is searching<\/span> for on Google<\/span>, you have a valuable line of sight<\/span> into what they want<\/span> to know<\/span>, what they\u2019re interested in reading, and what questions<\/span> they want<\/span> to see<\/span> answered.\u00a0<\/span>Keyword research<\/span> tells you what topics your audience<\/span> is interested in, which allows you to create content<\/span> that speaks to them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, if you\u2019re running a bookstore, you can use keywords<\/span> to see<\/span> what kind of book content<\/span> people<\/span> are looking for. If you were debating between writing<\/span> a blog post<\/span> about \u201cTop Ten<\/span> Travel Books\u201d and \u201cThe Best Books About England,\u201d you would check<\/span> a keyword research<\/span> tool<\/span> like\u00a0<\/span>SEMrush<\/span>\u00a0to see<\/span> which term has a higher monthly search<\/span> volume<\/span> and write<\/span> an article<\/span> based on which one is more popular<\/span> with searchers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About Keyword Difficulty\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

But overall search<\/span> volume<\/span> doesn\u2019t tell you the whole story. After all, there are plenty of other companies in your industry<\/span> who are also writing<\/span> content<\/span> about the same topics. (That\u2019s unless you\u2019re in a very specific<\/span> niche, which we\u2019ll talk about later.)\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is why you need<\/span> to take<\/span> keyword<\/span> difficulty into account<\/span> when planning<\/span> your keyword strategy<\/span>. Keyword<\/span> difficulty tells you how many other\u00a0<\/span>competing websites have written a lot<\/span> about this topic<\/span>. If search<\/span> volume<\/span> is high but so is keyword<\/span> difficulty, you might be best served by choosing a long-tail keyword<\/span> with a little less volume<\/span> but less difficulty if your site is new.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Your Research Plan<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

While keyword research<\/span> can sound intimidating and technical, you already have more tools<\/span> at your disposal than you think. You\u2019re the expert at your business<\/span>, and you already have some idea of what your customers<\/span> want<\/span>. That\u2019s a very strong starting point. Let\u2019s get going on the rest of the plan<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Make a List of Topics<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Start any keyword\u00a0<\/span>research for your SEO strategy<\/span> by making a list\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>about 5-10\u00a0<\/span>topics that are important and relevant for your business<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>These should be pretty easy to put down on paper \u2013 they\u2019re the topics you blog<\/span> about frequently, topics you talk to customers<\/span> about often, or topics that are important for your industry<\/span>. You\u2019re using your own years of expertise as a business<\/span> owner to come up with these pillars of your keyword strategy<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>What kind of topics is your target customers<\/span> searching<\/span> for where you would want<\/span> them to find<\/span> you?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let\u2019s use C1M as an example. Our topic<\/span> buckets<\/span> would look like this:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n