This is How You do Keyword Research

Part of havings a successful SEO strategy is playing the keyword game.

It’s a game that takes a bit more effort than just clustering together words you think fit your brand. Keywords need to match up in order to promote successfully, get your website indexed correctly on Google and flow naturally within content without being stuffed.

That’s where keyword research comes in. It’s vital to help you learn about your customers and also the best words to target in your market.

There are some tips and tricks that help you optimize your keyword research to ensure you’re on the right path to SEO glory.

1. Make a list

Start by sitting down with a pen and paper, then put your thinking cap on. You’re going to want to make a list of topic categories that you feel are the most pertinent to your business.

For example, if you’re a blogger, focus on the topics you’ll be writing about. Or, think about what topics you’ll post about on social media.

So for example, if you’re selling travel packages, some categories you could choose are: locations, activities, accommodation, etc.

2. Fill in the keywords

Now that you have your topic categories, it’s time to start brainstorming keywords.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a moment and ponder what they’ll type into the search box when they are looking for your business.

Back to our travel package website example, let’s take the category of locations and let’s say you’re targeting Thailand. You could write down keyword phrases such as:

- Thailand

- How to travel to Thailand

- Where to go in Thailand

- Traveling in Thailand

These phrases will help shape the keywords you’ll use when writing content.

3. Check out related search terms

Input some of your keyword phrases in the Google search box and then scroll to the bottom of the first page of results. You will find a list of related search terms. Use these terms to tailor your own research and list of keywords.