Uncover Market Trends

When you research keywords, you uncover what's trending. It gives you a better insight into what people search for and how the market addresses it. It helps you plan a direction for your business.

Keyword research helps you craft effective marketing and sales strategies.

It increases your knowledge of customer behavior and gives you a realistic idea about seasonal trends for a product or service.

This can be useful in planning any sales events or promotions. It can also help product companies identify which products to stock up on within a specific season to get more sales.

The search volume in this keyword research result by WordStream helps companies know what popular products to stock up on.

Gain Web Traffic

One of the primary reasons for search engine optimization is to grow the traffic on a website. A key strategy to achieve it is to find out what people are searching for and create relevant content that matches their expectations.

Performing keyword research is fundamental to gaining qualified web traffic. When you find the right keywords for your content, you will rank higher in search results.

Here’s an example of top search results due to the usage of the right keywords.



The longer you stay on the top result pages, your reputation grows. An increase in web traffic leads to better sales. It also indicates that your business is healthy and credible.

Read: 9 Local SEO Tips To Drive Foot Traffic to Your Business

Generate Leads

Keyword research is not just to drive traffic or rank higher. It plays a crucial role in creating leads and driving sales volumes. Finding and targeting the right keywords can be an excellent start for your sales funnel.

You can use wordtracker to find the right keywords.



When people find content or products relevant to their searches, it leads to two things. It can propel them to action and buy or research more before deciding. How you use your top-ranking keywords makes all the difference.

Focused keyword research coupled with quality content can generate leads that convert easily.

Read: Benefits of Lead Generation for an Ecommerce Site

Better Content Strategy

Quality content is an unbeatable asset. It can make even a small company reach great heights. In the world of SEO, keyword research directly impacts content. It allows you to find topics that people are interested in within your field.

Knowing what keywords trend at certain times or specific months can help plan a robust content strategy.

You can use Google Trends to analyze the popularity of keywords.



For example, if you know that a particular keyword trends during Christmas, you can plan for content based on that theme.

Doing so will give you more reach with your target audience on the web and social media platforms.

Focused Audience targeting

You need to identify and target the right audience as a business. Investing in SEO and digital marketing is a waste of money if your campaigns are not curated to reach a specific customer base. Keyword research plays a vital role in reaching the right audience.

It tells you what people in your industry are searching for on the web.

Once you incorporate those words or phrases into your posts, URLs, or other metadata, you amplify your reach. You are in a stronger position to reach and convert the right audience.

You can find the best keywords to use by analyzing your competitor’s business with SEMrush:

Rank High in Search Results

Studies show that content with top-ranking keywords gets the most hits.

You can effectively use keywords in URLs, headers, and titles to get more attention from search engines. Google uses keywords as one of the factors to rank a website for a search query. It crawls the site for relevant keywords in context with a user's search intent.

Search engines rank a page on the first page of its results when keywords are used naturally and are of most relevance. The higher your ranking, the more likely a user will click on it.

Here’s an example of two websites that use high-ranking keywords in the title tag.

Gain Social Shares

Good keyword research leads to great content. You begin writing about topics that people are interested in. It could be general or specific content to a product or domain. Whatever the case, keyword research and good content attract people.

It goes beyond an increase in web traffic. Your content can go viral by being shared on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter.

Adding a social share button is a great way for site visitors to share your content on social media. Social sharing increases your reach online. It amplifies your reputation and increases traffic.

Beat Your Competition

Many online tools can tell you where your content and keywords stand against your competitors.

• It's easier than ever to know what keywords they are targeting. This insight is valuable in many ways.

• It can help you find unique keywords and phrases that can outdo your competitors.

• It can also give you better ideas for content on your website, which may attract more visitors to your website.

Keyword research tells you which keywords have the potential for better conversions. Using all these data points, you can excel better than your competitors.

Use Google Suggest

Google suggests the popular auto-complete feature on the search engine. It uses a robust algorithm to suggest other words you can use in your online searches. It has proven a useful feature over the years.



You can capitalize on this feature to improve your keywords game as a business. It is great for suggesting long search phrases that people use.

For example, "Best furniture store in the bay area." These offer great insights into the type of searches when people look for products or services in your domain.

To boost your keyword research:

• Try a different word or phrase combination for your product or service. Look for the keyword suggestions from Google. Use these to fine-tune the content and titles of your website.

• Use your location with a search term to identify trending topics or competitors.

Go Local

Local keywords are those that resonate with a specific location. These can be powerful for SEO, especially for businesses such as restaurants, cafes, or showrooms.

People searching for products or services locally have a specific intent. They want to locate something in a particular area. They may use terms like "clock repair Washington."

You can use WordStream to find local keywords.



When you begin using local place names in your content and headings, it can boost your SEO. Not using local terms and place names to your benefit can lead to missed sales opportunities.

To make the best of local search intent, try some of these techniques:

• Narrow down a list of top keywords in your industry. Then add "Great" or "Best" to your content titles. For example, A blog title can be "Best Lounge Club in Boston."

• Check the local keywords your competitors are using.

Get To Know Your Industry

It pays to have great products and services and know more about your industry. To come up with relevant keywords, you need to know the hot trends in your domain. You need to dig more about people's words to search for similar services.

You can gain a wealth of information from keeping tabs on industry trends. Use this knowledge to develop unique keywords that reflect people's actual needs.

A few ways you can use industry insights:

• Read top industry blogs and attend popular conferences and events. It helps you gain a pulse of what is popular. Use these insights to curate relevant content or social campaigns.

For example, TechRadar is a fantastic website to update yourself about the latest trends in tech.

• Talk to your support teams to get a feel for common customer pain points. Improve your help content and write informative blogs to close gaps.

Identify Hot Content Ideas

Quality content relevant to a user's search is a cornerstone of good SEO. To curate great content, keywords act as stepping stones. You can't put out content that matters unless you know what your target audience wants.

Getting content ideas from keywords is not always easy. Luckily, there are many great tools to give you great content ideas based on keywords.

Here are our favorites:

KWFinder: A great tool that throws up dozens of possible keywords based on a sample keyword. Identify unique content ideas from keywords relevant to your business.

Answer The Public: This works similarly to KWFinder. Just enter a topic and search to get loads of content ideas based on actual search phrases used by people. You can even narrow it down to specific countries.

Research Competitor Keywords

Always keep an eye on other top players in your industry. It pays off in the long run. Not knowing your competitor's keyword strategy can cause you to lose SEO ground quickly. Keep track of your competitor rankings and identify the keywords they target.

Spend time analyzing the type of content they have on the site. Check their social media pages to find content shares such as blogs or videos.

You gain excellent insights for your keyword research by tracking your competition. We suggest you try these tips:

• Run a content gap analysis and list content areas where they excel. Fine-tune your content to bridge these gaps and bring the quality of your content on par with your competition.

• Use tools like SpyFu to track the top keywords used by the competition.

Investigate Long-tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords use more words than usual and are less specific. They are not as common as one-word keywords but can be great for increasing leads.

A typical long-tail keyword could be: "Buy bicycle headlamp for BSA cycle."

As you can see here, the search is specific to the product and the brand (Cycle + BSA). A business that has used these keywords stands a better chance of a sale as their site will come up first in the results.

So how does one find the best long-tail keywords?

• Ahrefs Keyword Explorer: Enter a keyword and see hundreds of possible long and short-tail keywords for your SEO efforts.

• Google Suggest: Type your keyword into Google and see possible suggestions around it. Use the most unique and relevant long-tail words in your SEO strategy.

Use Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that helps you scope the best keywords for your website. You only need a Google Ads account to be able to access it. Research new keywords and also get insights about search volumes or forecasts.

The most helpful feature of the tool is "Discover new keywords." All you do is enter specific words that define your business. For example, "Dentist" or "Room heaters." The planner displays possible keywords that relate to the entered term.



Use These Proven Tips To Do Better Keyword Research:

• Filter the list of keywords based on several factors. A few popular ones are relevance, average monthly searches, and competition.

• Enter multiple keywords separated by a comma to discover unique keyword opportunities. For example, you can enter "low carb diet, high protein diet" to get a mix of unique keywords.

Leverage Seasonal Trends

Content planning and keyword research work in tandem. You can get a step ahead when you come up with unique keywords that rank high.

One way to do it is to target seasonal keywords. These are keywords people use during specific times during the year. For example, searches for Christmas baubles for decoration in December.

So how does it help?

If you focus on creating Christmas-themed content during December, you are more likely to get more traffic and sales.

Let's Look At A Few Best Practices:

• Use Google Trends to discover trending seasonal keywords. You narrow down historical data for a specific date range in the past to see what keywords were trending.

• Plan your content much ahead for special days like Christmas or Valentine’s Day if your business resonates with these themes.

Analyse Google Search Console Data

Google Search Console is a dashboard that can offer great keyword insights. Every business serious about ranking high must create a Google My Business (GMB) profile.



Read: What are the Benefits of a Google My Business Listing?

The "Search results" report shows you the top keywords you rank for. Ideally, you will find a list of keywords you are already targeting. The good news is that it also shows plenty of other keywords that may be relevant to your business or content.

Let's look at a few ways to make the best use of it to discover more keywords:

• Look for keywords with high impressions that you have not targeted in the past. Use the filters on the console to deep dive into your keyword strategy.

• Compare your findings with competitor rankings and plan your content around the new keywords.

Use Keyword Research Tools

Keyword research is essential to any SEO effort, local or global. There are many free and paid tools for keyword research out there. How do you choose the best with algorithms changing so often?

There are several key factors to consider:

• Is it free or paid? Does it come with a trial version?

• How are its reviews on SEO forums? What features stand out?

We take the guesswork out of it and list two of our favorite tools:

• SEMRush: A popular tool that offers dozens of keyword ideas and insights such as monthly searches and volumes.

• Answer The Public: A unique tool that presents keyword data in a visual form. Just enter a keyword and see a massive display of keyword ideas.

Do Social Media Keyword Research

Keyword research for social media does not follow the same rules as your website. You need to know your audience's words and phrases on social media sites like Facebook or Instagram.

Doing keyword research for social media has many benefits:

• Identify the frequency of a search query

• Gauge interest in products and services

• Discover better ways to engage with audiences

Read: How to Promote Your Business Locally Using Instagram

Follow our tried and tested tips below for effective social media keyword research:

• Look at hashtags people use when they post about products or services on Facebook or Instagram. Typing in one or more of these brings up many more suggestions. Narrow down the best for your use.

You can use this tool to find top hashtags.

• Use the power of social media tools like Buzzsumo. It is designed to help you find the most engaging topics and monitor popular topics.

Research Top Keywords on Forums

Online forums like Quora are popular as they answer a wide range of queries for people. You are sure to find questions about your industry and a wide range of other related information.

To find the best keywords, visit the most popular online forums. You can also visit forums popular in your industry.

Look at the top-ranking question or discussion thread and list specific keywords related to your product.

Other tips to source keywords from forums are:

• Install the Ahrefs SEO toolbar. Search in Google for forums about a topic and look at the displayed results to gain insights on what's popular and trending.

• Go over the posts related to your industry and see what kind of topics get the most queries—plan content around such topics using the keywords.

Targeting Broad Keyword Matches

People make a common mistake of casting the keyword net a bit too wide. Businesses often target a lot of high-volume keywords that are too generic.

Here’s an example of high-volume keywords.



For example, when you target "Painting Services," you may find hundreds of broad match searches but only a few exact ones. Also, you may target a keyword out of context for your business.

For example, targeting "storage services" for an online cloud service provider may prove bad. "Storage" could also indicate storage boxes or storage areas.

Targeting without a clear focus can cause your campaign to be ineffective.

Here are a few tips to get it right:

• Target as many exact keywords as possible.

• Be specific in your keyword targeting when your product or service may have multiple meanings across industries.

Sidelining Search Intent

Search intent is, simply put, the reason why someone searches for something online. It could be searching for information, researching a product, or a purchase inquiry. Whatever the intent may be, understanding how they work can impact.

A common mistake is to ignore the user search intent. When you research on types of queries in your domain, ask yourself these questions:

• What is the goal of the user search? Is it purely information, or is it the start of a journey towards a purchase?

Let's say you sell Whirlpool Refrigerators. When targeting keywords, focus on two core aspects:

• Have informational content on the site. For example, what's the most power-saving model available.

• Have a landing page for people to buy the product and check it out.

Here’s an example of a landing page for a service:

Doing so will address all forms of search intent.

Poor Competitor Research

Finding out what your competitors are doing is fundamental to any business. It's valuable for SEO. Never ignore competitor research. It could be keeping tabs on their marketing tactics or target keywords for better reach.

A common mistake people make is to put this on the back burner. They either do it at the start of their SEO efforts and forget it or don't do it. You must perform competitor keyword research regularly to gain an edge.

Read: 11 Tips to Handle Local Competition

Here are our top tools to get it right:

• SpyFu: This is a great tool to check the keywords your competitors are targeting. It gives you a detailed report of their keyword strategy.

• SEMRush: This allows you to analyze who is your strongest contenders. You can also check the top keywords that they are targeting.

Poor Customer Engagement

You can gain a world of insights during conversations with your customers. A simple discussion in person or on the phone can help you uncover many gaps.

Remember that how you talk about your products and how customers do will be different. For example, a product you may call an "Anti-theft protection unit" may simply be a "burglar alarm" for a customer.

Try and engage with your customers at every chance. Pay attention to the words and terms to discuss their needs or problems. These provide great keyword ideas that could lead to higher traffic.

Read: Tips to Promote & Get More Traffic to Your Website

Try these tips:

• Send out email surveys asking customers to describe what they like or dislike about your products.

• Make a note of other words or terms they use for your product or service and use them in your content.

Narrow Keyword Focus

A common mistake in any keyword strategy is to focus only on one or few keywords.

Businesses tend to build their content around generic keywords that are high-volume. They focus on just one or two main keywords in their industry. This tactic is a poor way to run an SEO campaign.

It generalizes your focus, and hence Google finds nothing that makes your web content stand out. You miss out on discovering other keywords that can rank you much higher.

A few ways to evade this trap are:

• Use Google Suggest, Social media listening, keyword research tools, and more to make a comprehensive list of related keywords. Never target just one or two keywords.

sproutsocial is a good social media listening tool.

• Try unique keywords in your content and SEO plan every few weeks to see which works best.

Bloating Content with Keywords

Loading a page with as many relevant keywords is a big mistake. It is one of the most common tactics used by many SEO agencies. They bloat the content with keywords.

Never fall for this tactic. It is considered unethical, and Google penalizes such sites.

Here’s an example of bloating content with keywords.



Filling your site with such bloated content is bad for SEO and negatively impacts the customer experience. Ensure that your content naturally uses the keywords without overwhelming a user.

Let's look at a few best practices:

• Run a keyword count on each content page. Try and keep the keyword count to less than 5 per page.

• Alternate keywords on the page instead of using the same keyword. Using a related term is much better than repeatedly using the same keyword.

Out of Touch with Customer Trends

This is a common mistake most businesses make. It's easy to lose the market's pulse when you are busy with your daily operations.

Knowing what your customers are looking for and understanding the popular trends in your industry goes a long way. Ensure that you keep tabs on it.

Getting a feel for the current trends is excellent for surfacing keyword ideas. In the long-term, it can shape your content strategy better too.

There are plenty of ways to go about it. We recommend the free and the best way to approach it using Google Trends.

Read: 11 Powerful Ways to Use Google Trends for SEO

Google trend is a tool that shows how often a search term is entered into Google. You can narrow down specific words and get insights to help your keyword strategy. You can also search with specific dates or countries.

Ignoring Social Media Chatter

Today, social media is the new way millions of people interact with businesses. A social media presence is a must if you want to amplify your reach. A lot of insights for keywords can be gained with social media interactions.

Social media is rich with engagement. A lot of chatter on platforms like Instagram or Facebook can help you identify the most recent trends in your industry. Use social media hashtags and conversations as an anchor to build your keyword database.

Follow these social media tips to do more effective research:

• Keep a logbook with a list of trending hashtags in your industry. Look for popular keywords and curate content around them.

You can find the latest trending hashtags here.

• Look at the social media profile of your competition. It helps you gain a better idea of the common terms in your industry.

Read: Importance of Social Media Marketing for Local Businesses

Not Researching Regularly

Keyword research is not a one-time effort. A common mistake is to do it at the start of your SEO journey and then ignore it. Keywords are dynamic.

A set of once-popular keywords may not be suitable for targeting a few weeks later. It's vital to be on top of current trends.

You can update keywords in your content by looking them up using Keyword Tool.



Ensure that you add keyword research as an item in your SEO checklist. Spend time every few weeks to check if the keywords you are targeting are relevant.

Read: Local SEO Checklist: Things to Check Before Launching Your Website

Use these tips for the best results:

• Set up a monthly cadence on your team's calendar. Review a list of current keywords and spend time discussing possible new ones.

• Keep track of new keywords targeted by your competitor at least once a month.

Ignoring Local Keywords

Local keywords target people in a specific location to get them to buy a product or service. Local keywords in your content are crucial if you own a business with a physical presence.

Businesses make the common mistake of not taking local SEO seriously. They target broad keywords that don't fully capture a local searcher's intent.

Use our top tips to build your local SEO presence:

• Spend time analyzing the pulse of the local market and the terms and phrases people use to look for a business. Use unique local words and location names in your web content and metadata.

• Hunt for exact words people use in their searches. Use these in a meaningful way across your content.

Google’s Keyword Planner lets you specify the geographical location you want to target.

Leaving Out Long-tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are easier to rank for and are a great SEO tactic. Think of a phrase like "Blue Reebok Running Shoes." This phrase is easier to rank for instead of, let's say, "running shoes."

Many businesses fail to appreciate the power of using long-tail keywords in their SEO strategy. A good balance between short keywords and long-tail ones goes a long way in executing a winning SEO campaign.

Here are a few ways to get long-tail keyword ideas:

• Use Google suggest. Type in a query in Google, for example, "car repair," and see the list of auto-populated suggestions. This may include locations or car models, and much more. Use these suggestions to fine-tune your list of keywords.

• Engage in customer conversations. Notice the words and phrases they use to describe your product. Use these in your keyword strategy.

Ignoring Search Intention

Targeting keywords with high volume is a proven SEO strategy. It helps grow your inbound traffic volumes. However, doing it too much can have negative implications. High-volume keywords often ignore why people are searching for a product or service.

Using high-volume keywords only can cause another problem. They are highly competitive. Your competitors are likely using them too. So, how do you stand out?

A better strategy is to use high-volume keywords with long-tail keywords. A balanced approach can bring more visibility and address all forms of customer search intent.

Read: Common Keyword Research Mistakes People Often Do In SEO

Look for search terms with medium volume. You can rank for them with ease and have lesser competition than other keywords used by others in your industry.

Here’s a screenshot of medium competition keywords.