Keyword research has remained a constant in a rapidly changing search landscape. If you\u2019re an inbound marketer looking to optimize your website, understanding how to do keyword research is a must.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n In this post, we\u2019ll define what keyword research is, why it\u2019s important, how to conduct your research for your SEO strategy<\/a>, and how to choose the right keywords for your website.<\/p>\n Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n What is keyword research?<\/a> <\/a> <\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Keyword research helps you find your SEO sweet spot \u2014 the overlap of keywords that aren\u2019t too<\/em> hard to rank for and keywords that you can confidently produce excellent content on. It also identifies the queries that your target audience is actually searching on Google.<\/p>\n I talked to HubSpot Growth Manager Amal Kalepp<\/a>, who says that keyword research \u201cdetermines who your competitors are and which area of the search landscape you can rank for. Doing keyword research and understanding where your blog or website sweet spot is \u2014 that\u2019s what gives you rankability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Insights from actual search terms can inform your content strategy as well as your larger marketing strategy.<\/p>\n Your Purranormal Detective Agency may have the best ghost-detecting kittens in the business, but if nobody\u2019s searching for \u201ccat paranormal detective\u201d (they aren\u2019t; I checked), you aren\u2019t going to have much luck \u2014 or traffic \u2014 if you base your content strategy on that keyword.<\/p>\n\n People use keywords to find solutions when conducting research online, so if your content successfully gets in front of your audience, you stand to gain more traffic.<\/p>\n Therefore, you should be targeting those searches with content that features those keywords in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n Additionally, inbound methodology<\/a> focuses less on creating content around what we want to tell people. Instead, we should be creating content around what people want to discover.<\/p>\n In other words, our audience is coming to us for helpful content that provides the answers they\u2019re looking for. And it all begins with keyword research.<\/p>\n Conducting keyword research has many benefits, the most popular being:<\/p>\n Conducting effective keyword research can provide insights into current marketing trends<\/a> and help you center your content on relevant topics and keywords your audience is looking for.<\/p>\n When you identify the best-fitting keywords for the content you publish, the higher you\u2019ll rank in search engine results<\/a> \u2014 and the more traffic you\u2019ll attract to your website.<\/p>\n If your content meets the needs of your users, adding a strong call-to-action<\/a> will lead them into the buyer journey<\/a> from the awareness stage to the point of purchase.<\/p>\n By researching keywords for their popularity, search volume, and general intent, you can tackle the questions that most people in your audience want answers to.<\/p>\n For instance, the Purranormal Detective Agency would do better to produce excellent content on the broader topic of paranormal investigators, which has a monthly search volume (MSV) of 800.<\/p>\n \u201cSearch intent\u201d is something I frequently hear about from HubSpot SEOs. That\u2019s because the reason<\/em> a user types in a particular keyword matters \u2014 a lot.<\/p>\n Our content has to solve users\u2019 problems. If you found your way to this article via the search term \u201cSEO keyword strategy,\u201d we have to anticipate your questions on this topic. And then answer them.<\/p>\n SEO is evolving<\/a> at breakneck speed, but keyword research is still foundational to search intent. It tells you what topics people care about and how popular those topics actually are among your audience.<\/p>\n The operative term here is \u201ctopics,\u201d plural. By researching keywords with a high volume of monthly searches, you can identify and sort your content into topics or buckets that you\u2019ll use to create content.<\/p>\n Then you can use these topics to dictate which keywords you look for and target.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n There are three main elements to conducting keyword research.<\/p>\n Google ranks content for relevance.<\/p>\n This is where the concept of search intent comes in. Your content will only rank for a keyword if it meets the searchers\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n In addition, your content must be the best resource for the query \u2014 Google won\u2019t rank your content as highly if it doesn\u2019t provide better value than its competitors.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re starting an SEO business specializing in small businesses, you might assume that \u201cSEO tips for small businesses\u201d would be the most relevant keyword. But take a look at the Ahrefs keyword research dashboard:<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSEO tips for small businesses\u201d has an MSV of 300 and a high keyword difficulty. Its parent topic, \u201csmall business SEO,\u201d has an MSV of 2,500 and a very high keyword difficulty.<\/p>\n Google provides more weight to sources it deems authoritative.<\/p>\n You can become an authoritative source by enriching your site with helpful, informative content and promoting that content to earn social signals and backlinks.<\/p>\n Both HubSpot.com and the HubSpot Blog<\/a> are well-established sites, and we work hard to make sure we provide the content our readers are searching for. As a result, the root domain and subdomain have very high domain authority:<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n If you\u2019re not seen as authoritative in the space, or if a keyword\u2019s SERPs are loaded with heavy sources you can\u2019t compete with (like Forbes or The Mayo Clinic), you have a lower chance of ranking.<\/p>\n You might rank on the first page for a specific keyword, but if no one ever searches for it, you won\u2019t see any traffic. It’s like setting up a shop in a ghost town.<\/p>\n Volume is measured by MSV (monthly search volume), which means the number of times the keyword is searched per month across all audiences.<\/p>\n Compare Ahrefs\u2019 results for \u201ccat detective agency\u201d versus \u201cparanormal investigator\u201d:<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Even though kitten detectives are your business\u2019 differentiating factor, absolutely not a single soul is trying to locate a cat who can sniff out their resident poltergeist.<\/p>\n \u201cParanormal investigators\u201d isn\u2019t a wildly<\/em> popular search term, but it gets significantly more volume than \u201ccat detective agency,\u201d so it\u2019s a much better keyword to try to rank for.<\/p>\n Kalepp says that one of the common mistakes people make is assuming that a higher MSV is better. \u201c\u2018Instagram marketing\u2019 might seem like the best choice to rank for because it has millions of searches,\u201d she says. \u201cBut it makes it much more difficult to rank for that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou might have better luck with something like \u2018Instagram marketing for small businesses\u2019 \u2014 and then that can be your niche.\u201d<\/p>\n She says that you could get \u201ca lot more traffic ranking for a keyword that has a lower MSV and lower competition\u201d than one with a high MSV.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n I\u2019m going to lay out a keyword research process you can follow to help you come up with a list of terms you should be targeting.<\/p>\n That way, you\u2019ll be able to establish and execute a strong keyword strategy that helps you get found for the search terms you care about.<\/p>\n To kick this off, think about the topics you want to rank for in terms of generic buckets.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll come up with about five to 10 topic buckets you think are essential to your business, and then you\u2019ll use those topic buckets to help come up with some specific keywords later in the process.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a regular blogger, these are probably the topics you blog about most frequently. Or perhaps they\u2019re the topics that come up the most in sales conversations.<\/p>\n Put yourself in the shoes of your buyer personas<\/a>. What types of topics would your target audience search that you\u2019d want your business to get found for?<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n HubSpot, for example, might have general topic buckets like:<\/p>\n \u201cSEO\u201d (201K) The number in parentheses is the MSV, according to Ahrefs.<\/p>\n That data allows you to gauge how important these topics are to your audience and how many different sub-topics you need to create content on to be successful with that keyword.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n To learn more about these sub-topics, we move on to step two.<\/p>\n Now that you have a few topic buckets you want to focus on, it\u2019s time to identify some keywords that fall into those buckets.<\/p>\n These are keyword phrases you think are important to rank for in the SERPs (search engine results pages) because your target customer is probably conducting searches for those specific terms.<\/p>\n For instance, if I took that last topic bucket for an inbound marketing software company \u2014 \u201cmarketing automation\u201d \u2014 I\u2019d brainstorm some keyword phrases I think people would type in related to that topic.<\/p>\n Those might include:<\/p>\n AI marketing tools<\/a> The point of this step isn\u2019t to come up with your final list of keyword phrases; you just want a brain dump of phrases you think potential customers might use to search for content related to that particular topic bucket.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll narrow the lists down later so you don\u2019t have something too unwieldy.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that Google is encrypting more keywords every day, so another smart way to generate keyword ideas is to determine which keywords already bring users to your website.<\/p>\n To do this, you\u2019ll need website analytics software like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or HubSpot\u2019s Sources report, which are available in the Traffic Analytics tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get started with HubSpot’s free Traffic Analytics Tool.<\/a><\/p>\n Drill down into your website\u2019s traffic sources and sift through your organic search traffic bucket to identify the keywords people use to arrive at your site.<\/p>\n Repeat this exercise for as many topic buckets as you have.<\/p>\n Remember, if you\u2019re having trouble brainstorming with relevant search terms, you can always head on over to your customer-facing colleagues in sales or service. Ask them what types of terms their prospects or customers have questions about.<\/p>\n Those are often great starting points for keyword research.<\/p>\n Here at HubSpot, we use the Search Insights Report. This template is designed to help you do the same and bucket your keywords into topic clusters, analyze MSV, and inform your editorial calendar and strategy.<\/p>\n Featured Resource:<\/strong> Search Insights Report Template<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Download the Template<\/a><\/p>\n User intent is now one of the most pivotal factors in your ability to rank well on search engines like Google.<\/p>\n That means it\u2019s vital that your web page addresses the problem<\/em> a searcher wants to solve rather than simply including the keyword<\/em> the searcher used.<\/p>\n So, how does this affect your keyword research?<\/p>\n It\u2019s tempting to take keywords at face value, but they can have many different meanings.<\/p>\n And because the intent behind a search is so important to your ranking potential, you need to be extra careful about how you interpret the keywords you target.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you\u2019re researching the keyword \u201chow to start a blog\u201d for an article you want to create. \u201cBlog\u201d can mean a blog post or the blog website itself, and the searcher\u2019s intent behind that keyword will influence the direction of your article.<\/p>\n Does the searcher want to learn how to start an individual blog post<\/a>? Or do they want to know how to launch a website domain for a new blog?<\/p>\n If your content strategy only targets people interested in the latter, you\u2019ll need to determine the keyword\u2019s intent before using it.<\/p>\n To verify a user\u2019s intent, it\u2019s a good idea to simply enter this keyword into a search engine yourself and see what types of results come up.<\/p>\n I did a quick search for \u201chow to start a blog,\u201d and it looks like most users are searching for info on how to start a website with a blog, not an individual blog post:<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Make sure the type of content Google is displaying relates to your intention for the keyword.<\/p>\n This is a creative step you may have already thought of when doing keyword research. If not, it\u2019s a great way to fill out those lists.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re struggling to think of more keywords people might be searching about a specific topic, take a look at the related search terms that appear when you plug a keyword into Google.<\/p>\n I searched Google for \u201cAI search grader<\/a>,\u201d a new free product from HubSpot. At the bottom of the first page, I can see that users are also searching specifically for a free<\/em> AI search grader.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n These keywords can spark ideas for other keywords you may want to take into consideration.<\/p>\n Want a bonus? Type in some of those related search terms and look at their related search terms. Looking at the related search terms for \u201cAI search grader free,\u201d I can see that people are also searching for the best AI search grader.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Keyword research and SEO tools<\/a> can help you brainstorm more keyword ideas based on exact-match keywords and phrase-match keywords based on the ideas you\u2019ve generated up to this point.<\/p>\n Some of the most popular ones include:<\/p>\n Some of the best SEO reports and keyword research I\u2019ve seen have come from SEO experts using Ahrefs Keywords Explorer.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Their webmaster tools offer plenty of detail into any verified domains you own if you\u2019re looking for an overview of backlinks and organic keywords.<\/p>\n I found SE Ranking was not quite as user-friendly to dive into as some of the other options.<\/p>\n When I typed in my keyword \u201ckeyword research,\u201d I was prompted to set up a free seven-day trial, and it immediately asked for the domain I wanted to track.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n While it gave me some good intro data, I had to do some digging to get to the keyword research and keyword suggestion tools. However, when I found them, the resulting data was comprehensive and gave me lots of great ideas.<\/p>\n It\u2019s free and doesn\u2019t require setting up an account.<\/p>\n Semrush is one of the most comprehensive SEO companies out there, so I wasn\u2019t surprised to find that their keyword magic tool was comprehensive as well.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n While you do need to set up an account, it\u2019s free. Then, you can type in your keyword, get a list of similar keywords, and sort based on how specific you need your results to be.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a fan of Ubersuggest for quite some time. You get up to three free searches a day, and it\u2019s so easy to use.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n In addition to finding out specific keyword performance, you can find related keywords and do a quick reverse search to find out what your site is already ranking for.<\/p>\n It\u2019s one of the easiest, most comprehensive free options, if you don\u2019t mind the limitations of the free searches.<\/p>\n I found Ryrob\u2019s keyword research tool easy to use. When I plugged \u201ckeyword research\u201d into the \u201cExplorer\u201d tab as my keyword, it gave me several related keywords that could be solid blog topics.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Then, when I shifted to the \u201cIdeas\u201d tab, it gave me other keyword cluster ideas that are more likely to be specific search terms that I might want to include in future articles on keyword research.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s tools are always gold. They\u2019re free, and it\u2019s always good to get the info straight from the horse\u2019s mouth. Once you sign in with your Google account, you can search for keyword ideas based on the keyword or your website.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Keywords Everywhere comes highly recommended, but it\u2019s not a free tool.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s a browser extension and it takes a little more setup than browser-based options. The lowest price tier, \u201cbronze,\u201d is $2.25\/month and limits you to 100K keywords annually.<\/p>\n Since it\u2019s a browser extension, every time I do a Google search, I get data about related keywords and similar searches, which gives me lots of ideas for new content.<\/p>\n For the price and the detail, it\u2019s one of my favorite tools.<\/p>\n Using KeywordTool.io is exactly what they promise in the headline. When I typed in \u201ckeyword research,\u201d I got a list of 502 keyword ideas.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Although I only see search volume, trend, CPC, and competition for the first five, I can see all of the keywords, which provides a solid search starting point.<\/p>\n KWFinder is another easy tool. While I quickly found that an account is needed to get started, it\u2019s free and quite easy to dive in. I was able to quickly start finding the top keywords.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n When I plugged in a handful of keywords into SearchVolume.io, after doing a quick \u201cAre you a human?\u201d check, the monthly search volume immediately popped out.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n A quick cross-comparison with other tools showed that the data was consistent with other platforms.<\/p>\n Rank Tracker by SEO PowerSuite is a solid tool for monitoring SERP data and doing keyword research.<\/p>\n There are a lot of great features, but Rank Tracker works best as a tool to rank relevant keywords, identify keyword gaps, and autocomplete phrases on different search engine tools.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Rank Tracker allows you to see all the phrases a particular domain ranks for, along with search volumes and keyword difficulty.<\/p>\n Their keyword gap tool allows you to determine which keywords competing websites are ranking for that you might be missing out on.<\/p>\n Rank Tracker also integrates with Google Search Console<\/a> and Keyword Planner<\/a>, providing a free version for unlimited testing.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Once you have an idea of the keywords that you want to rank for, now it’s time to refine your list based on the best ones for your strategy. Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n In Google\u2019s Keyword Planner, you can get search volume and traffic estimates for keywords you\u2019re considering. Then, take the information you learn from Keyword Planner and use Google Trends to fill in some blanks.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Use the Keyword Planner to flag any terms on your list that have way too little (or way too much) search volume and don\u2019t help you maintain a healthy mix like we talked about above.<\/p>\n But before you delete anything, check out their trend history and projections in Google Trends. You can see whether you should invest in some low-volume terms now so you can reap the benefits later.<\/p>\n Or perhaps you\u2019re just looking at a list of terms that is way too unwieldy, and you have to narrow it down somehow. Google Trends can help you determine which terms are trending upward and are worth more of your focus.<\/p>\n That is, prioritize keywords that you have a chance of ranking for based on your website\u2019s authority.<\/p>\n Large companies typically go after high search volume keywords, and since these brands are well established already, Google typically rewards them with authority over many topics.<\/p>\n You can also consider keywords that have little competition. Keywords that don\u2019t already have multiple articles battling for the highest rank can afford you the spot by default \u2014 if there\u2019s no one else trying to claim it.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n You want to write content around what people want to discover, and checking MSV can help you do just that. Monthly search volume is the number of times a search query or keyword is entered into search engines each month.<\/p>\n Here are the results from Ahrefs on \u201cSEO keyword strategy,\u201d which has an MSV of 400:<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Tools like searchvolume.io or Google Trends can help you find the most searched keywords for related keyword clusters for free.<\/p>\n There are several SERP feature snippets that Google will highlight if used correctly.<\/p>\n An easy way to find out about them is to look up keywords and see what the first result looks like.<\/p>\n But for a quick overview of the types of SERP featured snippets, we\u2019ll summarize the more common ones here \u2014 you can read about all 22 of them on Google<\/a>.<\/p>\n Image packs are search results displayed as a horizontal row of images that appear in an organic position. If there\u2019s an image pack, you should write an image-heavy post to win placement in it.<\/p>\n For instance, here\u2019s the image pack for \u201ccat detective agency\u201d:<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n A relatively recent addition to Google\u2019s rich results, AI Overviews<\/a> provides an AI-written summary for a certain percentage of searches. (That percentage has changed a few times to meet the demand for accuracy.)<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Featured snippets, or paragraph snippets, are short snippets of text that appear at the top of Google search results for quick answers to common search queries. I asked Google, \u201cWhere do elephants live?\u201d and it returned this featured snippet:<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Understanding the searcher\u2019s intent and providing succinct answers can help you win a featured snippet.<\/p>\n List snippets, or listicles, are snippets made for posts outlining steps to do something from start to finish \u2014 often for \u201cHow To\u201d searches. Writing posts with direct, clear instructions and formatting can assist in winning this placement.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Video snippets are short videos that Google displays at the top of a SERP in place of text-based featured snippets.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Posting a video on both YouTube and your website can help you win this placement if you\u2019re tagged in the targeted keywords people are searching for.<\/p>\n Head terms are keyword phrases that are generally shorter and more generic \u2014 typically just one to three words in length.<\/p>\n Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, are longer keyword phrases usually containing three or more words.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to check that you have a mix of head terms and long-tail terms in order to build a well-balanced keyword strategy with long-term goals and short-term wins.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because head terms are generally searched more frequently, making them often (not always, but often) much more competitive and harder to rank for than long-tail terms.<\/p>\n Think about it: Without even looking up search volume or difficulty, which of the following terms do you think would be harder to rank for?<\/p>\n how to write a great blog post If you answered #2, you\u2019re absolutely right.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n But don\u2019t get discouraged. While head terms generally boast the most search volume (meaning greater potential to send you traffic), the traffic you\u2019ll get from \u201chow to write a great blog post\u201d will usually be more desirable.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because someone who\u2019s using a specific query is probably a more qualified searcher for your product or service (presuming you\u2019re in the blogging space) than someone with a more generic search query.<\/p>\n Because long-tail keywords tend to be more specific, it\u2019s usually easier to tell what people who search for those keywords are actually looking for. Someone searching for the head term \u201cblogging,\u201d on the other hand, could be motivated by reasons that aren\u2019t related to your business.<\/p>\n Kalepp says that short-tail keywords \u201ccan make it really difficult to rank, especially if you are a newer blog and you don’t have that domain authority quite yet.\u201d<\/p>\n She recommends \u201ctargeting those long-tail keywords, because a lot of times the competition is lower on them. And it allows you to really develop a niche and allows you to rank.\u201d<\/p>\n So check your keyword lists for a healthy mix of head terms and long-tail keywords. You definitely want some quick wins that long-tail keywords will afford you, but you should also try to chip away at more difficult head terms over the long haul.<\/p>\n Kalepp, who\u2019s worked on both the HubSpot<\/a> and The Hustle<\/a> blogs, says that it can be challenging to find the right balance.<\/p>\n When she worked on the HubSpot blog, \u201cthere wasn’t a lot of fluctuation in what the search volume looked like, but for The Hustle blog, there were constant changes because we were writing about subjects that were really trendy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so it was imperative for us to strike when it was hot,\u201d she says of The Hustle blog.<\/p>\n Just because your competitor is doing something doesn\u2019t mean you need to. The same goes for keywords. Just because a keyword is important to your competitor doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s important to you.<\/p>\n However, understanding what keywords your competitors are trying to rank for is a great way to help you give your list of keywords another evaluation.<\/p>\n If your competitor is ranking for certain keywords that are also on your list, it makes sense to work on improving your ranking for those.<\/p>\n Kalepp says she\u2019s a big fan of \u201cdoing a competitor analysis and understanding that landscape really well \u2014 and then using those same content pillars to build out a content library.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Don\u2019t ignore the ones your competitors don\u2019t seem to care about \u2014 it could be a great opportunity to own market share on other important terms.<\/p>\n Understanding the balance of terms might be a little more difficult. Remember, the goal is to end up with a list of keywords that provides some quick wins but also helps you make progress toward bigger, more challenging SEO goals.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a quick way to get a sense of the terms that your competitors rank for: Manually search for keywords in an incognito browser and see what positions your competitors are in.<\/p>\n
\n Why is keyword research important?<\/a>
\n Elements of Keyword Research<\/a>
\n How to Research Keywords for Your SEO Strategy<\/a>
\n How to Find and Choose Keywords for Your Website<\/a>
\n Best Keywords for SEO<\/a> <\/p>\nWhy is keyword research important?<\/h2>\n
Benefits of Keyword Research<\/h3>\n
Marketing Trend Insight<\/h4>\n
Traffic Growth<\/h4>\n
Customer Acquisition<\/h4>\n
Keywords vs. Topics<\/h3>\n
Elements of Keyword Research<\/h2>\n
1. Relevance<\/h3>\n
2. Authority<\/h3>\n
3. Volume<\/h3>\n
Step 1. Make a list of important, relevant topics based on what you know about your business.<\/h3>\n
\n \u201cblogging\u201d (60.5K)
\n \u201cCRM software<\/a>\u201d (49.5K)
\n \u201csocial media marketing<\/a>\u201d (405K)
\n \u201cemail marketing<\/a>\u201d (22.2K)
\n \u201clead generation<\/a>\u201d (18.1K)
\n \u201cinbound marketing\u201d (8.1K)
\n \u201cmarketing analytics<\/a>\u201d (6.6K)
\n \u201cmarketing automation<\/a>\u201d (6.6K)
\n \u201cAI marketing<\/a>\u201d (4.4K) <\/p>\nStep 2. Fill in those topic buckets with keywords.<\/h3>\n
\n marketing automation tools
\n how to use marketing automation software
\n what is marketing automation?
\n how to tell if I need marketing automation software
\n lead nurturing
\n email marketing automation
\n top automation tools <\/p>\nStep 3. Understand how intent affects keyword research and analyze accordingly.<\/h3>\n
Step 4. Research related search terms.<\/h3>\n
Step 5. Use keyword research tools to your advantage.<\/h3>\n
1. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n2. SE Ranking<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n3. SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n4. Ubersuggest<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n5. Free Keyword Research Tool<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n6. Google Keyword Planner<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n7. Keywords Everywhere<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n8. KeywordTool.io<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n9. KWFinder<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n10. SearchVolume.io<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n11. Rank Tracker<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\nStep 1. Use Google Keyword Planner to cut down your keyword list.<\/h3>\n
Step 2. Prioritize low-hanging fruit.<\/h3>\n
Step 3. Check the monthly search volume (MSV) for keywords you\u2019ve chosen.<\/h3>\n
Step 4. Factor in SERP features as you choose keywords.<\/h3>\n
Image Packs<\/h4>\n
AI Overviews<\/h4>\n
Paragraph Snippets<\/h4>\n
List Snippets<\/h4>\n
Video Snippets<\/h4>\n
Step 5. Check for a mix of head terms and long-tail keywords in each bucket.<\/h3>\n
\n blogging <\/p>\nStep 6. See how competitors are ranking for these keywords.<\/h3>\n