Introduction
Keyword Research is an important part of digital marketing and SEO. It is the process of finding and understanding the words people type into search engines like:.Google. When they look for information, products or services, knowing these keywords helps businesses create content that matches what people are searching for, brings more visitors to their websites, and improves their search rankings.
What is a Keyword?
Keywords are the words or phrases that people search into search engines to find information, products, or services. These words are a connection between your content and your audience. When these keywords are used properly, they are the main factor to rank your website higher on search engines.
Types of Keywords?
- Short Tail Keyword
- Mid Tail Keyword
- Long Tail Keyword
Short Tail Keyword
A short tail keyword is a phrase, which is two - three words long. These keywords are also known as focus keywords. They are popular and have a high search volume, but they can be expensive and competitive in Pay Per Click (PPC) ads.
Example: “Chocolate”, “Digital Marketing”, etc.
Mid Tail Keyword
Mid Tail Keywords are those keywords which include between long tail keyword and short tail keyword. These types of keywords are three - four words long. Mid tail keyword have a moderate amount of search volume, neither high as short - tail keyword nor low as long tail keyword.
Example: “Best Family Car”, “SEO Tools”, “Travel Destination in India”, etc.
Long Tail Keyword
These Keywords are longer and more specific keyword phrases, they are mostly used when a user is closer to a point of purchase or when they’re using voice search. They consist of three to five words long.
Example: “Can Meditation Make You Smarter”, “Best Running Shoes for Synthetic Track”, etc.
Keywords For Content
- Primary Keyword
- Seed Keyword
- LSI (Latent Semantic Index) / Secondary Keywords
- Secondary Keywords
Primary Keyword
These Keywords are the main words or focus keywords that define the focus of your content, web page or some campaign ads, to rank higher in search results.
Primary Keywords are likely two to three words long.
Example: “How to Write a Cover Letter” in this primary keyword is “Cover Letter”
Seed Keyword
Seed Keywords are also known as primary keywords but the difference is seed keyword target particular category.
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Example: “Top 10 Digital Marketing Course in Jaipur”
Now here, primary keyword can be “Top 10 Digital Marketing Course in Jaipur”
But, here seed Keyword is “Digital Marketing Course”
Means, it defines particular category that is “Digital Marketing Course”
LSI ( Latent Semantic Index )
Latent Semantic Index are those words or phrases which are related to targeted topics or you can say related to content.
Example: If we want to rank content for “Credit Card”, so here related terms can be “money”,
“Credit Score”, “Interest Rate”, etc.
So, money, credit score, interest rate are Latent Semantic Index
- LSI Keywords don’t matter because Google has stated specifically that it does not use latent semantic indexing to rank search results.
Secondary Keywords
A Secondary Keyword is a word that’s closely related to a primary keyword. Secondary Keywords are the synonyms, subtopics that are related to the primary keyword. These are intentionally selected to cover subtopics and can be used in content.
Keyword Intent
Keyword Intent refers to the purpose or goal behind what people enter into a search engines.
Types of Keyword Intent
- Informational
- Navigational
- Commercial
- Transactional
Informational Keyword Research
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These Keywords are search words or phrases that people use to find information, guidance or solution on a specific topic. They are often long-tail keywords.
Example: “Benefits of Mediation” , “What planets can you see tonight?” , etc.
Navigational Keyword Research
When someone types a website or brand name into search engines, they are likely to perform navigational keywords.
People behind these searches already know the product or company, and want to find the correct website or physical location to get their product or services.
Commercial Keyword Research
Commercial Keywords can be used to research specific brands, products, or services. People use this generally to compare products, to check reviews, or look for discounts.
These kinds of keywords are generally used by people when they want to learn more about buying something.
Transactional Keyword Research
These Keywords are the words that show the strongest intent to buy or take immediate action. These keywords are sometimes called buyers’ keywords. Transactional keywords generally contain words such as ( buy, order, discount, request a quote and free shipping ).
Keywords in Paid Marketing
- Broad Match Keyword
- Phrase Match Keyword
- Exact Match Keyword
- Negative Keyword
Broad Match Keyword
A broad match keyword is a keyword in google ads that can appear in searches related to the keyword’s meaning, even if the search doesn’t contain the exact keyword terms. Broad match keywords can appear in searches that include misspellings, synonyms, and other relevant variations.
Example: “Clothing for Men” This keyword can match searches like “buy men’s clothing”, “clothing for men”, “discounted men’s clothing”, etc.
Phrase Match Keyword
A phrase match keyword is a keyword that requires the search query to include the exact keyword phrase, with words before or after the term.
They are denoted in double inverted commas “”.
Example: Like “Red Shoes” is Phrase Match Keyword and users who search for “Women Red Shoes”, “Red Shoes for Men”, “Comfortable Red Shoes”.
However, their ads will not be shown on “Red Sneakers”, “Shoes in Red”, etc.
Exact Match Keyword
A Keyword match type that allows you to show your ads on searches that have the same meaning or same intent as your keyword. They are also known as perfect - match keywords.
In google ads, exact match keywords are used to ensure that your ad only appears for a specific word or phrase.
Example: If any user searches for “blue running shoes”, your ad will only appear when someone searches for that exact phrase. It won’t appear for searches like “running shoes in blue” or “best blue shoes for running”.
Negative Match Keyword
These keywords are those keywords which prevent your ads from appearing in search results that contain that word or phrase.
These keywords don’t match to variants like misspellings, reordered words, or same meaning terms.
Example: If you add “free” as a negative keyword, your ad won’t show for any search containing the term “free”.
Steps To Research Keyword
Step 1: Define Your Goal
Why it matters: Having clear goals ensures your keyword research aligns with your broader strategy. Are you driving traffic, increasing conversations, or creating informative content?
How to do it: Identify your audience’s needs and how your product or content meets them.
Specify your target geography (local, national, or global).
Example: If you’re a local bakery, your goal might be to target “best bakery near me” instead of broader terms like “bread recipes”.
2. Brainstorm Seed Keywords
Start with general terms or phrase related to your niche or industry. Think about what users might search for to find your product, service or content.
Use tools like Google Autocomplete or a thesaurus to expand your ideas.
3.Use Keyword Research Tools
Leverage tools to find relevant keywords and gather insights, such as:
Free Tools: Google Keyword Planner, AnswerThePublic, Ubersuggest
Paid Tools: SEMrush, Ahrefs, MOZ, Keyword Explorer.
Platforms - Specific Tools: YouTube Keyword Tool, Amazon Search.
4.Analyze Search Intent
Understand why users are searching for a term ( Eg: Informational, Navigational, Transactional, or Commercial intent ).
Choose Keywords that align with the type of content you plan to create.
5.Evaluate Metrics
Search Volume: The number of monthly searches for a keyword.
Competition Level: How difficult it is to rank for the keyword.
CPC (Cost-Per-Click): Useful for evaluating PPC potential.
Keyword Difficulty: Provided by tools to measure ranking difficulty.
Balance between high volume and lower competition.
6.Study Competitors
Analyze competitors’ websites to identify their target keywords. Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to discover which keywords competitors rank for. Explore gaps in their strategy that you can target.
7.Expand with Long-Tail Keywords
Focus on specific, lower-competition phrases (e.g., "how to bake gluten-free bread" instead of "bread recipes").
Long-tail keywords often have better conversion rates due to more specific intent.
8.Group and Prioritize Keywords
Organize keywords into clusters based on relevance or topic.
Prioritize keywords based on relevance to your audience and business goals.
9.Validate with Real Data
Test selected keywords in campaigns or content to measure performance.
Use Google Search Console or analytics tools to monitor organic search results.
10. Continuously Optimize
Regularly revisit and refine your keyword strategy.
Monitor trends and seasonal changes in search behavior.
Stay updated with search engine algorithm updates.
Conclusion
Keyword research, using instruments such as Google Keyword Planner, Google Ads Keyword Planner, among other tools from Google, is critical in enhancing SEO and tailoring a well-structured campaign. Free tools- Google Keyword Planner Tool, and more particularly best free keyword research tools- aid businesses in finding new keywords and checking the trends in search to refine strategies.
It involves using tools like the Google Ads keyword generator, ads.google.com keyword planner, and SEO keyword planner for specific targeting along with optimized content. This means regularly searching the adword & SEO keyword permutation generator in order to remain competitive and notice the best ways an opportunity would fetch better ROI.
Keyword research is essential in helping someone understand their audience's intention and improving and enforcing better activities concerning digital marketing.
