The core of successful SEO strategy is your right use of keywords. Here in this guide, you will know what phrases to use which your target audience might be looking for in search engines and make your content more visible to the audience in search engines.
In this guide, you will learn:
- Different keyword research tools and techniques.
- How to analyze keyword search volume and competition level.
- How to determine your target audience’s search intent.
- How do you map your existing content to your keywords?
- How to optimize and sustain your keyword research.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced SEO professional, the information in this guide will help you improve your keyword research and boost your search engine rankings.
Not specifically for whether you’ve learnt to use keywords or whether you’re a well known SEO pro, It doesn’t matter. What this guide will do is help you improve your keyword research and as a result, your web pages will rank higher on the results list of search engines.
Not specifically for whether you’ve learnt to use keywords or whether you’re a well known SEO pro, It doesn’t matter. What this guide will do is help you improve your keyword research and as a result, your web pages will rank higher on the results list of search engines.
Whether you are an amateur in this area or an experienced SEO practitioner, you will benefit from the fact that most things in the section will expedite your keyword research and increase your chances of getting a high search engine ranking.
If you’re a beginner or an experienced professional in SEO, the tips shared in this guide will help you to get the best out of your keyword research and improve your odds of coming on top in search engine rankings.
Whether you are a beginner or an SEO master, this guide’s content will improve your keyword research and put you in the search engine rankings.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Starting Guide for Keyword Research in SEO
Despite all the alterations of SEO methods used to date, keyword research remains one of the basic SEO functions.
When it comes to the degree of jobs, SEO professionals, from beginner to experienced, especially for a new site (or any site competing or looking to expand their search ranking), will still mostly conduct the keyword research form.
Therefore, the skill of doing SEO keyword research and analysis is one of the skills that are highly likely to be in demand, if not the most desired.
What is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is the process of analyzing and finding out the most important keyword or words that have direct relation with the target website. In short, it is about discovering the exact terms people cherish and the terms they need to be present for – the lowest tag people seek for and the term they are searching for.
When conducted skillfully, keyword research provides you with a list of keywords that guide your content creation. It helps you identify the questions you should address and the topics you should write articles on for your website, ensuring your content aligns with what your audience is searching for.
The competition analysis is also closely connected with the keyword research, which means that both of them should be conducted simultaneously and in regards to each other. In your studies, you could come across the factual things your online competitors are ranking for and you are not; this helps you shape your strategy and the way you run the business.
This manual is for you if you need to know all the things about keyword research and to pebble the way to SEO in depth.
Why is Keyword Research Important?
Keyword research enables you to understand the specific terms people use to solve their problems and the context behind these terms.
It’s crucial to conduct keyword research to eliminate any misunderstandings or assumptions about your users’ needs and the language they use.
Keyword research informs your content optimizations at every step.
Keyword Research Process
Good keyword research follows a regular process, helping to achieve all the above goals through a series of steps.
However, this is not a one-time process. You will need to repeat these steps continuously.
Why? Because your market situation will change over time.
Some changes that may require new keyword research include:
- Changing needs or desires of your target consumers.
- New queries or terms used by searchers to find what they are looking for have yet to emerge before.
- The market is becoming saturated with new competitors.
- Changes in search engine algorithms or search features.
- And more. Make keyword research a regular habit for good SEO health and growth.
Although there are many legitimate approaches to keyword research, this guide will follow these steps:
- Analyze current keywords.
- Define your goals.
- Create your “wish list” of keywords.
- Evaluate the competitive landscape.
- Broaden your keyword horizon.
- Prioritize investments based on opportunities. Note: The remainder of the section is written from the perspective of a business website trying to sell products or services to potential customers. However, the fundamental principles also apply to non-commercial sites. Substitute your cause, passion, or interest for products and services.
In conclusion, if you’re looking for organic search traffic, you’re still trying to “sell” something!
Step 1: Analyze Current Keywords
If you already have keywords you’re trying to rank for, you should start here. If you’re starting from scratch, move on to Step 2.
If you’re taking over or working on a site that’s been around for a while, you likely have some keywords in mind that you’re trying to rank for.
The first thing you need to do is list these keywords and run an analysis to see how they’re performing.
You’ll probably need a paid tool to analyze significant applications, but there are many free ranking tracking tools available for a more basic site.
If your list of keywords is relatively tiny, you can search for them on Google to see their current rankings (though this won’t give you any ranking history).
Look at the ranking history and search volume for these keywords from the tool you’ve chosen.
Then, use Google Search Console to determine what keywords your site is currently ranking for (if any).
The goal at this stage is to establish a baseline for keyword performance. You can use this as a foundation to expand your keyword universe in the following steps.
Using the metrics you’ve gathered from your current keywords, separate the well-performing keywords from the weak but valuable ones.
Weak but valuable keywords are those with sufficient search volume and impressions but lower rankings and/or click-through rates. Set these keywords aside to add to the list you’ll develop in the following steps.
Along with new keywords, you’ll discover in your upcoming keyword research. These will become your guide for all subsequent SEO work (at least for things like content optimization and link building).
At this step, you aim to establish a baseline for keyword performance, which you can use to expand your keyword universe in the following steps.
Step 2: Define Your Goals
You might think you’re ready to start the actual keyword research now.
However, without carefully crafted goals – specific business and brand needs you want to achieve through organic traffic – this effort will be in vain.
Do you know why this is important? Because these goals will give you a sense of direction in your research.
Keyword research often reveals keywords you could rank for, but if those keywords don’t attract visitors who could solve the needs specified in your goals, the effort spent trying to rank for them won’t be worth it.
This is the most overlooked step in typical keyword research efforts.
Having goals increases your chances of SEO success. Plus, it saves you unnecessary time and effort – and prevents targeting irrelevant terms (so-called vanity keywords) or keywords with low or no return on investment (ROI).
When creating your goals for keyword research, consider asking a few questions:
- Who is our target audience? What are we selling, who is buying it, and why?
- What are we selling, and what is our unique value proposition in the market?
- What are the primary needs and desires of people who become our customers?
- What are their secondary, related needs?
- What do they need to know to decide who to buy from confidently?
Knowing the answers to these questions can help you focus on keywords that are truly important for your business.
Step 3: Create Your Keyword “Wish List”
This step is entirely internal research.
It starts from your mind (or the collective mind of your team if you have one).
Combine the answers to the questions in this step with your experience in your business or industry to list what you think potential customers search for at various stages of their buyer’s journey. What would they search for when trying to learn about the type of things you sell? What would they search for when making an informed decision on whom to buy from? What would they search for when they are ready to purchase the specific things you sell? The purpose of these brainstorming lists is similar to the aim of Step 2: to guide you in deciding what’s essential for your business in your research.
Don’t assume all the keywords coming out of this exercise are indeed valuable. Step 6, among other things, will help you determine this.
Step 4: Evaluate the Competitive Landscape
One of the best sources for finding keywords you need but haven’t ranked for yet is your competitors.
If they have been in the game longer than you, they probably have discovered and capitalized on more opportunities, whether through careful research or by chance.
Many SEO tools will show you the keywords a specific domain ranks for at the top, but you may need to invest in a paid tool for a more in-depth analysis.
Using Google for Competitive Keyword Discovery
We’ll start with the most straightforward and free method of competitive keyword discovery: Google itself.
This method can uncover many opportunities but relies on specific guesses from your side so that it won’t show the full picture.
However, it’s an excellent place to start if you don’t have better tools.
Google is most helpful in identifying who your most significant online competitors are.
Remember, these may not always be your “real-world” competitors (for example, if you and others sell your products in physical stores).
Begin by searching for the products or services you sell and see who consistently appears in the first few results.
For instance, if one of your products is garage door openers:
Skipping the paid ads, it’s clear that Home Depot and Lowes are your top organic search competitors for this product.
If you sell multiple products or services and these two come up repeatedly in searches, add them to your list of top competitors.
Don’t forget to search for alternative names people might use for your products or services.
Then, a Google site search was performed for each competitor domain for every product and alternative name. To do this, type the search term and then site:[domain] (using the competitor’s domain) into Google.
This search tells you what alternative keywords for this product your competitor ranks for on Google.
In the example above, we see Google might show Home Depot’s garage door opener products to people searching for chain-driven garage door openers, belt-driven garage door openers, and 4-car garage door openers. Add all these to your keyword list.
Step 5: Broaden Your Keyword Horizons
While keywords still form the foundation of good SEO, optimizing solely for them will only take you so far.
Google has significantly improved its ability to recognize a topic and all the terms associated with it over the years, so now, each keyword opens a door to its universe of issues.
There are a series of free tools specifically designed to suggest related topics for a particular keyword.
Some of the most popular ones include:
- Answer the Public
- Keyword Explorer
- Keywords Everywhere
- You can find more in the list of free tools on Search Engine Journal.
Most of these tools work by scanning sites that rank at the top of search engines (and sometimes those that rank in the top positions), discovering the search terms and questions most frequently used by searchers for a specific topic or keyword.
As always, some paid tools will provide you with more depth, including terms semantically related to your keywords.
Now, review your expanded list of keywords, select the top-level topics, and then group the remaining keywords under these topics according to their relevance.
This organized list can later guide you in creating nested content that will provide broader topical relevance with search engines.
Step 6: Prioritize Investments Based on Opportunities
This final step isn’t research itself but is a critical bridge in turning your findings into actions that lead to results. In this process, your priority should be the best opportunities, but these should always be weighed against the cost of winning these opportunities.
In other words, a specific keyword might have a high traffic potential, but if it requires much effort to achieve a good ranking or you can’t convert this traffic into one of your business goals, then it might not be worth the cost.
Collect and Rank Metrics
Add all the keywords you’ve collected into a spreadsheet and create columns for fundamental indicators of value and cost, such as:
- Average search volume.
- Impressions.
- Clicks.
- CPC (Cost Per Click) bid price.
While CPC is not an organic search metric, it can be a good indicator of how competitive a keyword is. The higher the CPC, the more competitive it is, and the harder it might be to achieve a good organic position.
Another metric to consider is trends:
- How has this keyword performed over time?
- Is the search volume increasing?
- Has the CPC gone up or down?
If you don’t have a tool that follows such trends, Google Trends can at least give you an idea of how the search interest for a topic has changed over time, though you might not find every keyword there. But don’t prioritize based solely on these metrics. Return to the goals you formulated in Step 2.
Which keywords are most likely to contribute the most to achieving your business goals at every stage of a buyer’s journey?
Match with Your Existing Content
Decide which keywords on your list are related to the content you already have.
By looking at the content that ranks in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) for a keyword, determine how Google views it and what the primary search intent is. Is it:
- Transactional (something people enter when they want to buy)?
- Informational (something people enter when they want to learn more)?
- Local (something people enter when they’re looking for a nearby store or facility)?
- Navigational (something people enter when they know exactly what they want and from whom they want to buy)?
Now, assess how well each piece of content is optimized for the keywords you’ve matched it with and whether this content also aligns with the keyword’s search intent.
If not suitable, plan to enhance that content or create something new that does the job better.
Start Your Keyword Turnaround
Keyword research is an endless process.
Market fluctuations, new competitors, changes in Google, and changes within your business may necessitate further research and prioritization of keywords.
Ongoing keyword research is one of the best ways always to retain your competitive edge. Strengthen this muscle now, keep it regularly exercised, and it will continue to benefit you year after year.
Chapter 2: How to Use Local Keywords to Rank Higher on Google?
Did you know? 76% of people who search on their smartphones for a nearby business visit a business within a day. Moreover, 28% of those searches result in a purchase.
Here lies the power of local SEO and local keyword research. Choosing the right keywords for your business can help you achieve better rankings for competitive keywords related to your product and industry.
Even though local searches might offer lower search volumes, what matters most is the intent and the ready-to-convert traffic. It’s crucial to ensure consumers can easily find your local business on Google and other search engines.
So, how can you find and use keywords to boost your local search ranking? Continue reading to learn.
Local Keyword Research
First, you need to understand which search queries help people find your business. Knowing the keywords you already rank for makes it much easier to optimize your website. Then, you can focus your efforts on other relevant keywords.
For example, if your bakery ranks well for [Lexington bakery], you could work on achieving success in other searches. Shift your attention to ranking for searches like [Lexington boulangerie] or [the best bakery in Lexington].
Improving your search results for related terms can help you reach more potential customers.
What Should You Research?
When conducting local keyword research, use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, etc., to obtain search volume data for your location.
Don’t limit yourself to just your immediate location. Expand your search to include nearby, different places.
For instance, you might broaden your search from [Napa’s finest wineries] to include [Napa food and wine pairing] and [the best wine tours in South America].
While search volume data for specific regions may not seem very significant, these data can provide a reasonable amount of traffic with high purchase intent.
However, don’t stray too far from your actual location.
Additionally, research what steps your competitors have taken to achieve better rankings in local searches. Enter your competitors’ contact page URLs into Google Keyword Planner.
This way, you can learn which keywords Google is likely associating with their businesses. Aim to target these keywords to gain a competitive advantage.
Local Keyword Selection
Google has been working on producing more localized search results. A few years ago, search engines would give the same results to people doing the exact search in Arizona as they would to people in California.
Today, Google adopts a more local-priority approach when ranking search results. It favors businesses with local listings close to the searcher’s location.
This means local businesses can rank higher for very competitive and general queries like [bakery] or [florist] that have local intent.
However, local businesses still face high competition for fewer spots. This is referred to as the “Local Pack.” You can see how it appears on the search engine results pages (SERPs) to the right.
If you aim to secure one of these top three spots, enhancing your local SEO game is a top priority.
Selecting the Right Local Keywords
Having discussed the importance of keywords and the role of search localization, how do you select the right keywords? Here is a three-step approach that can help in your local keyword research:
1. Leverage Industry Keywords
Your goal is to identify commonly used phrases people will use to search for your business.
The first step is to determine the words or phrases people use to describe your products or services.
Put yourself in their shoes. Think about what they would type into search engines to find a business like yours.
Create a list of local keywords and phrases suitable for your industry and brainstorm.
This list will form the foundation of your primary keyword research.
For example, as a bakery, your list might include:
- Baguette bread.
- Wedding cakes.
- Pastries.
- Desserts.
2. Use Keyword Modifiers
The next step in finding the right local keywords is to develop modifiers that people will use in their searches.
Modifiers can be words that describe an event, a quality, a type of product, or other related words.
For example, words like:
- Weddings.
- Best.
- Lilies.
- Same-day delivery.
For a flower shop, this could mean targeting keywords like funeral wreaths, wedding bouquets, exotic flowers, best florists, etc.
3. Research Local Keywords
You can identify keywords specific to your geographical location for your local SEO.
Consider the different locations and areas you serve and where your customers come from.
If you offer a delivery service, include these area names, districts, cities, etc., in your blog posts and site content.
People primarily search for businesses close to them. When selecting these local keywords, take into account where your target audience lives or works.
For example, a florist might target keywords like:
- Best florist in Durham.
- Exotic florists in the RDU area.
- Florist near Hillsboro Road, Durham.
How to Excel in the Local SEO Game
The world of local SEO is constantly evolving, but there are several proven ways to get ahead and secure the top spot.
Here are some tips for getting ahead:
1. Google My Business Page
The importance of setting up a Google My Business listing must be balanced. Local businesses can use Google My Business to enhance their location-based SEO strategies.
Moreover, Google uses Google My Business information for its Google Knowledge Graph. The data stored in Google My Business helps improve local search results.
2. Local-Focused Content
Long-form, city-based, and informative content is an absolute must.
Content can take the form of local promotions, news, and industry trends, depending on your industry and niche.
The key is to write helpful content that local people are searching for.
3. Citations
Links and brand mentions are one of the fundamental components of any SEO strategy. Both links and mentions lend legitimacy to your local business when people talk about you in their content.
Local directories like Yelp, Google Listings, or even the local chamber of commerce can help build a solid local link profile.
Brand mentions on Yelp, Google Maps, Facebook, and high-quality websites also provide strong SEO signals.
4. Reviews
88% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from peers.
While wanting more positive reviews, the real challenge is obtaining them. Encourage your customers to share their experiences with your business.
5. Result Tracking
As with any marketing strategy, an essential part of the process is tracking your results. Without monitoring your results, you can’t know if any of your efforts are working.
Track whether the keywords you’re targeting are improving your local ranking. Many SEO tools allow you to monitor “local” keywords precisely.
Keyword Research: Fundamental Principles
Keyword research should be at the core of your marketing strategy.
Done correctly, it will reveal essential information about your target market, such as:
- What keywords are people currently searching for?
- How many people are searching for them?
- Which format resonates best with your target audience?
- How are your competitors attracting potential customers to their websites?
There are five fundamental steps to supporting an effective keyword research strategy:
1. Ask Plenty of Questions
Imagine you own an ice cream company. Among others, you’d want to find answers to the following questions:
- Which types of ice cream are people searching for?
- Who (which demographics) are searching for these terms?
- When during the year do people search for ice cream (i.e., is this influenced by seasonality)?
- How do people search (mobile vs desktop)?
- What words do they use?
- What questions do they ask?
- Are there any other significant factors influencing searches (e.g., are they looking for non-dairy, low-sugar, or high-protein products)?
- Where are your potential customers located?
2. Use the Answers to Fill Gaps in Your Strategy
The answers to these questions will clearly indicate where you can improve your existing keyword strategy.
For example, you might discover a surprisingly high number of searches for ice cream during the winter months. Further research might reveal that searchers often look for delicious recipes combining ice cream with hearty winter desserts like Christmas pudding or praline.
As a result, you decide to publish more recipe-based content during the winter months to attract these less-targeted but high-volume searchers.
3. Discover New Keywords
Once you’ve filled the gaps in your existing strategy, it’s time to search for new keywords for which you can rank.
Enter common keywords into your keyword research tool and explore popular yet similar, relevant alternatives in your search.
Tip: Opt for a mix of high and low-ranking keywords here. While high-ranking keywords are great for traffic, they are very competitive, and less competitive alternatives may attract less traffic.
4. Pay Special Attention to Long-Tail Keywords
Short-tail keywords typically rank higher than their long-tail counterparts. Which do you think gets more daily searches: “running shoes” or “women’s size 36 running shoes”?
However, fewer searches aren’t necessarily a bad thing.
Short-tail keywords are often vague – it’s hard to determine the exact intent of a searcher who just types in “running shoes.”
If you’re targeting “running shoes,” you’re likely casting your net too wide.
For instance, if you specialize in orthotic running shoes for children with specific medical needs, you might inadvertently attract adult runners looking for medically unoptimized running shoes.
The goal of SEO isn’t just to attract visitors. The real aim is to attract the exemplary visitors.
Long-tail keywords allow you to focus on searchers who genuinely align with the search intent you’re catering to rather than drawing in general searchers who are unlikely to purchase from you.
5. Check Out What Your Competitors Are Doing
Your keyword research will create a plethora of potential keywords for which you can rank. However, it’s also a good idea to see which keywords your competitors are ranking for.
For instance, there might be some high-volume keywords that your competitors are not currently ranking for – thus, you can create specially targeted content to capitalize on these opportunities.
You may also target keywords that your competitors are already ranking for. This is a more aggressive strategy, but if played right, the benefits can be substantial – you could effectively “steal” searchers they worked hard to attract in the first place.
There are several ways to analyze your competitors’ keywords:
- Use paid SEO tools: Tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs can show you the keywords your competitors are ranking for and allow you to track their rankings over time.
- Use Google Search Console: The “Performance” tab in Google Search Console shows which keywords are driving traffic to your site. You can add your competitors’ websites here as well to see where they are ranking better than you.
- Conduct manual searches: You can manually search your competitors’ websites for your main keywords to see which keywords they rank for.
After analyzing your competitors’ keywords, you can:
- Expand the keywords you’re targeting: Identify keywords your competitors rank for but you do not. You can create new content to target these keywords.
- Improve your rankings: Identify keywords for which you already rank but where your competitors rank better. Optimize your content and SEO strategy to improve your rankings for these keywords.
- Exploit your competitors’ gaps: Identify high-volume keywords that your competitors are not ranking for. You can create content to target these keywords.
Conclusion
Keyword research is a fundamental component of SEO. By targeting the right keywords, you can draw more traffic to your website and gain more customers.
Analyzing your competitors’ keywords is a great way to enhance your keyword research and refine your SEO strategy.
Bonus: Keyword research can also be used for your PPC (pay-per-click) ads. By targeting the right keywords, you can ensure more people see your ads and receive more clicks.
Chapter 3: 3 Tips for Keyword Research and Content Localization Success
Sound localization is good SEO. Why? Because localizing and translating your content specifically for your target market undoubtedly helps your audience find your content through organic search results. When they land on your page, it assists them in understanding your products and services and in taking the actions you hope for.
Poorly translated content, i.e., content not crafted with the local audience’s best interest in mind, will struggle more to achieve good visibility in organic search results.
Localization projects can be costly. However, consider the alternative: a cheap, poorly translated website. The outcomes can be disastrous—not just for SEO but also for your business’s future in that market.
Using the Right Word Is Important
Any local keyword research should always be the first step in a localization project.
Using the right word in the localization process helps create a better connection with the local audience, which in turn impacts the success of your business in those markets.
“The right word” doesn’t mean the one with the highest search volume.
It means the word that is commonly used by your target audience in the local market in your industry sector.
For example, the word “analytics” could be translated in Japanese as:
分析 (Bunseki) 分析学 (Bunsekigaku) Both are correct translations in Japanese.
Let’s say you are trying to gain subscriptions for your analytics tool in Japan.
Audiences in the analytics sector wouldn’t have issues with either term.
However, if you are particularly after older, small, to medium-sized business owners, they might not use the term “analytics” in their search queries and might not find your content when searching for tools.
Challenges Faced by Foreign Website Owners
1. Translators
Just because someone is a native speaker doesn’t mean they can write professionally in that language. Not everyone has good writing skills, and adding translation skills into the mix makes finding the right person for the job even harder. Some people resort to using translation software when asked to translate content (this happens more often than you might think).
Companies prefer to use in-house talent, which seems sensible since they often understand the content better. However, the problem remains – they might not be good writers.
From an SEO perspective, it’s concerning that neither the translator nor the in-house personnel may understand SEO. Especially when someone is talented in writing and gets very creative in localization work, sentences can be entirely rewritten, which may contradict best practices for content optimization.
2. Translation Project
Translation projects are often conducted independently. SEO and other teams rarely provide the necessary input to create content optimized with the right keywords.
Some companies have an in-house team to review and edit content translated by an external agency.
If a company is interested in optimizing content, content optimization is usually done by the local team with some quick keyword research.
While it may take longer for the content to be published on the local site finally, this is a more sensible process for many businesses.
3. Local Content Maintenance
Unfortunately, another common challenge is maintaining local content.
After content is initially translated and localized with some keyword research, it’s often left as is and never updated – even though the content is constantly being refreshed and new pages are added on the leading site.
The interests of searchers and their search terms can change astonishingly quickly, and the words on the site and even the content itself need to be updated.
Changes can come quickly and suddenly, even for traditional businesses, as many companies learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local businesses that can adapt to such changes promptly may update existing content or add new content to the site. This is one of the biggest challenges for foreign companies in retaining competition in other markets.
4. Lack of Cultural Awareness
Sometimes, a company hires a translator to translate content and needs to be made aware that the content may be inappropriate or offensive in the local market. A lack of cultural awareness can lead to making a significant mistake and damaging your brand.
5. Technical Challenges
Technical SEO is a factor often overlooked in localization projects.
Technical SEO elements include items like URLs, meta tags, site maps, and the robots.txt file. These elements can affect how your site is indexed and ranked by search engines.
If you ignore technical SEO, all your efforts could be in vain, and your target audience may not find you.
Tips for Successful Localization
1. Build the Right Team
A successful localization project requires a team composed of individuals with diverse skills. Your team should include:
- Translators
- Local marketing experts
- SEO specialists
- Software developers
2. Know Your Target Audience
Understanding who your target audience is and what they are interested in is crucial. This will ensure that your content and marketing messages resonate with them.
3. Gain Cultural Awareness
Take time to learn about the culture of your target market. This will ensure that your content is appropriate and respectful.
4. Don’t Overlook Technical SEO
Technical SEO is very important for the success of your localization project. Make sure you understand the basics of technical SEO and incorporate them into your project.
5. Monitor and Optimize Continuously
Don’t forget that your localization project doesn’t end once it’s completed. You need to continuously monitor and optimize your content and marketing strategy to meet the needs of your target audience and the algorithms of search engines.
Conclusion
Localization is a crucial strategy for success in the global market. Done correctly, it can help you connect with your target audience, build your brand, and increase your sales.
Creating a successful localization project requires an investment of time, effort, and resources. However, the long-term benefits are worth the investment.
Tips for Success in Keyword Research and Content Localization
1. Create a Translation/Localization Process that Includes Keyword Research and SEO
Although SEO should not be the sole responsibility of translators or content editors, having some SEO knowledge can facilitate the creation of well-performing local sites. Develop SEO guidelines that they can follow.
2. Continuously Monitor Website Performance
Monitor the performance of the local site after launch. Address issues quickly as they are identified. If pages are not ranking well, review content optimization. If pages rank well but receive little traffic or conversions, examine the translation/messaging and user experience aspects. Ensure that forms and other conversion points work correctly in the local language in the local market.
3. Communicate with Local Team and Contact Points
Stay in continuous communication with other contact points, such as the local team and sales representatives, and find out if they notice any changes in regional interests. Ask if the content on the site needs to be updated or replaced. Perhaps they have seen recent activities from local competitors. Please encourage them to provide feedback that could help grow the business in their markets.
Key Points
Integrating localization, SEO, and content creation into a coordinated workflow is critically essential. The quicker this happens, the sooner you will achieve greater efficiency and performance. This collaborative process ensures that the entire business understands the needs and desires of consumers, fostering product innovation, content engagement, and conversion enhancement.
Chapter 4: Free and Best Keyword Research Tools
In terms of SEO, keyword research is a crucial foundational step. It’s easy to overlook keyword research in favor of the “write great content” strategy. However, the flaw in this approach is that “great content” does not differentiate between people at different stages of the buyer’s journey. Keywords do.
You need to know what people are searching for and how they are searching for it. For example, one of the first stages of the buyer’s journey is seeking information. People type queries into search engines using phrases like “how to,” “ways to,” and “guide.”
As a person gets closer to buying (or converting), the usage of specific keywords changes. For instance, keywords including “where to buy,” “discount,” and “sale” indicate a searcher who is no longer in the evaluation phase – they’re ready to purchase.
Coming from the world’s largest search engine, Google Ads Keyword Planner tends to be the first tool people think of for keyword research. However, Google limits the amount of helpful keyword data it provides. It’s not specific enough for strategic action.
Moreover, this keyword data is in many ways irrelevant to ranking in relevant organic searches, mainly as it refers to paid advertisement data.
Fortunately, there are many other excellent keyword research tools available on the market, some free and some paid. This list includes some of the most unique and free keyword research tool alternatives – ideal if you’re stuck or have specific conditions that require more than the most well-known options.
TagCrowd
An essential part of proper keyword research involves analyzing your competitors’ content.
Although tools like Semrush and Ahrefs facilitate this process, these popular options come with a hefty price tag even for their most basic plans: about $100/month.
Especially for those whose business is not primarily based on SEO, this expense may not be justifiable. If you’re not already using any of these tools and are looking for a free alternative, consider TagCrowd.
The idea behind TagCrowd is simple: it allows you to visualize word frequency by creating word/text/tag clouds.
Seeing the most frequently used keywords on a page through a competitor’s TagCrowd can help you understand their keyword strategies – without the need for expensive tools.
Using TagCrowd is quite straightforward. There are multiple ways to add and analyze content: upload a file, paste a web page URL, or paste page text.
Keywords Everywhere
Keywords Everywhere is a free browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that gathers data from over 15 popular keyword tools, including Ubersuggest, Answer the Public, Google Search, Google Analytics, and Search Console, among others.
When you enter a search query on Google, Keywords Everywhere shows you some basic but useful information, such as Google keyword search volume and cost per click data.
Keywords Everywhere gathers data from multiple sources, making it easy for you to access the most relevant information – you can download the data in PDF, Excel, or CSV file formats.
Merchant Words
If you have an Amazon store, Merchant Words is an excellent tool for keyword research.
Merchant Words collects data from over a billion genuine Amazon searches worldwide. All keyword data comes directly from customer searches, from the Amazon search bar.
Using a special algorithm that takes into account on-site Amazon traffic, search ranking, and current and past search trends, it calculates volume.
You can try Merchant Words with a limited number of keywords for free.
The paid version starts at $35/month for US data, and if you’re targeting a global audience, it’s $149/month. The price includes unlimited searches, CSV downloads, and 24/7 customer support.
Pinterest Keyword Tool
At first glance, this tool might seem a bit spammy. To be honest, PinterestKeywordTool doesn’t provide many useful keyword data, especially in terms of search volume or ranking difficulty.
What it can tell you is whether a keyword is popular on Pinterest and if there are other long-tail keywords you should consider.
Keyword.Guru
Keyword.Guru brings together results from the top search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) and e-commerce sites (Amazon, eBay).
As you start typing, it presents results based on what people are searching for in real-time.
Keyword.Guru doesn’t show keyword search volume information, but it does show you the most common seed keyword searches.
Using these real search results, you can deduce which keyword phrases are most frequently used.
Keyword Shitter
You don’t need to be a genius to understand what Keyword Shitter does: it endlessly spews out keywords.
The program operates by extracting queries from Google Autocomplete. To be realistic, if you don’t want so many keyword suggestions, you can narrow down the results by adding positive and/or negative filters.
Google Search Data
Is this suggestion unique? It depends on your awareness level of the free keyword research tools available. However, many forget the wealth of data accessible without leaving Google.
There are three Google search features that can help enrich your topics and article structure.
- AutoComplete: Google AutoComplete offers search suggestions containing various long-tail versions of your main keyword, based on real user data.
- People Also Ask: Similar to AutoComplete, but instead of focusing on long-tail versions of your keyword, it shares questions people ask related to your keyword. These often make great subheadings and featured snippet ideas.
- Related Searches: “Related searches” display entities not exactly containing the words you typed as the main keyword but are semantically related. They represent related topics that might make sense to address in your article according to what users want to learn.
AlsoAsked
A free keyword research tool focused on Google’s “People Also Ask” data.
- Helps optimize your content and marketing strategy.
- Allows a better understanding of what your audience is searching for.
- Provides an additional perspective for your keyword research.
Features:
- Visualizes relationships between topics.
- Allows data download as .CSV or .PNG files.
- Similar to AnswerThePublic but focuses on “People Also Ask” data, whereas AnswerThePublic focuses on AutoComplete data.
StoryBase
A premium keyword research tool focused on the finer details around search intent and searcher demographics.
- Helps create more relevant and high-converting content.
- Allows a better understanding of your target audience.
- Assists in optimizing your marketing strategy.
Features:
- Analyzes search intent and searcher demographics.
- Offers content analysis tools like keyword performance and heat maps.
- Helps brands connect with their ideal target audiences.
Google Trends
A free Google tool that allows tracking keyword trends over different time frames and regions.
- Shows which keywords are popular and how they change over time.
- Helps understand what your target audience is searching for.
- Assists in optimizing your content and marketing strategy.
Features:
- Visualizes trends in keyword search volume.
- Allows comparison of trends across different regions and languages.
- Discovers related keywords and topics.
- Shows how trends change over time.
Google Keyword Planner
A free Google tool that facilitates keyword research for Google Ads advertisements.
- Helps choose the most suitable keywords for your ads.
- Assists in optimizing your ad budget.
- Shows how competitive it is.
Features:
- Displays search volume and cost per click (CPC) for keywords.
- Shows competition level.
- Suggests related keywords and ad groups.
Keywordtool.io
Keywordtool.io is a free tool that offers keyword suggestions for Google, Bing, and YouTube.
- Helps you discover more keywords.
- Assists in tracking the performance of your keywords.
- Helps optimize your content and marketing strategy.
Features:
- Provides hundreds of suggestions for keywords.
- Shows data such as search volume, CPC, and competition level.
- Helps you transform keywords into long-tail keywords.
Soovle
Soovle is a free tool offering keyword suggestions for Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon, and YouTube, allowing you to see which keywords are popular across different search engines.
- Shows which keywords are popular across different search engines.
- Helps better understand what your target audience is searching for.
- Assists in optimizing your content and marketing strategy.
Features:
- Offers keyword suggestions from different search engines.
- Automatically completes search suggestions.
- Allows you to discover related keywords and topics.
Keyworddit
Keyworddit is a Reddit keyword research tool. It provides an opportunity to optimize your keyword research in terms of connecting with your target audience.
- Helps better understand the interests and needs of your target audience.
- Assists in creating more relevant and engaging content.
- Aids in more effective marketing on Reddit.
Features:
- Helps extract keywords from subreddits.
- Allows you to see what your target audience is talking about.
- Facilitates entry into Reddit marketing.
Using Keyworddit for the keyword “SEO,” you can find subreddits talking about “SEO” and extract the most frequently used keywords within those subreddits.
