Keyword Research Guide: How to Choose and Use Keywords

The obvious outcome of keyword research is high search rankings on Google SERPs (search engine results pages), but it goes so much deeper than this.

Keyword research that’s done right will tell you:

Search intent is the reason for a searcher’s query or the objective they’re trying to accomplish.

When you’re doing keyword research, it’s important to understand the search intent behind the keywords you’re thinking of targeting.

This will help you figure out:

Here, searchers are looking for iPhone repair services rather than ways to fix it themselves.

Type keywords from your niche into Google to see what kinds of results come up ― this will tell you the search intent of the customers you’re targeting.

When doing this, take note of the meta titles of the top-ranking pages.

Try to make your meta title similar to theirs ― but not exactly the same!

For example, if all of the titles have the year “2023” in them, adding 2023 somewhere in your title is a good idea.

These are the four types of search intent:

The search intent for this navigational query is so clear that Google hasn’t even offered any featured questions or ads, because Google knows that you know where you want to go.

There are loads of search metrics that you need to consider when you do keyword research.

Before we dive into how to use them, here are some quick definitions of the main metrics to look out for:

As you can see, the search demand curve is divided into Head, Middle, and Long-tail Keywords — understanding these will help you target keywords strategically.

Let’s look at these three types of keywords and some examples (with metrics obtained from Ubersuggest) of what they might look like.

Google has no idea what the search intent of this word is and the top results include:

The search intent is more clear and Google’s results are mostly places to buy dog food.

Because the search intent is commercial, there are lots of Google Ads in the results.

The results are specific and include dog foods that claim to be good for sensitive stomachs — which matches with the searcher’s intent exactly.

It’s best to focus on all 3 types of keywords, but you’ll need to be strategic about it!

You don’t want to target a head keyword with so much competition that you’ll never rank.

But you also don’t want to target a long-tail keyword that gets no search volume at all.

In the next section, we’ll teach you how to choose keywords wisely so you can avoid these situations and strike the perfect balance.

Placing yourself in your audience's shoes allows you to find all the unanswered questions in your niche.

Do this by getting involved on forums and social networks that your audience uses ― pay attention to what they’re discussing and the questions that they’re asking.

Are there any unanswered questions that you can create content for?

You’ll be ahead of keyword trends by knowing what your audience wants to know about.

The best part is that being ahead of the trends means you’ll have little to no competition.

Clearly, being close to your audience is a great way to find content ideas that speak directly to what they want to know.

This is a great keyword research tool that offers a free plan.

After installation, you’ll see a “K” (the Keywords Everywhere icon) in the top right corner of your browser — meaning that you’re good to go.

Results will appear on your SERPs as well as in the search bar while you type.

Here are some of the insights Keywords Everywhere will tell you:

And, if you type in a specific URL you’ll get insight into:

This tool is the brainchild of online marketing genius Neil Patel.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Patel made Ubersuggest’s free offering even more generous.

Once you’ve installed this extension, an orange “U” will appear in the top right of your browser alongside the Keywords Everywhere icon, “K”.

Now, when you type a search into Google you’ll be able to see:

This is a really easy-to-use tool that offers very basic insights so you can get into the minds of your audience.

Simply go to AnswerThePublic’s website and type your keyword into their search bar.

You’ll get lists (presented as visualizations) of questions, comparisons, and prepositions that contain your keyword.

You’ll also get lists of search queries in alphabetical order and get a list of related searches containing your keyword.

It’s much easier to use if you select “Data” so your results will be presented in list form, rather than visualizations.

You won’t get any search metrics from AnswerThePublic, but it’s a useful place to look for unanswered questions.

This way, you can plug into your audience without having to spend hours hanging out on their social media platforms.

Between these three tools, you should be able to get everything you need for your keyword research.

But, if you’re on the hunt for a little more, we’ve got another tool we think you’d like.

Ahrefs Keyword Explorer is a paid-for keyword research tool that offers a $7 trial that you can use for 7 days.

If you’re not looking to pay more, we think 7 days is plenty of time to create your whole keyword strategy.

You can use Ahrefs to:

Later, we’ll talk about how to gather your keywords in a spreadsheet, but you won’t need to do this with Ahrefs’ table feature.

Ahrefs also tells you:

Put your keywords on a spreadsheet, and input all of the metrics you’ve found along the way.

Seeing these metrics on one page alongside your keywords will help you figure out which ones you need to prioritize, as well as how to group them.

Remember, your website can rank for many different keywords across its pages, so don’t be afraid if you have a diverse set of keywords in your spreadsheet.

Now it’s time to organize your keywords into broad topics.

This is where a good mind map will come in handy.

For example, if your blog is about fishing, you can have broad topics such as:

We can’t leave you without some warnings about things you seriously should not do.

Keyword research is hard work, and making these mistakes can completely ruin your strategy!

Firstly, don’t limit your posts to only target one keyword.

Your chances of ranking will be far lower if you’re only going after one keyword.

Remember, Google SERPs are unpredictable, and you can never be 100% sure that a keyword will rank well ― so don’t put all your eggs in one basket!

Organize them into topics, then into subjects with main and subordinate keywords, and write a post per subject — not keyword.

When you’re looking at keyword metrics you need to know your place.

Choosing keywords with a very high search volume, even if their difficulty is low, would usually be a good strategy.

But newcomers who have not yet built up their domain authority will be squashed by bigger sites also trying to rank for that keyword.

So, if you’ve got a smaller audience, don’t punch above your weight!

Aim for keywords with lower search volume and low keyword difficulty.

Over time your domain will gain authority with Google, and you can get in with the heavyweights!

We’ve saved the most important no-no for last.

Don’t, under any circumstances, partake in keyword stuffing!

We know you’re excited about the great keywords you’ve found using our methods, but remember that less is often more!

Keyword stuffing is when a page is loaded with words and numbers in an attempt to manipulate Google SERPs.

The quality of the posts drops drastically because keywords or keyword phrases are repeated unnaturally.

In other cases, words are listed or popped into a post in an out-of-context manner.

The low-quality content that results from keyword stuffing is the exact opposite of what Google wants to give its searchers.

This can kill your SEO by building a bad reputation with Google ― you’ll have the opposite of domain authority, and your posts will never rank highly.

You should focus on delivering high-quality content that provides loads of value by fulfilling the search intent of your keywords and giving your audience what they want.

Use your keywords throughout, but only where they fit the context!

You can also use similar words or phrases.