How to Do SEO Keyword Research (2024 Update)

Introduction

This tutorial will guide you through the essential process of SEO keyword research, as outlined by Nathan Gotch in his 2024 update. Conducting effective keyword research is crucial for your SEO strategy, as it helps you identify the right keywords that align with your business goals and have the potential to drive traffic. This step-by-step guide will help you build a solid keyword database efficiently.

Step 1: Gather Existing Keywords

Start by collecting the keywords that your website is currently ranking for.

• Use a paid tool like SEMrush:

  • Enter your domain in the search bar.
  • Navigate to "Organic Research" and then "Positions."
  • Export your entire keyword profile.

• Alternatively, use Google Search Console:

  • Check the keywords your site ranks for over the last 12 months.
  • Export these keywords to add to your database.

Step 2: Organize Your Keyword Data

Once you have your keywords, it's time to organize them for better analysis.

• Freeze the top row of your spreadsheet for easy navigation.
• Add a filter to sort keywords based on their current ranking position.

Step 3: Categorize Your Keywords

Categorization will help prioritize your keywords based on their ranking positions.

• Create a new column titled "Category."
• Classify keywords into the following categories:
  • Low Hanging Fruit: Positions 2 to 15
  • Existing Keywords: Positions 16 to 50
  • Clustering Opportunities: Positions 51 to 100

Step 4: Prioritize Low Hanging Fruits

Focus on keywords that can easily be moved up in rankings for greater traffic potential.

• Identify and highlight keywords in the "Low Hanging Fruit" category.
• Moving from position 2 to 1 can significantly increase click-through rates (CTR).

Step 5: Filter Out Unwanted Keywords

To refine your list, exclude keywords that are not worth targeting.

• Remove navigational keywords, as they often target branded searches and are difficult to rank for.
• Filter by keyword difficulty to eliminate overly competitive keywords. Start with a difficulty threshold of 10 or lower to find low-competition opportunities.

Step 6: Assess Keyword Intent

Consider the intent behind each keyword to ensure it aligns with your business objectives.

• Classify keywords based on intent:
  • Transactional (high conversion potential)
  • Commercial (general interest)
  • Informational (low conversion potential)

Assign values to these intents to help prioritize your efforts:

• Transactional: 3 points
• Commercial: 2 points
• Informational: 1 point

Step 7: Evaluate Relevance and Competition

Identify how relevant each keyword is to your offerings and its competition level.

• Add a "Relevance" column to score the keywords based on how aligned they are with your business.
• Combine the scores from keyword intent and relevance to create a cumulative score for prioritization.

Step 8: Highlight Target Keywords

Narrow down your focus to a manageable set of keywords.

• Highlight keywords that you want to target based on your scoring system.
• Aim for a final list of 50 to 100 keywords to optimize for.

Step 9: Find New Keywords

Explore additional methods to discover new keyword opportunities.

• Use the "Keyword Gap" feature in SEMrush:

  • Compare your site with competitors to find untapped keywords.
  • Filter results to find keywords in the top 10 rankings.

• Explore user-generated content platforms (like Reddit) to discover emerging topics and trends.

Conclusion

Effective SEO keyword research is a structured process that requires careful planning and execution. By gathering existing keywords, categorizing them, assessing their intent and relevance, and finding new opportunities, you can create a focused keyword strategy that maximizes your chances of ranking well and driving traffic. Remember, the key is to start with a narrow focus and gradually expand your keyword database as you achieve results. Happy optimizing!