You’re just starting out with your new website, blog, or business and don’t know where to begin with keyword research. We get it, diving into keywords and search volume can feel overwhelming. But here’s the good news – with this complete beginner’s guide, you’ll have all the basics covered to start your keyword research off right in 2024. In about 5 minutes, you’ll learn what keywords are, why they matter, and a simple step-by-step process to identify the best ones that will drive traffic to your site. Whether total search volume or difficulty score makes your head spin, we’ll break it down into simple concepts so you can find the best keywords to target.
Keyword Research 101: Understanding the Basics
So you want to dive into keyword research but don’t know where to start. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Keyword research is the foundation for any good SEO or content marketing strategy. By identifying the right keywords and phrases to target, you’ll set yourself up for success.
Let’s start with the basics. Keywords are the words and phrases people search for in Google and other search engines. As a content creator or business owner, you want to determine which keywords your target audience is searching for so you can create content that ranks for those terms. The more targeted traffic you get from the keywords you’re ranking for, the more opportunity you have to gain new readers and customers.
Some things to consider when researching keywords:
•Search volume – The number of monthly searches for a given keyword. Focus on keywords with a high volume of searches that are relevant to your content or business.
•Competition – How hard it will be to rank for a given keyword in the search engines based on how many other web pages are optimized for that keyword. For the best chance of ranking, look for keywords with high search volume and low competition.
•Relevance – Choose keywords that are truly relevant to your content or business. Don’t target a keyword just because it gets a lot of traffic if it’s not aligned with what you offer.
•Location (optional) – You can also research location-based keywords to target users in a specific city, state, or country. Add the location to your keyword, e.g. “dog training Denver”.
•Long-tail keywords – Don’t just focus on short, broad keywords. Long-tail keywords, like questions and phrases 3-5 words or longer, are more specific and often easier to rank for.
•Buying trends – See what kinds of questions people ask about products or services like yours. Their searches may reveal opportunities for content or products.
With the basics under your belt, you’re ready to start researching and optimizing your content. Put in the work now, and you’ll reap the benefits of targeted organic traffic for years to come!
Step-by-Step Guide to Keyword Research in 2024
By 2024, keyword research will likely look quite different. New tools and techniques will emerge, allowing you to find valuable keywords more easily. However, the core principles will remain the same. Follow these steps to conduct effective keyword research in 2024:
1. Determine your goals
First, figure out why you’re doing keyword research and what you hope to achieve. Are you optimizing a blog, researching for a product launch, or something else? Knowing your goals will help guide your research.
2. Find keyword ideas
Use free tools like Google’s Keyword Planner, UberSuggest, and Keyword Explorer to discover new keyword ideas. Look for long-tail keywords, questions, and semantically related terms. Aim for keywords with decent search volume and low difficulty.
3. Analyze the competition
See who ranks for your target keywords and study their content. Look at things like domain authority, content quality, and backlinks. The higher the competition, the more optimized your content will need to be. For low competition keywords, you’ll have an easier time ranking.
4. Choose the best keywords
Pick keywords that match your goals and have a good balance of search volume and low difficulty. Aim for a mix of short-tail (2- to 3-word) and long-tail (4- to 6-word) keyword phrases. Short-tail terms will drive more traffic, while long-tail can be easier to rank for.
5. Track your rankings
Use rank tracking tools to monitor your rankings for target keywords. See which content is ranking well and make optimizations to content that isn’t performing. Over time, you can improve rankings, increase organic traffic, and achieve your keyword research goals.
Keyword research in 2024 may involve some new techniques, but sticking to the essential steps of determining your goals, finding keyword ideas, analyzing the competition, choosing the best keywords, and tracking your rankings will set you up for success. Focus on optimizing for long-tail keywords, creating high quality content, and building backlinks to outrank your competitors.
Beginner Keyword Research Mistakes to Avoid
As a beginner, it’s easy to make mistakes that can derail your keyword research. Avoid these common pitfalls to set yourself up for success:
Going Broad Instead of Niche
It’s tempting to target huge, competitive keywords when you’re first starting out. But broad terms like “make money online” or “ lose weight fast” are difficult to rank for and often low quality. Instead, focus on more specific niche keywords like “SEO consultant services” or “keto diet meal plans”. These have less competition and higher quality traffic.
Not Doing Enough Research
Some beginners only do a quick search for a few related keywords and call it a day. But to find the best keywords, you need to dig deeper. Explore semantic keyword groups, search query suggestions, and keyword research tools. The more you research, the more likely you’ll discover high-potential long tail keywords.
Only Considering Volume
Don’t choose keywords based only on high search volume. Also consider competition, relevance, and intent. A keyword with 100,000 monthly searches may be impossible to rank for, while a 5,000 search volume keyword could drive lots of traffic if you can get to the #1 spot. Focus on keywords that match your content, have reasonable competition, and indicate commercial intent.
Not Optimizing Content
The best keywords in the world won’t help if your content isn’t optimized. Make sure your content focuses on one main keyword, includes it in the title/URL/headers, and has a good keyword density of 3-5% in the copy. Your content also needs to be comprehensive, high quality, and actually helpful for users.
Keyword research is an ongoing learning process, but avoiding these common mistakes will put you on the path to success. Keep researching, stay focused on quality over quantity, and optimize your content, and you’ll be well on your way to ranking higher in search and driving more organic traffic.
Conclusion
So there you have it folks, a complete beginner’s guide to doing keyword research in 2024. You’re now armed with the fundamentals to start finding those golden keywords that will drive traffic and clicks to your site. Don’t get overwhelmed, take it step-by-step. Start broad and narrow down as you dig deeper into tools and data. Set up some tracking so you can monitor performance. And test, test, test through trial and error to see what works. The key is to stay on top of trends and keep researching on a regular basis to keep bringing in visitors. Now you have no more excuses – it’s time to put these keyword skills into action!