Content Hack: Here’s How to Do Keyword Research and Find Blog Ideas at the Same Time

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Tips on How to Research Keywords
• How to do Content marketing Keyword Analysis
• What are Longtail Keywords and How to Include them in Your Blog Strategy?
• Key Takeaways
• FAQs

Are you new to content marketing and wondering how to do content marketing keyword research using free tools and hacks? 

Keyword research is considered an essential skill for content marketing these days. You need to know how to develop the best keyword list and use keyword research tools effectively to find the right blog ideas and topics.

So, how to do keyword research for content marketing? There are plenty of online tools that you can use to conduct your keyword analysis and research without spending a penny. 

Here are a few points to remember while doing proper blog keyword research for your content.

Tips on How to do Keyword Research for Content Marketing

Proper blog keyword research is the starting point for SEO copywriting. By doing this, you make sure that you are always putting forth topics that people are looking for and optimizing your blog posts in a way that ranks high. 

Let’s now look at some effective tips and techniques on how to do content marketing keyword research.

1. Perform competitor blog keyword research

First things first. Find out the specific keywords your competitors are ranked for. There are quite a few free tools like the Moz Keyword Explorer that you can use to conduct your searches. Using tools like these can help you target the exact keywords that your competitors are using. Another great technique is to use the data to search for keywords that your competitors are not targeting. As Christine Kilbride of Majux Marketing puts it, “Try to find content gaps.” So, if you try and answer questions that your competitors aren’t, you’ll be able to drive in the traffic they have overlooked.

2. Begin with broad searches to find specific keyword ideas

Another tip regarding how to do content marketing keyword research involves using free keyword research tools to opt for broad searches. Using these tools, you can enter the domain of broad keywords related to your brand, service, or product. Once you get a list of related keywords, scroll through the list and look for keywords to be turned into blog posts. 

For example, ‘kitchen cabinet’ might be an excellent keyword for ‘kitchen cabinet design ideas.

3. First, have an idea, then search keywords

There are times when you may already have ideas for blog posts, but you’re looking for target keywords. The Keywords Everywhere browser extension is a great free tool you can use for blog keyword research. All you need to do is type your keyword for a topic into Google Search, and the tool will tell you if the keyword has any search volume. If your result is negative, the tool will give you a list of related keywords to use. You can also use the free tools that are provided by Google Search. Type in a keyword into Google Search and look up the suggestions that are displayed.

4. Know questions people are asking

No matter how amazing Google is at giving out the correct information, it doesn’t answer all your questions. When people do not find what they are looking for, they often turn to online forums such as Quora and Reddit to get answers. AnswerThePublic is a tool where you can type a broad keyword, and the tool will give you a diagram with different questions that people type into search engines.

Knowing what questions people are asking is a great way of finding your keyword and blog ideas. Finding secondary keywords to target and expand your content marketing strategies can also help. This is an interesting tip for conducting content marketing keyword research. 

5. Use Amazon for keyword search

Just like Google Search, Amazon is another excellent way in which you can search for keyword ideas. Amazon’s search bar produces a comprehensive list of queries. By entering your keyword and looking for frequently asked questions and searches, you can find all types of information and terms that can help you come up with your blog post and do content marketing keyword research.

6. Check Google Trends for trending topics

Using Google Trends for keyword research is also recommended when searching for tips on how to do content marketing keyword research. It’s essential to determine the longevity of the selected keyword/s. Google Trends can help you find trending topics and keywords and ensure that a specific keyword’s volume is continuously increasing. The site can also highlight seasonal trends and show if a particular keyword’s usage is high, low, or static. Using Google Trends, you can refine your searches to find out the use of a keyword in specific regions and timeframes.

7. Find keywords you’re already ranking for

Google Search Console is another excellent tool regarding how to do keyword research for blog. It’s a great technique that you can use to find new keyword ideas for your blog posts. To find keywords you are already ranking for, you can open Google Search Console and click on the Performance tab. Scroll down, and you will be able to see a list of all the keywords your website is currently ranking for, including the search volumes. You can use this list to uncover new keywords to target and find new blog topics and ideas. Using this data, you can also look for old blog posts that you need to update.

Source

8. Use Google Analytics

Do you have a search function on your website? If you do, you can use Google Analytics to find out what people are searching for on your website. You can discover things that people are searching for, but you haven’t covered those yet. Google Analytics provides a list of all the keywords people have searched for using your website’s search bar. You can then review the data and look up searches and find gaps in your content. Using this information, you can write blog posts that target those specific keywords and address unanswered questions.

How to do Content Marketing Keyword Analysis

Once you have used the tips mentioned above, you now have a list of keywords to target for your blog posts. However, it would help to analyze each of those keywords to determine how well you will rank for that keyword. Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you begin writing your content.

1. Is this keyword relevant?

Yes, this is an important question because sometimes, it is easy to assume that a particular keyword is related to your topic. But if people are not on the same page, your content will never rank high.

2. Is there a better niche-related keyword to target?

Niche-related keywords are a popular business strategy that works well when selecting keywords to target. Hence, find niche keywords and terms to target your audience. Start with long-tail keywords that you think people might use when looking for your product.

3. Does your keyword have a purchase intent?

While many content marketers say that it’s good to target long-tail, low-volume keywords, there are some situations where you may want to consider doing otherwise. Check cost-per-click (CPC) for the keywords you are considering. Also, look for keywords that have a low search volume but very high CPCs.

What are Longtail Keywords and How to Include them in Your Blog Strategy?

Before integrating long-tail keywords or LSI keywords into your blog, you need to nail some basics.

What are long-tail keywords?

Long-tail keywords are highly targeted search phrases that aren’t as competitive as generic phrases with high search volume. As they have less competition, they are easier to rank for. Furthermore, these keywords bring in higher conversion rates. This is simply because the people searching for these phrases are looking for something extremely specific and giving them exactly what they want – no-nonsense – you can gain trust by delivering pure value. Often these are also LSI keywords (latent semantic keywords). 

How to include longtail keywords in your blog strategy?

1. Create buyer personas to understand user intent and identify keyword opportunities around it. 
2. Start with keyword clusters. For each keyword, select at least 5-10 related keywords and create blogs around those keywords. 
3. Create a content pillar page targeting head keywords with higher competition and interlink the blogs with LSI keywords.
4. Promote the blogs with long-tail keywords only when they start gaining organic traction instead of right after publishing. 
5. Boost retention by adding a pop-up or CTA to drive the visitors towards the next step. 

These are some of the valuable tips you can follow when doing keyword research. However, before you begin, make sure you have a foolproof plan in place.

Key Takeaways

Key takeaways on how to use keyword research for content marketing:

• Give your audience what they are looking for. Understand user intent. 
• Begin with keywords that most people are searching online for you blog keyword research.
• Move on to highly targeted keywords with fewer (but significant) search volumes with high conversion rates.
• Keep an eye on the competition. Answer questions that your competitors aren’t. 
• Start from a narrow niche and then diversify from what’s working. 
• Stay relevant and on top of trends by including blogs on hot topics. 
• Optimize for both search engines and human readers for content marketing keyword research. 
• Monitor your content and keywords on Google Analytics and Search Console. Use Google Tag Manager on your website for a more advanced approach to nail down what exactly works with your customers. 

This is all you need to know on how to do proper content marketing keyword research, and how to generate blog ideas for a consistent inbound stream of customers.

FAQs