When it comes to content creation, one term that you’re likely to hear a lot is “keyword research.” Keyword research is when you take a keyword or phrase and attempt to find out how many people are searching for that term and how difficult it would be to rank for that term in search engines.
But why is keyword research so important? Why should you extensively research keywords before using them in your content?
Let’s take a look at why keyword research is a must for any content marketer.
Why Is Keyword Research Important?
Getting your website to rank in Google is no easy feat. In fact, it’s become increasingly difficult to rank for even moderately competitive keywords because of the intense competition for top keyword rankings.
One way to give your website or blog a better chance of ranking is by including relevant keywords in your content.
But you can’t just pick any old keyword and expect to rank – you need to choose relevant keywords with a good amount of search volume.
After all, a keyword that someone rarely searches for isn’t going to do you much good, no matter how relevant it is to your business.
Likewise, a keyword that gets a ton of searches but isn’t relevant to your business won’t do you any good, either.
That’s why keyword research is so critical – it allows you to find the perfect balance of relevancy and search volume for your keyword phrases.
Once you’ve found these keywords, you can then start incorporating them into your website content, blog posts, social media updates, and more.
This will help you rank better in SERPs while also helping you attract more qualified traffic to your website.
After all, if your target audience is searching for a keyword relevant to your business, they’re more likely to be interested in what you have to offer.
5 Reasons Why Keyword Research Is Important
While we’ve already touched on a few reasons why keyword research is important, let’s take a more in-depth look at why this process is so essential for any business owner or content marketer.
Here are five main reasons why you should start doing keyword research:
- It Helps You Find The Information That Others Are Searching For
A content creator can get the inside scoop on what people are searching for online by conducting keyword research and getting the results of such searches.
This information is vital since it gives content creators an idea of the topics people are interested in and the specific terms they use when searching for such information.
You must create content that is aimed toward the main keywords that people are searching for if you want your website’s content to appear on the top search engine results pages (SERPs).
It is not enough to create content; rather, you must create content that is optimized for the keywords people are entering in search engines.
- It Helps You Understand Competitive Structure
The results of keyword research provide content creators with a clear image of who they are competing against, which allows them to grasp the competitive structure within their field.
After all, if you want to rank for a particular keyword, you need to know who else is ranking for that keyword and what they are doing to get those rankings.
For example, suppose you have thought of a content idea that you believe will be popular. In that case, you can use keyword research to determine if other content creators are already covering that idea.
If it is, you can then look at how popular that content is and what you can do to make your content more competitive.
- It Finds Low Competition Content Opportunities
When you conduct keyword research, you will be able to discover opportunities for content that you may not have found otherwise.
These opportunities usually exist in the form of low competition keywords, which are keywords that aren’t being targeted by many other content creators.
Conducting keyword research will show you which keywords you should stay well clear of targeting because existing websites have already built a presence in the SERPs.
However, it can also show you keywords with low competition that could be easy for you to target and rank for.
- Helps Users Understand The Latest Trends
When it comes to determining when to publish new content on your website or blog, it is helpful to be aware of the times when people are searching for particular keywords the most.
This is why keyword research is essential; it allows you to understand the latest trends in your industry so that you can publish the content accordingly.
If you want to be able to discover these trends, you need to continuously monitor your keywords and their search volumes.
Doing so will give you a good idea of when people are searching for particular keywords and allow you to change your content strategy accordingly.
For example, the keyword “Christmas decorations” will have a higher search volume in the weeks leading up to December, whereas the keyword “summer fashion trends” will have a higher search volume in the days leading up to summer.
- It Improves Your Overall Marketing Strategy
Keyword research should not be conducted in isolation; instead, it should be integrated into your overall marketing strategy.
After all, your content marketing efforts will only be successful if you can target the right keywords and produce optimized content for those keywords.
Your keyword research will provide you with valuable insights that you can use to improve your overall marketing strategy.
For example, if you discover that a particular keyword has a high search volume but low competition, you may want to consider targeting that keyword in your content marketing efforts.
Conversely, if you discover a keyword with high competition and low search volume, you may want to reconsider your decision to target that keyword.
By conducting keyword research and using the insights you gain to improve your overall marketing strategy, you can ensure that your content marketing efforts are more likely to be successful.
Wrapping Up
So, why is keyword research important? In simple terms, it allows you to produce content that is more likely to be successful in the SERPs.
By understanding your competition, finding low-competition content opportunities, and understanding the latest trends, you can create a content strategy that is much more likely to drive results.
Amit Gupta is the creator of Keyword-Research.org
Amit is a keyword research guru. After completing his high school certification, Amit spent half a decade learning about different ways to do keyword research for SEO and PPC. Before forming Keyword-Research.org, Amit worked for top Keyword Research companies for more than 10 years. When Amit is not helping people with their keyword research, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends.
