How To Find Your SEO Keywords

A step-by-step guide to choosing SEO keywords Choosing the right SEO keywords is essential for any successful SEO campaign. ‘Studies show that 93% of online journeys begin with a search engine.’ So you need to make the most of this and meet people (your potential customers and clients) where they are.  It’s imperative that you have an SEO keyword or phrase for every single webpage and every single blog post you have on your website. You need it to include in your post and to optimise your images for SEO. To begin with, it’s a good idea to have one primary keyword (and a keyword can be comprised of more than one word – that term is a little misleading) and optimise the page or post for that primary keyword.  For example, this post is optimised for the keyword “how to find your SEO keywords”. This is a longtail keyword because it’s a bit longer than most of my primary keywords, which generally sit around the 1 to 3 word mark. Eg, Adelaide copywriter.  Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you choose the right SEO keywords for your website: Brainstorm potential keywords Start by brainstorming a list of potential keywords that are relevant to your website and business. Use the language and terminology your target audience would use to search for your products or services.  If you already have a website, go to your home and about pages or your main services of product pages and choose keywords of what they are about. If you’re new to blogging for SEO purposes and you haven’t really optimised any blog posts as yet, start with your main keywords. And your main keywords will be the primary focus of your business. For example, mine is “copywriter“. If you’re a lawyer, your main keywords might be “Australian lawyer” or similar. If you’re a chocolate maker (yes, I’m obsessed), your main keywords might be “buy chocolate online”. Or similar. Research search volume and competition Use a keyword research tool, such as Google Keyword Planner, to find out how often each potential keyword is searched and how competitive each keyword is. Look for keywords with a high search volume and low competition. Scroll down to see how to use Google Keyword Planner. There are several other keyword research tools available that can help you identify relevant keywords for your business, such as Ahrefs, SEMrush (my favourite), Moz, and more. These tools provide insights into search volume, competition, and related keywords. Scroll down to see how to use Semrush step-by-step. Learn to SEO your images in 18 minutes. What is a good search volume to aim for? The ideal search volume for your keywords depends on your specific business and industry. A high search volume means a high demand for a particular keyword, but it also means a lot of competition for that keyword. Regarding search volume, there is no specific number that is considered “good” or “bad.” It is more important to choose keywords that are relevant to your business and target audience and that have a search volume that is appropriate for your business goals. For example, if you have a small business with a limited budget, you may want to focus on targeting longtail keywords with a lower search volume but less competition. This can help you rank higher in search engine results pages and attract more targeted traffic to your website. This might be your tactic if you are just starting out. On the other hand, if you have a larger business with more resources, you may want to target high-volume keywords that have a higher level of competition. This can help you attract more traffic to your website and increase brand visibility.  That being said, if I were to choose SEO keywords for a client, I would be looking at main keywords that have a higher search volume than 10 (averaged per month). That means that, on average, 10 people are searching for the word a month. That’s pretty low and is unlikely to convert to people clicking on your link (especially if the competition is high). So as an arbitrary guideline, look for keywords with low (to mid) competition and a search volume of at least 70 per month to begin with.  When choosing keywords, it’s important to consider a balance between search volume and competition. A keyword with too high search volume may have too much competition to effectively rank for, while a keyword with too low search volume may not generate enough traffic to be worth targeting. It’s important to find the sweet spot where you can target keywords that are relevant to your business and have an appropriate level of search volume and competition. Consider longtail keywords Longtail keywords are longer, more specific phrases that people use when searching. They can be more targeted and easier to rank for than more general keywords. Consider including longtail keywords in your list. You might like to consider this as phase two of your keyword optimisation plan and just focus on your main keywords for now. Analyse your competitors Research your competitors’ websites and see what keywords they are targeting. Use this information to identify keywords that are relevant to your business and have low competition. Competition can be found by using software or Google Keyword Planner. You might like to read my post on reverse engineering your competitors’ strategy. Refine your list Once you have a list of potential keywords, refine it to include only the most relevant and effective keywords. Remove any keywords that are too broad or have too much competition. For example, if you’re that beloved chocolate maker, you might avoid using the keyword “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” because although it has an incredible search volume (33,000 at the time of writing this), its competition is fierce at 92/100. I used Semrush to discover this.  Google Search Suggestions Google provides a list of suggestions as you type in your search query in the search bar. These