Content writing keyword research is crucial for creating content that attracts the right readers and performs well on search engines. Taking the time to research keywords upfront will save you time in the long run and help your content strategy be more successful. There are a few main steps to effective keyword research for content writing:
The first step is to brainstorm long-tail keyword ideas related to your topic or business. Long-tail keywords are more detailed keyword phrases rather than single keywords. These tend to have lower search volumes but are easier to rank for. Some ways to brainstorm include looking at your site analytics, thinking about common questions customers ask, or researching your competitors’ content to see which keywords they are targeting. You’ll want a list of 50-100 potential long-tail keyword phrases to start researching.
Once you have your initial brainstorm list, it’s time to start evaluating keyword difficulty and search volume using keyword research tools. Two excellent free tools are the Google Keyword Planner and Ubersuggest. Enter your potential keyword phrases and the tools will provide estimated average monthly searches and difficulty to rank scores. You’ll want to focus on keywords with moderate search volumes, say 50-500 average searches per month depending on your goals and capabilities. Avoid anything with very low or very high search volumes initially. Also pay attention to difficulty scores, aiming for keywords in the 30-70 range where ranking may be achievable with regular new content updates.
In addition to search volume and difficulty data, another key thing to research is trend data. Tools like Google Keyword Planner and Ahrefs Keyword Explorer show search trends over time which can help identify rising or falling keywords to target or avoid. Rapidly increasing trends may be a good opportunity. Steadily or sharply decreasing trends mean that keyword is becoming obsolete. You’ll also want to check for seasonality – some keywords spike at certain times of year. This informs when you should publish related content.
Beyond search data, do competitor and market research on your potential keywords. Look at the top 10 search results in Google to see how other sites are targeting and optimizing for that keyword. Pay attention to site/page titles, meta descriptions, internal links, and anchor text used. See what types of pages, types of content, and domains are ranking. This gives you ideas on how best to optimize your own content. You can also check related keywords Google suggests, and trend data on similar keyword variations or synonyms. Always research new variations you come across.
At this stage, you’ll want to compile your list of the best 20-50 keywords based on all this data into a target keyword spreadsheet. Include the keyword phrase, estimated search volume, difficulty score, related keywords found, and any notes on trends, seasonal changes, or competitor strategies. This keyword list will then guide your content creation and optimization efforts moving forward. Be sure to schedule regular reviews and updates of your keyword list as search algorithms, consumer interests, and competitive landscapes are always changing. Proper keyword research upfront saves a lot of wasted effort down the road creating content that lacks a solid keyword foundation.
With rigorous keyword research in place, you are ready to start creating engaging content optimized for those important long-tail phrases. Develop a content calendar and publish consistently to those targeted keywords over time to climb search engine rankings. Make sure keyword phrases are naturally included in page titles, meta descriptions, body text, headers and internal links to the page for maximum indexing by search engines. Always analyze your keyword rankings and content performance with tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics to optimize further. Rigorous keyword research is foundational to an effective content marketing strategy that attracts qualified readers and improves organic search visibility over the long-term.