5 Ways To Do Keyword Research in Less Than 10 Minutes

As a content marketing ninja, you know that SEO reach is important for your content. However, you might not be using keyword research to your advantage.

Keyword research identifies which phrases are used on search engines when people are looking for information, products, or services. By understanding these keywords, you can optimize your content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and get more traffic to your website.

You might find it amusing to see how many people are searching for something per month, what words they’re using, and what questions they’re asking. The great thing is that you don’t have to spend hours doing keyword research. A brisk 10-minute walk can provide incredible insights.

To restrict the scope of this article, we’ll only be discussing the top 5 easiest ways to do keyword research. But if you’d like to read about keyword research in detail, you can visit our blog on ‘Expert’s Guide to Keyword Research: How to Find The Keywords That Will Rank.’

Now, let’s quickly look at various keyword research metrics and terms you need to be familiar with to get started.

Keyword Metrics and Terms That You Need to Know

There are various keyword metrics and terms that you need to know before starting your research. Here’s a quick overview of the most important ones:

Keyword Difficulty

The keyword difficulty of KD means how difficult or easy it is to rank for a keyword in an organic search. The score is based on a number of factors, such as the strength of the top 10 results, the number of backlinks, and more. The higher the number, the more difficult it is to rank. This metric is represented on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the most difficult.

For instance, if you search for ‘white label SEO‘ on SEMrush, you’ll see that the difficulty score is 54%. This means that it’ll be relatively difficult to rank for this keyword. If too many high-authority websites rank high for your focus keyword, you might want to look for another keyword with less competition.

Search Volume

The number of people who have used a given keyword to perform a search on a search engine in a given period of time (monthly, daily, etc.).

You can use this metric to get an idea of interest in a given keyword. The higher the volume, the more popular the keyword is.

To get an estimate of the monthly search volume for your keyword, you can also use a free tool like Google Trends.

Cost-Per-Click (CPC)

CPC is the amount of money you spend per click on one of your PPC ads. This metric is essential because it allows you to quantify the expenses of your Google Ads or Microsoft Ads.

You can find the CPC for a given keyword in the SEMrush KeywordMagic tool. Type in your keyword and scroll down to the “Advertising” section. The CPC is listed under the “Avg. CPC” column.

Keyword stuffing and Cannibalization

Keyword stuffing is the act of filling a webpage with an excessive number of keywords in an attempt to manipulate the page’s ranking in search results. This black-hat SEO technique is considered spammy and can result in a penalty from Google.

On the other hand, Cannibalization is when you accidentally target the same keyword multiple times on different pages of your website.

Both of these can hurt your SEO rankings and should be avoided.

Now that you know the basics let’s move on to the 5 easiest ways to do keyword research.

1. FAQ Keyword Research

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) are a great source of information for keyword research. People ask questions about products or services all the time, and these questions can be used to create content that is relevant and keyword-rich.

Google Related Searches

To find FAQs, simply search for your main keyword on Google and scroll down to the “People also ask” section. Here, you’ll see a list of questions people have asked about your keyword.

For instance, if we search for the keyword “White Label SEO” on Google, we see the following questions in the “People also ask” section:

• What is a white label search?
• What are the benefits of white label SEO?
• How do I choose a white label SEO?
• Who are the best white label SEO providers?

Answer The Public

You can also use ‘Answer The Public’ to search for questions related to your topic. All you need to do is enter your keyword and select your country. The tool will generate a list of questions people have asked about your keyword.

In our case, we enter the keyword ‘White Label SEO’ and select the United States as our country. The tool generates the following questions:

• What is a white label search?
• What are the benefits of white label SEO?
• How do I choose a white label SEO agency?
• Who are the best white label SEO providers?
• What is a good white label SEO software?
• What are white label SEO services?

There are various other tools like Moz and Ubersuggest that you can use to find faqs related to your topic. These questions can be used to create blog posts, FAQ pages, or YouTube videos. Simply answer the question in your content, and be sure to use the keyword throughout.

2. Blog Category Keyword Research

If you have a blog, chances are you already have a few categories set up. But are these categories really helping your SEO?

The answer is maybe. It depends on how well you’ve researched the keywords for each category.

To find the right keywords for your blog categories, start by brainstorming a list of potential topics. Once you have a list of potential topics, you can use a tool like SEMrush or Google search to find the right keywords for each one.

SEMrush

Enter your topic into the search bar and click on the “Keyword Ideas” tab. You’ll see a list of relevant keyword ideas, including the monthly search volume and CPC for each keyword.

For instance, if we enter the topic “White Label SEO” into SEMrush, we see the following keyword ideas:

Google Suggest

You can also use Google search to find relevant keywords for your blog category. Just start typing in your keyword, showing you a list of related keywords people are searching for.

For instance, if we start typing in the keyword “White Label SEO” into Google, we see the following related keywords:

Google Keyword Planner

Another great way to find keywords for your blog category is by using Google Keyword Planner. Just enter your keyword into the search bar and click on “Get ideas.”

From here, you’ll see a list of relevant keywords and the monthly search volume and CPC for each keyword.

For instance, if we enter the keyword “White Label SEO” into Google Keyword Planner, we see the following keywords:

3. Competitive Keyword Research

Your competitors can be a great source of keyword ideas. To find keywords that your competitors are ranking for, start by conducting a competitor analysis.

Once you know your main competitors, you can use a tool like Moz or Ubersuggest to find the keywords they’re ranking for.

Moz

Moz’s “Keyword Explorer” tool allows you to see the keywords that your competitors are ranking for. Just enter your competitor’s URL into the search bar and click on “Explore.”

From here, you’ll see a list of the keywords that your competitor is ranking for. You can also see the monthly search volume and CPC for each keyword.

You may also use this report to look at their top-performing pages to help you find qualified content ideas for your next blog.

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest’s “SEO Keyword Tool” allows you to find the keywords that your competitors are ranking for. Just enter your keyword into the search bar and click on “Search.”

From here, you’ll see a list of relevant keywords and the monthly search volume and CPC for each keyword. You’ll need to scroll down to see the top-ranking pages for the given keyword. You can use this report to come for new topic ideas for your next blog.

Pro-Tip: While performing competitive keyword research, make sure to focus on keyword difficulty ( KD) and click-through rate ( CTR). These two factors will give you an idea of how difficult it is to rank for a particular keyword and how much traffic you can expect to get from that keyword.

4. Expand Your Keyword Reach

You can expand your SEO reach by expanding topical content on your website. It is important to keep your website’s content relevant to your target keywords.

One way to do this is by finding similar topics related to your main keyword. For instance, if your target keyword is “White Label SEO,” you can find related topics such as “Private Label SEO” or “Outsourced SEO.”

To find similar topics related to your target keyword, you can use a tool like Google Related Searches or Ubersuggest.

Google Related Searches

To use Google Related Searches, simply enter your target keyword into the search bar and scroll to the bottom of the page. From here, you’ll see a list of related topics that you can target with your content.

Ubersuggest

To use Ubersuggest, enter your target keyword into the search bar and click on “Search.” From here, you’ll see a list of related keywords that you can target with your content.

Pro-Tip: While it seems like an easy thing to do, make sure not to keyword stuff your content. This will not only irritate your readers but can get you penalized by Google. Also, you must ensure that the topics you choose stay relevant to your niche.

5. Keep Up With Google Updates

Google is always changing, and so is SEO. To keep your website ranking high in the search results, you must keep up with the latest Google updates.

We’re seeing a big rise in “no-click” searches when someone searches for something and finds their answer without clicking on a search result.

For instance, if you search for “What is the time in New York,” you’ll see the current time and date appear at the top of the search results without clicking on a website.

Another example is if you search for “Weather in New York.” You’ll see the current weather conditions and forecast appear at the top of the search results.

Google is giving users the answers to their questions without clicking on a website, meaning website owners need to rethink their SEO strategies.

Know Which SERP Features Show Up for Your Keywords

SERP features can help drive traffic to your website. But if you’re not ranking for them, then you’re missing out on a lot of potential traffic.

For instance, if we search for ‘SEO Software’, we can see that there are a number of SERP features that show up:

Looking at the above, we can see that a list of SEO software shows up on the top. If we were to write a blog post about SEO software and optimize it for the keyword ‘SEO Software,’ we could potentially rank on that list. This would be a great way to get a lot of traffic to our website, as people would be able to see our blog post right on the SERP.

We believe this brief guide will help you with your keyword research. If you have any questions or want help with your SEO, please feel free to contact us. We’re always happy to help!