How to Do Keyword Research: Step 1
Are you sitting there wondering how to get started doing keyword research? You’re not alone. How to do keyword research can be a bit mind boggling, even when you are a pro. So, with the pressure lifted let’s start at the beginning. It’s always a good place to start.
Searcher’s Intent
There are 4 reasons why people use a search engine. They are conducting one of the following types of searches:
- Navigational Queries
- Informational Queries
- Commercial Investigation Queries
- Transactional Queries
The trick here is knowing which type of search or query your content matches best up to. That way when you start to do your keyword research you have better insight into what grammatical structure people will be using to find your content. So let’s dive into each type.
Navigational Queries
These searches are to find the URL for a website they are looking for. Examples of this would be:
- “Target”
- “US Airways”
- “CBS”
People know where they want to go, but they either don’t want to type out the URL, or aren’t 100% sure what it is. These types of searches are generally brand related and don’t require you to do a whole lot of keyword research in order to properly optimize your website for them.
One thing to look out for with these types of searches is if your businesses name is referred to in an abbreviated format. Doing a quick search to see which colloquial term(s) are used most often is worth the 3 minutes spent conducting the keyword research. A couple of examples of this would be:
- US Airways could also be known as “US Air.”
- The New York Giants could be known as “NY Giants” or “Giants”
- The United States Department of State could be known as “US State Dept,” “U.S. State Dept,” “The State Department,” or “State”
You get the picture. So just be conscience of this and check the search volume on other more common forms of your company’s name.
Informational Queries
This is a search performed to find the answer to a question.
- Who is the comedian in Caddy Shack?
- What temperature should cooked chicken be?
- What is the capital of Ukraine?
Think of these types of searches as the “Funk & Wagnalls” searches. People are looking for quick information on a variety of topics.
I particularly find these types of searches gold for building a brand’s authority and trust with its target audiences. If you are an information source for people to learn or be reminded of the basics they will remember you and begin to trust you.
Once you have earned some trust on the little things, they will come back for bigger things, which will eventually lead to them taking the actions online that match back to your business’ goals.
Commercial Investigation Queries
You can think of these searches as the in-depth research types. People perform these both professionally and personally when they are trying to truly learn more about a topic, person or product.
Examples of these types of searches would be:
- What are the top 5 vacuum cleaners?
- Top rated car insurance companies
- How do I choose the best PR company?
These are the types of searches people perform in order to be informed enough to purchase a product or service. If you have built up trust and authority with the information queries when it comes time for the investigation queries visitors will be more likely to seek your site out, or click on the search results where your site is listed.
Then the logic implies and the data shows people will purchase from those companies and brands they already trust. So, why wouldn’t you provide them with the information they are seeking?
Transactional Queries
The last of the 4 ways people use search engines is what is known as the transactional query. These types of searches are a hybrid of navigational and informational queries.
People know generally what they are looking for and they need some help finding it, but the intent is to take an action.
Examples of this would be:
- A family wants to eat Indian food for dinner so they search for: “indian restaurants Brooklyn”
- An aunt wants to purchase a baseball glove for her niece and searches for “kid’s baseball glove”
The searcher is primed to take an action, usually a purchase, so will your site be seen for the keywords people are using to take that action?
How to Do Keyword research
Now that we know the different ways people use search engines, actually conducting keyword research becomes easier. The first step is identifying which type of search your content matches best too. Once you have identified the type of search people will be conducting to find your content you can begin brainstorming the words people might use.
A very important note here: forget you work for your company. Try to put yourself in your searcher’s shoes.
- Do they know your industry jargon?
- Do they talk about things in more general terms or use very precise technical language?
Do your best to think like your target audience NOT how you want them to think about you, or how you think about you.
OK, got your list of keywords? Great, now ask yourself these 3 questions:
- Is the keyword relevant to the content your website offers?
- Will searchers who find your site using this term find the like answer to their implied question?
- Will the people coming to the site help you meet your goals (directly or indirectly)?
If you answer “No” to any of these questions the keyword isn’t right for your content. Try again.
If the answer is “Yes” to all of these questions, then the keyword string is a good candidate for being used to optimize your copy. (I say a good candidate because you need to evaluate the volume, and competition of the words in order to make the final selection. More to come on this in a later post.)
Now you are on your way to being able to conduct keyword research and identify keyword strings that will work for you, and your site’s content. Come back soon to learn about Step 2: Choosing Keywords.
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