Every business needs a blog.
Blogging is one of the surest ways to increase your brand’s exposure, and it can help you reach new audiences. When you write a blog, you’re engaging with your customers, and that can lead not only to better customer retention but also, potentially, to better customer reviews.
But if you’ve never blogged before, or if you’re just having trouble generating ideas for posts, it can be hard to get started. That’s why we’ve put together these tips for getting started with your blog today!
Google Seo Tools Keyword
1. Semrush
Semrush works a little differently than the other tools I will show you.
Instead of entering a seed keyword and getting a long list of keyword ideas, Semrush shows you keywords that your competition already ranks for.
(These are usually outside-the-box keywords that would be impossible to find using any other tool.)
Here’s how it works:
First, enter a competitor’s domain name in the field at the top of the page.

If you’re doing SEO in a country outside of the US (for example, in Google.co.uk), you can choose to see information about that specific market. Just choose that country from this menu:

Next, take a look at the “Organic Research” section:

Here’s what the different terms in that section mean:
- Keywords is the estimated number of monthly organic visitors that come from Google.
- Traffic is the estimated number of monthly visitors.
- Traffic Cost indicates how valuable this traffic is (based on Google Ads CPC).
So if you see a domain with a lot of Organic Search Traffic but a low Traffic Cost, you know that they’re ranking for keywords that don’t convert into buyers.
But the real value of Semrush comes from the “Organic Keywords” data:

This box will show you 5 of the top keywords that your competitors are ranking for. To see more, click on “View all [number] organic keywords”.
And you’ll get a list of all of the keywords that the site or URL ranks for:

This page alone will usually give you a handful of solid keywords.
But if you want more ideas, go back to the “Organic Research” overview and check out the “Competitors” in the menu bar.
And you’ll see that site’s first-page competition:

When you click on one of THOSE results, you can see the exact search queries they’re ranking for.
There will be some overlap from what you just saw, but you’ll also (usually) dig up some real gems.
You can also start your Semrush search with a keyword instead of a competitor’s site:

Semrush will show you a “Phrase match report”, which is a list of long-tail keywords that include the keyword you entered:

This is really helpful for finding long-tail variations of Head and Body Keywords.
For example, if you wanted to rank for the keyword “weight loss”, you’ll quickly find that it’s simply too competitive.
But Semrush will show you long-tail variations, like the “weight loss calculator”, that are MUCH easier to rank for:

My Favorite Feature: Keyword Magic
This tool pulls keyword suggestions from Semrush’s massive database of over 21 billion terms.


BRIAN’S BOTTOM LINE
Semrush is my favorite keyword research tool. Not cheap. But if you’re serious about SEO, it’s a must-have.
2. Soovle
Scrape suggested keywords from multiple sources.
Soovle gives you suggested keyword ideas from Google, YouTube, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon and more.
(All in one place.)
That way, you can find untapped keywords that your competition doesn’t know about.

My Favorite Feature: Saved Suggestions
Easily save your favorite keyword ideas with Soovle’s “drag & drop” saved suggestions feature.

Then, download your favorite keywords to a CSV file.

BRIAN’S BOTTOM LINE
Soovle is one of the best free keyword research tools out there.
3. Jaaxy
Get thousands of related keyword ideas within seconds.
This is a straightforward (yet powerful) tool.
So, what makes Jaaxy unique?
First off, it gives you LOTS of different keyword ideas.
(Including some that you won’t find in most other tools.)
Plus, you get helpful data on every keyword that it generates (including competition, search volume and potential traffic).

My Favorite Feature: QSR
QSR stands for “Quoted Search Result”.
This is a fancy way of saying: “how many other websites are trying to rank for this exact term?”.
Obviously, the lower this number, the better chance you have of ranking #1.


BRIAN’S BOTTOM LINE
Jaaxy is a decent freemium tool. Not nearly as good as something like Semrush. But at $50/month, it’s not a bad deal.
4. Google Search Console
Find hundreds of “Opportunity Keywords”.
The Google Search Console isn’t a traditional keyword research tool.
But it does have a feature that makes finding awesome keywords a CINCH.
The feature?
The Performance Report.
This report list out the pages on your site that get the most clicks from Google.
(And the exact keywords that brought them there)
So: how can you use this feature for keyword research?
It’s easy: use it to find “Opportunity Keywords”.
Opportunity Keywords are where you rank between #8-#20 in Google for a specific keyword.
And with little extra on-page SEO, you can find yourself with a nice rankings boost.
For example, my average rankings for the keyword “SEO tool” is 6.2.

That keyword is an Opportunity Keyword. And if I optimize my page around “SEO tool”, my rankings for that term should go up.
My Favorite Feature: Google Analytics + Google Search Console
Did you know that you can combine your Google Search Console and Google Analytics accounts?
Well, you can.
And it’s VERY helpful.
When you do, you’ll get in-depth keyword data than you would with either tool by itself.


BRIAN’S BOTTOM LINE
The Google Search Console is an underrated keyword research tool. No other tool can help you find Opportunity Keywords like the GSC.
5. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer
Make smarter keyword decisions.
Ahrefs recently rolled out a new and improved “Keywords Explorer”.
And what I like most about Keywords Explorer is this:
It gives you SUPER in-depth information on each keyword.
Sure, you get the data you’d expect (like search volume). But you also get a breakdown of the first page competition… and how many searchers actually click on a result.

My Favorite Feature: Keyword Difficulty
Most keyword research tools give you vague difficulty info (like “easy” or “difficult”). Or a score (like “89/100”).
But Ahrefs tells you EXACTLY how many backlinks you’ll need to rank on the first page of Google.

Awesome.

BRIAN’S BOTTOM LINE
Ahrefs is mostly known as for backlink analysis. But I have to say: it’s got a killer keyword research tool. I find myself using it more and more every week.
6. SECockpit
Keyword research for SEO pros.
This a Swiss Army Knife of keyword research tools.
Like any other keyword tool, you give SECockpit a seed keyword… and you get a list of results.
But what makes SECockpit unique is the built-in features that allow you to get A LOT of depth on search trends, organic competition and traffic estimates.
Which means that it’s a tool largely designed for SEO professionals.
Sure, newbies can get value out of this tool. But there’s no doubt that SECockpit is targeted for people that sleep, eat and breathe SEO.
If you’re brand new to SEO, the sheer number of features in this tool might be overwhelming for you. But if you’re looking for lots and lots of depth, you’ll probably get your money’s worth.
With that, here’s how it works.
When you login you’ll automatically go to your Dashboard, where you can create projects around sets of keywords…or jump right in with a single keyword search.

To start the keyword research process, click on “Start a Keyword Search”:

Then, enter a seed keyword in the field marked “Keyword Phrase”:

You can get even more results by choosing to include Google Suggest, Related Searches and synonyms pulled from Google Ads:

When you’re done, click on “save and close” and the tool will get to work:

Here’s the report you’ll get:

If you’ve ever used the Google Keyword Planner, the data here should look familiar to you.
In fact, the columns “Phrase”, “Monthly Searches” and “CPC” are pulled directly from the GKP:

(The only difference is that CPC is called “Top of page bid” in the GKP)
So: what does the other information in SECockpit mean?
Well you’ll notice a bunch of green bars under the column labeled “Niche”:

This bar is a single metric that takes into account first page competition, monthly search volume, and commercial intent. In other words, whether or not that search query is a good overall choice. The larger the bar, the better the keyword.
Next to monthly searches you’ll notice a series of orange bars labeled “Top Results”:

This bar indicates the difficulty of ranking for that particular keyword based on the current top 10 results.
And when you click on a keyword, you get a breakdown of that keyword’s search results.
When you do, SECockpit will display important competition metrics for the top 10 pages in the results… including Moz Domain Authority and total backlinks:

This is a great way to quickly size up competition without having to look one-by-one at the SERPs.
And you go back to the keywords page, you can actually add at least 20 more columns to the results:

For example, you can see a ratio of the keyword’s competition in comparison to its search volume. Or you can get a comparison of the estimated traffic you’ll get from hitting the top 3 for that keyword. And lots more.
My Favorite Feature: Filtering
You can use over 100 filters to find the keywords that you want.
For example, do you only want keywords that get searched for at least 10k times per month? Done.
Or maybe you want terms that have the best ratio of search volume and competition. You got it.


BRIAN’S BOTTOM LINE
Clunky? Yes. Intuitive? Heck no. Feature-rich? Absolutely. If you want lots of advanced features, and don’t mind a steep learning curve, definitely check out SECockpit.
7. Google Keyword Planner
Tap into Google’s massive keyword database.
The GKP is pretty vanilla compared to most other keyword research tools.
So why use it?
Because the data you get from it comes straight from Google.
(So you know its legit)

My Favorite Feature: “Top of page bid”
This is how much people advertisers are bidding on a keyword.
For example, of you see a top of page bid of $10, people are spending an average of 10 bucks per click.
Obviously, the higher this number, the more commercial intent that searcher has.


BRIAN’S BOTTOM LINE
The data in the GKP is the most reliable out there. That said, because it’s designed for Google Ads, using it for SEO can be tricky. This Google Keyword Planner Guide shows you how the GKP for SEO-focused keyword research.
8. KeywordTool.io
Get boatloads of targeted keyword ideas.
Here’s another Google Suggest scraper (just like UberSuggest and Soovle).
What makes KeywordTool unique?
Two things:
First, KeywordTool gives you A LOT of keyword suggestions.

For example, I just did a search for “SEO”… and got 1,394 relevant keywords.
Not bad.
Second, you can easily filter, drill-down or expand the results to find the right keywords for you.

My Favorite Feature: Analyze Competitors
This is a very cool feature I don’t see in many other keyword research tools.
Just enter a competitor’s site… and the tool will generate a list of keyword ideas based on that site’s content.
For example, when I pop Backlinko into the tool, I get keywords that I’d expect.
(Like “SEO” and “blog”)

But I also came across terms that I don’t use anywhere on my site… but are closely related to the type of stuff that I write about.
(Like “digital marketing” and “how to check backlinks”)


BRIAN’S BOTTOM LINE
One of the best overall keyword research tools on the market. Worth a try.
9. Moz Keyword Explorer
Find keywords that will generate the most traffic.
Moz’s Keyword Explorer does an awesome job of finding “lateral” keyword ideas.
For example, take a seed keyword like “weight loss”.
Like most other tools, you get a list of closely related keywords:

But what makes Moz unique is that it’s SMART.
Which means you get outside-the-box suggestions that you probably won’t find anywhere else.

My Favorite Feature: “Organic CTR” and “Priority”
These two awesome features let you know how many clicks you can expect to get from your target keyword.

Organic CTR is the number of clicks you can expect to get if you crack the top 10. For example, if a SERP has a ton of PPC ads, news results, and a knowledge graph, your CTR is gonna be low.
Priority takesCTR, search volume and difficulty into account. It’s an “overall” score of whether or not you should target a particular keyword.

So if you’re overwhelmed by keyword data, you can use this single metric to find keywords that are going to bring you the most traffic from Google.

BRIAN’S BOTTOM LINE
Moz’s keyword tool is pretty darn awesome. Unfortunately, it’s not a standalone tool (you have to pay for their entire suite of SEO tools to use it).
10. Keywords Everywhere
Get search volume (and more) wherever you go.
Keywords Everywhere is a paid keyword research tool that displays keyword data on top of 10 websites …including Ebay, Amazon and Answer The Public.
That way, you don’t need to copy and paste keywords into the Google Keyword Planner. The data shows up in your Chrome browser. Very cool.

My Favorite Feature: “People Also Search For”
Get a list of keywords related to your search term… in the Google search results.

What’s cool about this feature is that you can find keywords that your target customer searches for when they’re not searching for what you sell.
For example, when I search for “SEO Tools”, I see terms like “Google Keyword Planner SEO” and “”Free SEO analysis”.
(Both of which get decent amounts of searches every month)

Nice.

BRIAN’S BOTTOM LINE
If you’re serious about keyword research you NEED to install this extension. It rocks.
how to search for seo keywords
There are many ways to do it, either manually or using a keyword research tool like Keyword Tool. But whichever way you choose, there are a number of important steps that you need to take.
From outlining your goals to executing your keyword plan, follow these detailed step-by-step guide to performing a proper and thorough keyword research:
Step 1: Study your niche
Before you figure out what are the best keywords to optimize your page, it’s best that you start by diving deep to learn more about your topic or niche. It can give you out-of-the-box ideas and help discover angles to your marketing and SEO strategy that you might not have thought about before.
Here are a few ideas on how to study your niche:
- Talk with your existing customers and get to know them better. Find out the terms that they use when describing your brand, company, product or service.
- Try to think from the perspective of your potential customers. If you were to share the brand’s offering to a friend, how will you talk about it?
- Get involved in your topic or niche’s online communities, like forums and social media networks. Read the discussions and find out any pain points that are mentioned regarding your niche.
Step 2: Define your goals
A plan needs to always begin by defining the end goal. But before that, you should ask important and introspective questions like:
- Who are you?
- What is your brand about?
- What makes you special?
- What is your website about?
- What promises do you make on your website?
Once you have effectively answered these questions, then you need to specify what is your brand’s mission. Do you want to increase the number of subscribers? Or do you have a sales target by a certain date?
It’s important to define your goal because it will provide a direction for your SEO strategy and plan. The search terms that you will eventually use should be aligned to your goals, ideally segmented into different content marketing funnels. Your goals will also inform the purpose of your SEO copywriting and content.
Write down your goals. Draw charts. Document them. These will provide the framework and direction needed for your top-level content and online marketing strategy.
Step 3: Make a list of relevant topics
Based on your the main category of your brand and the goals you aim to achieve, break it down to smaller topic buckets. Make a list of all the topics related to your brand that you want to rank on Google.
For example, if you’re an FMCG brand specializing in men’s personal care products, some topics that are related to your brand can be:
- men’s facial wash
- antiperspirant deodorant
- male pattern baldness
They need to be topics that are important to your business and related to your buyer personas. Think about what type of topics will your target audience search for on Google? These topic buckets can then later be broken down to keywords that are related to those topics.
Step 4: Create a list of seed keywords
Now that you’ve broken down your main category to different buckets of sub-topics, you can start creating a list of seed keywords. These keywords need to be related to your various topics, and more importantly, are terms that your target audience might be searching on Google.
Seed keywords, or focus keywords, are important as they will become the foundation of your keyword research. They define your niche and identify your competitors.
If you’re wondering how to find the seed or focus keywords of your brand or product, it’s actually a lot easier than you think. All you need to do is describe your offering as simple as possible and brainstorm how other people might search for it on Google.
Step 5: Use good keyword research tools
You might assume, “shouldn’t keyword research begin with using a keyword tool?” There’s no right or wrong answer there, to be honest. But there is an obvious advantage to researching search terms from your brand or business perspective first and foremost.
It avoids you from getting too bogged down with keywords and helps you gain a wider perspective for your content and SEO strategy.
Once you have identified your goals, topics, and a list of seed keywords, it’s time to use keyword research tools to further refine your search terms.
One option is to use Google Keyword Planner. Unfortunately, Google only gives approximated search volumes. Instead, you can use a tool like Keyword Tool. It will give you a lot more details and help you narrow down on the right direction for your search terms. On top of that, it can also give additional ideas on related keywords.
All you need to do is type in the topic (or seed keyword) into the search box and it will give you a list of alternative keywords, including those that contain prepositions and questions:
Step 6: Study the search intent
Plugging in high-volume keywords to bump up rankings for a page used to work pretty easily. But it’s not so simple anymore these days. Today, Google’s machine learning search algorithms compare search terms with user queries to learn about search intent.
Search intent is defined as the intent or reason behind why people search for a specific term. There are many driving factors behind people’s search habits, such as:
- Why are they searching?
- Are they searching because they have a question and want an answer to that question?
- Are they searching for a specific website?
- Are they searching because they want to buy something?
Try to put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. Why would they search for your topic? How will they key in the terms? Are they looking to buy something? Or are they looking for a service to solve a specific problem?
Once you have a good idea of the search intent behind potential readers or customers, you will be able to use it to fine-tune your keyword research. Getting a list of high-volume keywords related to your brand or topic is great. But finding keywords that directly match your target audience’s search intent is even better.
Step 7: Identify long tail keywords
Seed keywords are often shorter search terms that are closely related to your brand’s main topic or category. Long tail keywords, on the other hand, are more descriptive and often related to your brand’s smaller buckets of sub-topics. Matching your target audience’s search intent to long tail keywords is far easier compared to seed keywords.
For example, if your website published content about golf equipment reviews, using long tail keywords like “what is the best 9 iron golf club” will attract a more relevant audience compared to the seed keyword “golf club.”
Long tail keywords usually get fewer clicks, but since they are focused on a specific topic or product, they often get a higher conversion rate.
Step 8: Find out about your competitors
Doing keyword research on Google about your brand alone is not nearly enough. You also need to be aware of what your competitors are doing. The better you understand the content landscape of your industry, the better it will be for your SEO.
Understanding the competitiveness of different keywords will also allow you to identify search terms that might be too difficult to rank. But most importantly, you will be able to find keyword opportunity gaps. These opportunities occur when you find related keywords that are related to your brand or industry with low to medium competition level.
To find these keyword opportunities, you can perform a keyword search on your competitors. The paid version of Keyword Tool Pro has a competitor analysis function that does exactly that. Key in the URL of your competitor into the search box and the results will show all the keywords that the page ranks for.
Once you’ve gone through these steps, you should have enough insights to craft a good content and SEO strategy. You would also have gotten adequate data for SEO copywriting for your content.
Whether you’re running a content-focused blog, a small business, or a brand marketer, you will need keyword research to kick-start your content and marketing activities.
Doing keyword research can be a tedious and time-consuming task. But more often than not, it pays off handsomely in the long run
Conclusion
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