10:16
Keyword Research Tutorial: From Start to Finish
Ahrefs
Overview
This video tutorial explains how to perform keyword research with a focus on driving revenue, not just traffic. It emphasizes understanding search intent, categorizing keywords into informational, navigational, commercial investigation, and transactional types, and then filtering and analyzing them. The process involves using tools like Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, assessing search volume and difficulty, and analyzing top-ranking search results to determine content format and ranking feasibility. The tutorial also covers reverse-engineering competitor strategies to uncover new keyword opportunities and stresses the importance of mapping keywords to customer problems to guide them towards conversion.
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Chapters
- Keyword research's primary goal is to identify topics potential customers search for, aligning with their needs to drive conversions and revenue.
- It's not solely about search volume or traffic, but about finding keywords that lead to business value.
- This approach is beneficial for both new websites and those looking to refine their keyword strategy.
Understanding the true purpose of keyword research helps you prioritize efforts that directly impact your business goals, rather than just chasing high search volumes.
Starting an e-commerce store selling computers and needing to find keywords that will attract buyers and lead to sales.
- Search intent is the reason behind a user's search query.
- Keywords are categorized into four main types: Informational (seeking knowledge), Navigational (seeking a specific site/page), Commercial Investigation (researching before purchase), and Transactional (ready to buy).
- Each intent category aligns with a stage in the customer's buying journey.
By understanding search intent, you can create content that meets users' needs at every stage of their journey, from initial curiosity to purchase, increasing your chances of conversion.
Informational: 'what is DDR4 ram?'; Navigational: 'newegg DDR4 ram'; Commercial Investigation: 'best DDR4 ram'; Transactional: 'buy DDR4 ram'.
- Focusing only on transactional keywords limits reach and misses opportunities to engage users earlier in their buying process.
- Informational content builds trust and authority, making users more likely to consider your brand when they reach the commercial investigation or transactional stages.
- You can guide users from informational content to conversion through internal linking and retargeting strategies.
A comprehensive keyword strategy that includes informational content allows you to capture users early, build relationships, and guide them through the entire sales funnel.
A blog post about 'what to do with an old laptop' that mentions a buy-back program, leading to a quick conversion.
- Keyword modifiers (e.g., 'best,' 'top,' current year) help identify search intent.
- Filter keyword ideas by search intent, search volume (e.g., minimum 1,000 monthly searches), and keyword difficulty.
- Prioritize keywords based on their business value: can your products/services naturally fit into content for this keyword, and would the searcher be interested in buying?
Systematic filtering and prioritization ensure you focus on keywords that have the highest potential to drive relevant traffic and conversions for your specific business.
For a computer store, identifying 'what is a computer worm?' as a valuable informational keyword because it allows linking to antivirus software products.
- Analyze the top 10 search results for a keyword to understand content format and ranking difficulty.
- Examine page titles and content to match the expected format (e.g., blog post vs. product page).
- Assess ranking difficulty by looking at the number of referring domains, the Domain Rating (DR) of ranking sites, and topical relevance.
SERP analysis provides crucial insights into what Google favors for a given query, helping you create content that has a realistic chance of ranking and understanding the competitive landscape.
For '4k monitors,' SERPs dominated by product pages indicate transactional intent, while 'computer worm' SERPs show blog posts, suggesting an informational approach.
- Reverse engineer competitor websites to find their top-performing pages and keywords.
- Use tools like Ahrefs Site Explorer and the 'Top Pages' report to identify content driving traffic to competitors.
- Apply the same keyword research process (intent, business value, SERP analysis) to these discovered topics.
Analyzing competitors helps uncover valuable keyword opportunities and content ideas that you might have missed, leveraging their successes for your own strategy.
Looking at Newegg.com's top pages for product ideas or Tom's Hardware for blog post topics.
- Ensure targeted keywords address specific problems or needs your potential customers face.
- Use keyword research as an opportunity to demonstrate how your products and services solve these problems.
- Guide users from understanding their problem to finding your solution, ultimately leading to a conversion.
Connecting keywords directly to customer problems makes your content more relevant and persuasive, effectively guiding users towards your offerings and increasing conversion rates.
For a computer store, creating content around computer viruses (a problem) that naturally leads to promoting antivirus software (the solution).
Key takeaways
- Effective keyword research prioritizes driving revenue by understanding customer needs and intent, not just search volume.
- Categorizing keywords by search intent (informational, navigational, commercial, transactional) allows for a comprehensive content strategy across the entire customer journey.
- Informational content is crucial for building trust and authority, which can lead to future conversions.
- Filtering keywords by search volume, difficulty, and direct business value is essential for focusing on the most impactful opportunities.
- Analyzing SERPs helps determine the appropriate content format and assess the realistic difficulty of ranking for a target keyword.
- Competitor analysis is a powerful method for discovering new keyword ideas and content topics.
- The ultimate goal is to map keywords to customer problems and demonstrate how your products/services provide the solution, guiding them to conversion.
Key terms
Keyword ResearchSearch IntentInformational KeywordsNavigational KeywordsCommercial Investigation KeywordsTransactional KeywordsKeyword ModifiersSearch VolumeKeyword DifficultyReferring DomainsDomain Rating (DR)SERP AnalysisParent TopicSite ExplorerTop Pages Report
Test your understanding
- Why is understanding search intent more important than just focusing on search volume in keyword research?
- How can informational keywords contribute to driving revenue for a business, even though they don't directly lead to a purchase?
- What are the key elements to analyze when examining the top 10 search results for a target keyword?
- How can reverse-engineering a competitor's top pages help in discovering new keyword opportunities?
- Explain the process of assigning business value to a keyword and why it's a critical step in the research process.