How to find keywords for blog posts? Are you eager to learn about it to improve your search engine ranking? If yes, then stay right here!
You can attract your target audiences and maximize your blog’s visibility by picking the right keywords. But how can you select the relevant ones to align your content strategy?
This guide provides proven tips for discovering the most effective keywords. Find how to optimize your content using research tools to compare keyword difficulty.
Without further delay, let’s dive in!
Understanding Keywords and Keyword Research
Let’s say you’re searching for the ‘latest gaming laptops’ on Google. Those words that you type into the search bar are keywords.
Keywords are the words or phrases people use to find information online. Search engines understand what you’re looking for and show you the most relevant results.
In addition, keywords are important for your content to get noticed. Suppose you have a cooking blog and use keywords like ‘easy baking recipes’. Then, more people searching for them will find your blog.
Moving forward, keyword research is like being a detective for your blog or website. It’s all about discovering what words and phrases people seek. With that, you can use them in your content and attract the right audience.
Think of it as figuring out what’s trending or what people are interested in. After that, use those words to make your blog easier to find on Google. Without this, your blog might be like a hidden treasure that no one knows about!
Significance of Choosing the Best Keywords for Blogs
Before going right into the tips, learn that choosing the right keywords is crucial, especially for bloggers and website owners. Check out its significance here:
- Improve Search Engine Ranking and Traffic: Using the right keywords helps your blog appear higher in search results and drives organic traffic.
- Enhances Audience Targeting: Your blog reaches the right people interested in your niche as they search for relevant content.
- Discoverable Social Media: Audiences can easily find your content across social media platforms based on your applied keywords.
- Enriched Brand Authority: Regularly ranking for relevant keywords enhances trust and brand credibility.
- Performance Tracking: Used keywords serve as measurable data to analyze and optimize content strategies.
- Boosts Monetization Goals: Increased revenue, affiliate sales, or product purchases are monetization goals that are achieved by targeted traffic.
With that, let’s move ahead to our main topic!
Proven Tips on How to Find Keywords for Blog Posts
Now, let’s check out the proven tips to know how to find keywords for blog posts that are most suitable. Here we go!
1. Understand Your Blog’ Goal
Before searching for keywords, take a step back and ask yourself:
What is my blog really about?
Understanding your blog’s goal is the foundation for effective keyword research. It lets you define a clear objective. Moreover, this guides you in choosing keywords that align with your purpose and attract the target audience.
Here’s a snapshot of this process!
- Identify Your Niche: Focus on your blog niche, something that you’re interested in. Define if you’re blogging about fitness, travel, or technology.
- Specify Your Audience: Think about your audience. Brainstorm their queries and interests that’ll help in picking keywords they may search for.
- Set Clear Goals: Finalize if your blog’s goal is to boost your traffic, generate leads, or maximize engagement to shape your keyword strategy.
- Spy on Your Competitors: Check out similar blogs and find what topics and keywords they focus on to understand where you belong.
By understanding your blog’s goal, you can pick keywords that improve your search rankings and attract target readers.
So, take a few minutes to write down your blog’s purpose and who you want to reach. Making this clear eases your keyword research a lot!
For this article, let’s take the example of a fitness blog. According to this niche, the audience will be people interested in health, fitness, weight loss, etc. Its goal is to offer fitness tips and health advice by increasing site traffic and brand authority.
Find the purpose of your website with our complete guide here!
2. Use Keyword Research Tools
Once you know your blog’s goal, it’s time to find the right keywords using keyword research tools. These tools help you discover what your audience is searching for, how often those terms are searched, and how competitive they are.
Instead of guessing, you can make data-driven decisions that increase your chances of ranking higher on search engines like Google.
Hence, we recommend these top keyword research tools:
i. Semrush
Semrush is a comprehensive SEO toolset that has many keyword research tools. Using them lets you analyze keyword volume, recognize competition, and identify competitors’ top-ranking keywords to find keyword gaps and opportunities.
Features
The list below points out some keyword research tools by Semrush:
- The Keyword Overview tool lets you check the metrics of a keyword available in the Semrush database.
- The Keyword Magic tool lists billions of keywords that you can rank for.
- The Position Tracking tool provides a search ranking of your site over time.
- The Keyword Manager allows the creation of a full list of your keywords.
Pricing
Semrush has a free plan that allows 10 searches and reports a day for a project. If you want a premium plan, then these are the options:
- Pro: $139.95/mo, 5 projects, 500 keywords, 10K results, etc.
- Guru: $249.95/mo, 15 projects, 1500 keywords, 30K results, etc.
- Business: $499.95/mo, 40 projects, 5000 keywords, 50K results, etc.
ii. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a deep keyword research and backlink analysis tool. It shows organic keyword search reports with top organic keywords, their positions, rank movement, and more.
Features
The list below points out some keyword research features by Ahrefs:
- The Keyword Explorer provides detailed keyword metrics.
- SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) Analysis provides top-ranking pages for a keyword.
- Suggests several related keywords that can be trending or matching ones.
- Shows potential traffic, ranking, and search volume of a keyword.
Pricing
Ahrefs is a premium tool that comes with 4 different pricing plans:
- Lite: $129/mo, site explorer, keywords explorer, site audit, rank tracker, etc.
- Standard: $249/mo, Lite plan features, SERP updates, and more.
- Advanced: $449/mo, Standard plan features, Google Data Studio, etc.
- Enterprise: $14,990/year, Advanced plan features, unlimited history, etc.
Guess what? Ahrefs also has a free tool called Keyword Generator. We recommend using this tool to discover keyword ideas, easy-to-rank keywords, identify long-tail keywords, and whatnot.
iii. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that reveals the exact keywords people use to find your blog. It helps you track your performance and optimize your blog content for better visibility.
Features
The list below points out some keyword research features:
- Provides insights into the keywords your website is already ranking for.
- Shows the exact search terms users typed into Google to find your website.
- Identify underperforming keywords with high impressions but low clicks.
- Tracks how your website ranks for specific keywords over time.
- Analyzes keyword performance across different devices.
Pricing
The Google Search Console tool is completely free to get started.
Check out the best SEO tools for your blog or business with this comprehensive guide.
3. Understand Your Search Intent
Now, it’s crucial to understand search intent, which refers to the reason behind a user’s search query. In simple terms, it answers the question:
Why is someone searching for this keyword, and what do they hope to find?
Understanding search intent helps you:
- Create content that meets user expectations.
- Avoid irrelevant keywords.
- Improves your chances of ranking higher.
- Enhances user engagement.
Types of Search Intent
There are four main types of search intent you should know:
Search Intent Type | Description | Example | Content to Create |
Navigational | Users want to find a specific website or page. | Official website of MyFitnessBlog. | Home or landing pages |
Informational | Users are looking for knowledge or answers. | How to lose belly fat? | Blog posts, fitness tips, etc. |
Commercial | Users are researching products or services before making a purchase decision. | Best protein powder for muscle gain | Product comparisons, fitness program reviews, etc. |
Transactional | Users are ready to take action and complete a purchase or sign up. | Sign up for online fitness training | Product pages, signup pages, etc. |
How to Determine Search Intent?
To identify the search intent behind a keyword, you can look for SERP features. Google features like FAQs, reviews, or shopping ads give clues about the intent.
But the best way is to use an SEO tool. Tools like Semrush and Ahrefs display search intent data, allowing you to filter keywords based on intent types. Semrush tools provide an ‘Intent’ feature to easily filter keywords based on search intent.
For instance, in the Keyword Magic Tool, you can see intent labels assigned to different keywords. By using intent filters, you can narrow down your keyword list to focus on the types that align with your blog’s goals.
For example, suppose you run a fitness blog, you can filter for informational and commercial keywords. If you search for ‘how to lose belly fat’, then the top results will likely show informational intent that indicates blog posts and guides.
Once you’ve filtered the keywords, you’ll have a refined list tailored to your content strategy.
4. Analyze Competitor Keywords
Analyzing your competitors’ keywords is a smart way to uncover new keyword opportunities and gain insights into what’s working in your niche.
Instead of starting from scratch, you can identify which keywords your competitors are ranking for. Accordingly, use that data to refine your content strategy.
Let’s use the Semrush Keyword Gap tool to analyze competitor keywords.
First, open this tool and enter your domain along with competitor domains. Then, choose your target location and click ‘Compare’.
For this example, we’ll be using our blog website and one of its competitors.
Ultimately, this tool analyzes keyword overlap between your site and competitors.
The missing keywords are those keywords your competitors rank for, but your blog isn’t. This shows the valuable keyword opportunities to use for your blogs.
On the other hand, the weak keywords are those keywords your competitors outrank you. Optimizing your existing blog with these helps boost your ranks.
Suppose you start a new blog, then you can provide your competitors’ domains and check the ‘Shared’ tab. It has common keywords that competitors rank for.
Analyzing your competitors gives you an edge in your niche. So, discover high-potential keywords to refine your SEO strategy.
5. Collect Related Keywords
Finding related keywords is a crucial step for your blog. Instead of relying on a single keyword, collecting related keywords is way beneficial.
It helps you expand your content coverage, target a wider audience, and improve the ranking for many search terms.
A great way to start is by using seed keywords, which are broad terms that define your niche. For example, if you run a fitness blog, seed keywords can be ‘fitness’ or ‘strength training’ that act as a foundation to uncover related keywords.
Now, follow these steps in Semrush’s Keyword Magic tool.
First, enter a broad term like ‘strength training’ into the tool. Then, click ‘Search’.
Then, it organizes keywords into topic-based clusters like ‘strength training weight’, ‘strength training program’, and ‘strength training exercise’ on the left.
These groups help you find related topics and subtopics to expand your content strategy. So, expand the keyword groups to find subtopics that your audience is interested in, and cover various aspects of your niche to create content.
Try different seed keywords to uncover more related terms. For example, using ‘home workout’ as a seed keyword may lead to valuable suggestions like ‘home workout for beginners’.
6. Optimize for LSI Keywords
Following that, LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords are words and phrases closely related to your main keyword. Finding them helps search engines understand the context of your content and improve its relevance to user queries.
Similar to related keywords, begin finding LSI keywords using the seed keywords. Just enter the same keyword ‘strength training’ in the Keyword Magic tool.
This time, go to the sections like ‘Questions’ and ‘Phrase Match’. There, you can find contextually related terms to improve content relevance.
For example, some LSI keywords derived for the given seed keyword could be ‘functional strength training’ or ‘pilates strength training’.
7. Leverage Google’s Suggestions
Google offers built-in tools and features to uncover valuable insights into user behavior and search patterns. By analyzing Google’s suggestions and SERPs, you can target high-potential keywords to create blog content.
Here are some ways you can use Google’s suggestions for finding the best keywords.
i. Use Google Autocomplete
You can type a keyword like ‘fitness tips’ into Google’s search bar. Then, check the autocomplete suggestions which offer real-time insight into users’ search terms.
For instance, type ‘fitness tips for’, and you may get suggested terms, such as ‘fitness tips for women’ or ‘fitness tips for men’.
ii. Check People Also Search for
If you scroll to the bottom of the search results page, then you may find the ‘People also search for’ section. This provides related search terms offering extra keyword ideas to help you expand your content scope.
For example, some related keywords that can be displayed include ‘fitness tips for weight loss’ or ‘fitness tips for daily routine’.
iii. People Also Ask
Similarly, you may find a ‘People also ask’ section in the middle of the search results. This includes common questions users have about your keyword.
For example, some questions can be, ‘how to get perfect fitness’ or ‘what are the top tips for physical fitness’.
Now, you can add these key questions and answer them on your blog to boost your content relevance and increase user engagement.
iv. SERP Analysis
Tools like Semrush allow the analysis of top results on search engines. Just open the Keyword Overview tool and enter your preferred keyword.
There, check the ‘SERP Analysis’ section. Here, you’ll find what content types are ranking for the keyword. This helps to:
- Determine the blog content types like listicles, guides, comparisons, etc. Similarly, write as per the best format.
- View metrics like Authority Score, referring domains, etc.
- Find out content gaps by identifying missing subtopics on top-ranking pages.
If you open one blog from the analysis, then you can find the top keywords, SERP features, etc. Using them lets you use those keywords and terms on your blogs.
8. Analyze Monthly Search Volume
Understanding the monthly search volume of a keyword is vital for picking the right keywords to target in your blog. It represents how many times a keyword is searched per month to analyze its potential to drive traffic.
Hence, the higher the search volume, the greater the potential audience. However, it also means higher competition.
Here’s how you can use Semrush’s Keyword Magic tool to analyze it!
First, open this tool and type a keyword related to your niche. For example, let’s go with ‘home workouts’ and click the ‘Search’ option.
Following that, check the ‘Volume’ metric for every keyword. Now, make sure you avoid targeting keywords with zero search volume which denotes that they won’t drive meaningful traffic.
What else? You can utilize the ‘Volume’ filter to configure a custom range.
Let’s suppose you want to see keywords with a minimum of 8000 monthly searches. Then, set the ‘from’ value to 8000 and press ‘Apply’.
In addition, here are some proven tips for evaluating search volume:
- Combine high-volume and low-volume keywords to balance reach and competition.
- Prioritize keywords with a good search volume and low competition to maximize ranking chances.
9. Compare the Keyword Difficulty
Keyword difficulty (KD%) metric helps you determine how challenging it will be to rank in the top 10 search results for a specific keyword. It is measured on a scale from 0 to 100. Here, a higher percentage indicates tougher competition.
Overall, understanding keyword difficulty allows you to prioritize the keywords that are easier to rank for. This saves both your time and resources.
To analyze keyword difficulty, you can enter your keyword in Semrush’s Keyword Magic tool. Taking the same example, let’s use the keyword ‘home workouts’.
Now, focus on the ‘KD%’ column which shows the competition level of every keyword.
The table below denotes what the KD% levels mean:
KD% | Level | Description |
0-30 | Low Difficulty | Easier to rank for, ideal for new blogs or websites. |
31-60 | Medium Difficulty | Medium competition, so requires good content with essential SEO effort. |
61-100 | High Difficulty | Difficult to rank without strong domain authority and strong backlinks. |
Similar to search volume, you can use the KD% filter to easily find low-competition keywords. Just put the range to be in between 0-30 and choose the output keywords to rank among them.
However, ensure that the keywords have a lower search volume too. This provides a better opportunity for visibility and growth.
When doing so, ‘can you workout at home on a fatigue mat’ may be the best keyword with moderate difficulty and a steady search volume.
10. Focus on Long-Tail Keywords
High-volume keywords may be attractive, but ranking for them is hard because of high competition. Along with choosing keywords having moderate volume and KD%, you can also focus on long-tail keywords.
Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific phrases that people search for when looking for detailed information or solutions.
Unlike short, generic keywords, long-tail keywords usually have lower competition and higher conversion potential as they target a specific audience with clear intent.
So, if you want a lower search volume keyword that is more specific, then go with long-tail keywords. Providing a good blog when using it can improve user engagement and conversion rates.
For example, instead of targeting a broad keyword like ‘weight loss’, a long-tail keyword like ‘easy weight loss tips for beginners at home’ is more targeted and easier to rank for.
On the Keyword Overview tool, you can try entering a board keyword and a long-tail keyword one at a time. The result will be that a long-tail keyword generally has low keyword difficulty and competition.
Hence, you can instead open the Keyword Magic tool. There, enter a broad keyword related to your blog niche. For example, ‘home workouts’ and click ‘Search’ to generate keyword ideas.
Now, analyze the keywords based on the various options provided. This involves search volume, difficulty, etc., and go ahead with the long-tail keywords.
11. Uncover Keywords You’re Already Ranking for
One of the best ways to find valuable keyword opportunities is by analyzing the keywords your blog is already ranking for. Even if your pages are not in the top search results, Google considers your content relevant for those queries.
Let’s use Google Search Console (GSC) to access your blog’s performance reports:
First, open this tool and go to ‘Search Results’ under the Performance section. There, open the ‘Queries’ tab and find the list of search terms your site ranks for.
Now, look for keywords where your position is between 11-20 that lie on page 2 of search results and have potential for improvement.
Moving forward, you can click the ‘Export’ button in the top-right corner. Then, choose the preferred format, open the file, sort the keywords based on the position, and analyze them further based on priority.
Further, you can use Semrush’s Keyword Strategy Builder to organize and analyze the keywords collected. Just add the keywords to a list and find the best keywords.
Do you want a free tool to find the keywords you’re already ranking for? Then, we also recommend using the Keyword Explorer tool by Mozbar. It provides AI-powered insights to help you find high-opportunity target keywords.
12. Pick the Primary Keywords
Selecting the right primary or target keyword is essential for optimizing your blog content and ensuring it ranks well in search engines. It’s the term that best represents your page’s topic and has the highest search potential within your niche.
In addition, here are some reasons why your primary keyword selection is crucial:
- It helps your content rank higher in search results and gets search visibility.
- Minimizes keyword cannibalization keeping your content aligned with user intent.
- Improves on-page SEO by adding it to key elements like title tags, headings, and meta descriptions.
Find the differences between on-site and off-site SEO here!
Here’s the overall process we came across to pick the best primary keyword:
Step | Description |
Step 1: Review Your Keyword List | Take the list of keywords you gathered during research and identify potential primary keyword candidates. Consider metrics like search volume, competition level, and search intent. |
Step 2: Check Competitor Rankings | Use Semrush’s Organic Research Tool to analyze the top-ranking page for your chosen keyword. Look at the keywords the page is ranking for and see if there’s a better, higher-volume variant you can target. |
Step 3: Compare Keyword Variants | Sometimes, closely related terms may have different search volumes and ranking opportunities. For example, if your original choice is ‘home workout plan’, and you find ‘at-home workout schedule’ ranks higher with similar intent, it may be a better choice. |
Step 4: Confirm with SERP Analysis | Enter your chosen keyword in Google or Semrush’s SEO Content Template tool to check if top-ranking pages are the same for similar keywords. If results are identical, Google likely treats them as interchangeable. This helps you choose the best version. |
Learn how to do SEO yourself with our ultimate guide! You can also check out how to use AI for SEO here!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Check out the answers to some frequently asked questions below!
1. What’s the difference between LSI keywords and related keywords?
Contextually relevant terminology known as LSI keywords aid search engines in comprehending your material. On the other hand, synonyms or variants of your target phrase are known as related keywords.
2. How often should I update my keyword strategy?
Because keyword trends are always changing, it is recommended that you review and tweak your keyword strategy every three to six months to stay current.
3. Should I prioritize high-volume or low-competition keywords?
Finding a balance between targeting low-competition keywords for faster wins and focusing on high-volume keywords with moderate competition is best.
4. How many keywords should I target in a blog post?
Focus on one main keyword and organically include two or three related or secondary keywords throughout your content.
5. What are the biggest mistakes to avoid in keyword research?
Targeting too broad keywords, disregarding search intent, keyword stuffing, and neglecting to examine keyword performance over time. These are common mistakes to avoid while conducting keyword research.
6. Can social media platforms help with keyword research?
Indeed, you may learn about popular titles, audience inquiries, and commonly discussed themes in your industry. All of that can be found on social media sites like Quora, Reddit, and Twitter.
Conclusion
That’s a wrap! You’ve successfully reached the end of this guide on how to find keywords for blog posts.
In a nutshell, using the right keywords can help your content show up when people need it the most. So, use these strategies when finding the keywords for your blogs.
If you have more questions, then go ahead and mention them in the comment box. We’ll guide you in every step.
Furthermore, check out our other articles on how to add keywords to the website and make the most out of Content AI.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get updates on our recent blogs.