SEO Step-by-Step
1. Find keywords.
Keyword research is as simple as picking a list of words and phrases relevant to your business.
Think about which words are most likely to get people to do what you want them to do
You can use a dedicated keyword research tool, but as a beginner, it’s wise to choose your keywords intuitively at first.
Keyword Relevance
When selecting the best keywords for SEO, relevance is the most crucial consideration. Why? Because it's preferable to be more specific.
For instance, if you own a company that manufactures shirts, it's likely that you'd attract more qualified prospects by targeting a keyword such as "pvc window installation," rather than "window."
That's because there's a good chance that someone searching for "pvc window installation" is looking for information on window or someone to perform the installation ... and that could be you!
Location-Based Keywords
Another major factor to consider when optimizing for the right keywords is location-based searches.
When looking for contractors and services in their specific area, search engine users will usually include their location in the search. So, "pvc window installation" becomes "pvc window installation in Delhi, India."
If you operate in one geo-location, you may want to consider adding location-based keywords to all of your pages, since traffic from other locations isn't going to be very much help to you. If your business operates in several geo-locations, it is also a wise choice to create a separate web page dedicated to each location so you can make sure your brand is present when people are searching for individual locations.
Free Keyword Research Tools
1. Google Keyword Planner
Google has a few tools that make it easy to conduct keyword research, and their free AdWords tool called Keyword Planner is a great place to start -- especially if you use AdWords for some of your campaigns
When you input one keyword, multiple keywords, or even your website address into Keyword Planner, Google will spit out a list of related keywords along with simple metrics to gauge how fierce the competition is around each one and how many searches it gets on both a global and local search level.
2. Google Trends
Google Trends is another free tool from Google. It lets you enter multiple keywords and filter by location, search history, and category. Once you enter that information in, it'll give you results that show how much web interest there is around a particular keyword, what caused the interest (e.g., press coverage), and where the traffic is coming from -- along with similar keywords.
3. Keyword Tool.io
Although it's a really basic tool, Keyword Tool can be helpful if you're merely searching for a list of long-tail keyword recommendations connected to one you already have in mind. Additionally, using the most basic version of it is completely free; no account is even required.
Paid Keyword Research Tools
Term Explorer, Moz's Keyword Difficulty Tool, SEMrush, Ahrefs, SE Ranking, GrowthBar, Accuranker, HubSpot, Serpstat
