Keyword Research Tutorial: 3-Step Process for All Levels

Summary

In this SEO tutorial, Nathan Gotch from Gotcha SEO Academy outlines a comprehensive keyword research process for SEO campaigns. He explains the importance of targeting long-tail keywords over head and body keywords for clearer intent and less competition. Gotch shares strategies for discovering keyword opportunities, including analyzing existing rankings, using SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool, and leveraging Google's 'People Also Ask' section. He also discusses the crucial steps of keyword qualification and prioritization, emphasizing the need for relevance, search volume, and low competition to ensure profitable SEO efforts.

Takeaways

• 😀 Nathan Gotch, founder of Gotcha SEO, shares his step-by-step keyword research process for SEO campaigns.
• 🔍 There are three types of keywords: head, body, and long-tail, with long-tail keywords being recommended due to clearer intent and lower competition.
• 🚫 Avoid head keywords as they are often too broad, difficult to rank for, and result in low-quality traffic and conversions.
• 🔑 Long-tail keywords, with four or more words, are preferred for their specificity, lower competition, and higher conversion rates.
• 🛠️ Use SEMrush to identify existing keywords your website is ranking for and categorize them into low hanging fruits, existing, and clustering opportunities.
• 🌟 Prioritize low hanging fruit keywords (ranking 2-15) for immediate action and consider clustering opportunities for pages not ranking in the top 50.
• 🎯 Utilize SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool to find keyword opportunities by leveraging filters and focusing on low keyword difficulty (KD).
• 📚 Explore Wikipedia for relevant subtopics related to your broad topic to find additional keyword ideas.
• 🤔 Use AlsoAsk.com to discover long-tail keyword phrases from Google's 'People Also Ask' section, which can help build topical relevance.
• ✅ Select a primary keyword for each page based on search volume and intent, ensuring one primary keyword per page for focused targeting.
• 📊 Use keyword qualification factors such as current position, search volume, keyword difficulty, transactional intent, relevance, trend, and CTR potential to filter and prioritize keywords.
• 📈 Estimate the cost of content creation and backlink acquisition to prioritize keywords that offer the most profitable ranking opportunities.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?

The main purpose of the video is to demonstrate a step-by-step keyword research process for SEO, helping viewers find the perfect keywords for their SEO campaigns.

Who is the presenter of the video?

The presenter is Nathan Gotch, the founder of Gotcha SEO, who has led numerous successful SEO campaigns and teaches SEO through his academy.

What are the three types of keywords discussed in the video?

The three types of keywords discussed are head keywords, body keywords, and long-tail keywords, each with different characteristics and uses in SEO.

Why should head keywords generally be avoided in SEO?

Head keywords should be avoided because they often have unclear intent, result in low traffic quality and conversion rates, face high competition, and experience extreme SERP volatility.

What makes body keywords more specific and clearer in intent compared to head keywords?

Body keywords are more specific and clearer in intent because they usually consist of two to three words, which helps narrow down the search query and makes the user's intent more apparent.

Why are long-tail keywords often the best choice for targeting in SEO?

Long-tail keywords are often the best choice because they have a clear intent, are less competitive, and can lead to higher conversion rates and more quality leads.

What is the first phase of keyword selection based on, according to the video?

The first phase of keyword selection should be based 100% on intent, even though search volume is important, the focus should be on finding keywords that align with the user's intent.

How can one find keyword opportunities from their existing keyword profile?

One can find keyword opportunities by analyzing the keywords they are already ranking for, categorizing them into low hanging fruits, existing keywords, and clustering opportunities, and then prioritizing them based on their current position and other factors.

What is SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool and how can it be used for keyword research?

SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool is a feature within the SEMrush platform that helps users discover new keyword ideas by using filters to refine and find relevant keywords based on a seed keyword.

What is the significance of the 'People Also Ask' section in Google and how can it be utilized for keyword research?

The 'People Also Ask' section in Google provides real-time keyword validation by showing phrases that are actually searched for on Google. It can be used to find long-tail keyword phrases that build topical relevance and target keywords that may be overlooked by competitors.

How does the video suggest prioritizing keywords for an SEO campaign?

The video suggests prioritizing keywords based on factors such as current position, minimum search volume, keyword difficulty, transactional intent, relevance to core offerings, trend, and potential organic CTR.

What is the next phase of the SEO process discussed in the video?

The next phase of the SEO process discussed in the video is conducting a complete step-by-step SEO audit, which will be the focus of the next video in the series.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Understanding SEO Keyword Research

Nathan Gotch introduces his step-by-step keyword research process for SEO, emphasizing the importance of following it to find effective keywords. He explains the three types of keywords: head, body, and long-tail, with head keywords being the least effective due to unclear intent and high competition. Body keywords are more specific but still competitive. Long-tail keywords, with four or more words, are recommended for their clear intent and lower competition. Nathan discusses the importance of intent in keyword selection and how it impacts conversion rates and profitability.

05:01

📈 Strategies for Finding Keyword Opportunities

The script outlines methods to discover keyword opportunities, starting with analyzing existing keyword profiles to find low-hanging fruits and clustering opportunities. It suggests using SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool to find relevant keywords by leveraging filters and focusing on low keyword difficulty. The importance of targeting primary keywords per page is highlighted, and the use of AlsoAsked.com to tap into Google's 'People Also Ask' section for unique keyword insights is recommended. The summary also touches on keyword qualification factors, such as current position, search volume, and keyword difficulty.

10:01

🚀 Prioritizing and Executing SEO Keywords

The final paragraph discusses the process of keyword prioritization, which involves considering factors like content length, backlink analysis, and the potential organic click-through rate. It provides a method to estimate the cost of ranking for a keyword based on content and backlinks, advising to prioritize keywords that require the least investment. The video script concludes with a teaser for the next video in the series, which will cover conducting a comprehensive SEO audit.

Keywords

💡SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of improving a website's visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results. In the context of the video, SEO is the main theme as the presenter discusses strategies for keyword research to enhance SEO campaigns. The video aims to teach viewers how to find perfect keywords for their SEO campaigns.

💡Head Keywords

Head keywords are single-word or acronym keywords that are often too broad and lack clear intent. The video explains that these types of keywords are generally not ideal for targeting in SEO campaigns because they can lead to low-quality traffic and poor conversions. An example from the script is the keyword 'cars,' which could refer to a vehicle, a movie, or various other things.

💡Body Keywords

Body keywords are more specific than head keywords, typically consisting of two to three words. They provide a clearer intent but are highly competitive. In the video, 'used cars' is given as an example of a body keyword, indicating a more specific search intent compared to 'cars' but still being a competitive target.

💡Long Tail Keywords

Long tail keywords are phrases with four or more words that indicate a very specific search intent. The video emphasizes that these keywords are often less competitive and can lead to higher conversion rates due to their specificity. An example used is 'used cars douglas georgia,' which clearly indicates a searcher's intent to find used cars in a specific location.

💡Keyword Difficulty (KD)

Keyword Difficulty is a metric used to estimate how hard it will be to rank for a particular keyword. The video suggests focusing on keywords with lower KD percentages as they are easier to rank for and require fewer resources. The script mentions that 'used cars douglas georgia' has a KD of 12, indicating it's less competitive.

💡SERP Volatility

SERP Volatility refers to the constant shuffling of search engine results pages (SERPs) for certain keywords due to Google's difficulty in determining the searcher's intent. The video explains that head keywords often suffer from high SERP volatility, making them less desirable to target.

💡Intent

In the context of SEO, intent refers to the reason behind a user's search query. The video stresses the importance of targeting keywords with clear intent to ensure that the traffic driven to a website is of high quality and more likely to convert. The script uses the keyword 'cars' to illustrate the difficulty in understanding intent.

💡SEMrush

SEMrush is an online suite of tools for SEO, PPC, and competitive research. Throughout the video, the presenter uses SEMrush to demonstrate how to find keyword opportunities, analyze keyword difficulty, and perform other SEO-related tasks. It's presented as a valuable tool for keyword research and SEO strategy.

💡Content Length

Content length refers to the number of words in a piece of content, which can impact SEO. The video suggests using SEMrush to determine the average content length of top-ranking pages for a keyword, which can help in planning and budgeting for content creation. It's part of the strategy for prioritizing and targeting keywords.

💡Backlinks

Backlinks are links from one website to another and are a significant factor in SEO. The video discusses the importance of analyzing the number of backlinks to the top-ranking pages for a keyword as part of the keyword prioritization process. It suggests using this data to estimate the resources needed to rank for a keyword.

💡CTR Potential

CTR stands for Click-Through Rate, which is the measure of how often a link is clicked on in a search engine results page. The video mentions considering CTR potential when qualifying keywords, as a high number of featured snippets and ads can reduce the CTR for organic results.

Highlights

Introduction to the complete step-by-step keyword research process for SEO.

Nathan Gotch's background as founder of Gotcha SEO and experience in leading SEO campaigns.

The importance of understanding three types of keywords: head, body, and long-tail keywords.

Head keywords are often too broad and lack clear intent, leading to poor traffic quality and conversion rates.

Body keywords are more specific but still competitive and may not be the best target due to high competition.

Long-tail keywords are recommended for their clear intent, lower competition, and higher conversion rates.

The first phase of keyword selection should be based on intent rather than just search volume.

Using SEMrush to find keyword opportunities from your existing keyword profile.

Categorizing existing keywords into low hanging fruits, existing, and clustering opportunities for better targeting.

SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool for discovering new keyword opportunities with filters.

Utilizing Google's 'People Also Ask' section and AlsoAsk.com to find long-tail keyword phrases.

The process of keyword qualification involving factors like current position, search volume, keyword difficulty, and intent.

Selecting a primary keyword for each page to ensure clear targeting and intent.

Prioritizing keywords based on content length, backlinks, and potential organic click-through rate.

Estimating the cost of ranking for a keyword by considering content length and the number of backlinks.

Upcoming SEO training series focusing on conducting a complete SEO audit.

Invitation to subscribe and hit the bell for first access to the next video in the series.

Transcripts

hey in this video i'm going to show you

my complete step-by-step keyword

research process for seo just follow

this process and you'll find perfect

keywords for your campaign and watch

until the end because i share my biggest

keyword research secret let's dive right

in i'm nathan gotch the founder of

gotcha seo and i've personally led

hundreds of successful seo campaigns

since 2013 and i've now taught my proven

seo process to over 1 000 seo

practitioners inside my training gotcha

seo academy so in case you're new here

this is lesson two in this seo training

series and there will be a link below to

watch video one after you finish this

video and to avoid missing the third

part in the series subscribe below and

hit the bell icon so you can get first

access let's dive right in so there are

three types of keywords that you'll

encounter first are head keywords these

are keywords with a single word or

acronym like cars and in most cases

these are the worst types of keywords to

target for a few different reasons

number one the intent isn't clear so

take a look at the search results for

cars what is someone actually searching

for in this case are they looking to buy

a car if so used or new what type of car

or are they simply looking for more

information about the movie cars the

intent is difficult to understand which

leads to the second reason why you

shouldn't target head keywords which is

number two because the intent isn't

clear traffic quality will be low and as

a result conversions will be poor so

sure ranking for head keywords will

juice your traffic numbers but you'll be

disappointed by the conversion rates

moving on to number three which is the

competition makes ranking for these

keywords a death trap because you'll

need a massive amount of resources to

rank and even if you do rank you'll

suffer from the next point which is

number four extreme serp volatility

because google has a difficult time

knowing what the searcher is actually

looking for therefore google is

constantly shuffling the results to find

what produces the highest organic ctr so

overall there's almost never a good

reason to target head keywords but now

let's move on to the next type of

keyword which are body keywords an

example of a body keyword is used cars

now things are getting more specific and

the intent is becoming clearer and it is

still going to be an insanely

competitive keyword to attack but at

least you have a better idea of what the

searcher actually wants now most body

keywords will be no more than two to

three words max and they're often very

competitive because they're the easiest

to find and therefore most competitors

will invest heavy resources into them

and that's why it's usually best for

most websites to focus on the third

category of keywords which are long tail

keywords long tail keyword phrases will

have four or more words like used cars

douglas georgia and as you can see

compared to the previous examples like

cars or used cars the intent for used

cars douglas georgia is much clearer

it's also a much less competitive

keyword for example according to scm

rush cars has a 100 keyword difficulty

used cars isn't much better with a 99

keyword difficulty but used cars douglas

georgia only has a kd percentage of 12

which will be much easier now i talked

about this in the previous video in the

series but the first phase of keyword

selection should be 100 based on intent

yes keywords should have search volume

but cars has tremendous search volume

with 823 000 searches every month while

used cars douglas georgia only has 320

searches per month but used cars douglas

georgia is a far superior option because

a it will produce a dramatically higher

conversion rate and will likely generate

more quality leads by volume and b it's

lower competition which means ranking

for it will be more profitable overall

so now that you know the different types

of keywords and how to think about

intent let me show you three awesome

ways to find keyword opportunities

number one your existing keyword profile

so the first place you should find

keyword inspiration is from what you're

already ranking for and these keywords

are the best because google is already

signaling that you're doing something

right to show up now go into semrush and

enter your domain into the search go to

organic research and click on positions

now you'll have access to all the

keywords your website is ranking for

within the top 100 and i like to

categorize existing keywords into three

different buckets first low hanging

fruits which are keywords ranking from

positions 2 to 15. and these are the

keywords you should attack right away

just click on the positions drop down

and go to the custom range enter 2 and

15 to see all of your low hanging fruits

and to take it a step further filter

this set of keywords based on kde

percentage start with 0 to 14

in the very easy range to find the

lowest competition opportunities now

keep in mind you'll need to prioritize

keywords based on intent and relevance

as well more on this in a second the

next type of keywords are from position

16 to 50 which i label as existing they

are also good targets but they should be

second on the priority list after low

hanging fruits and the final category of

keywords are from positions number 51 to

100 which i personally call clustering

opportunities if a page isn't ranking in

the top 50 then there's a good chance

that the page isn't targeted enough for

example look at this keyword that scm

rush is ranking number 52 for which

targeting option is best for achieving

brand awareness notice that the page is

about youtube targeting options this

page isn't targeted enough to rank for

this long tail keyword phrase this is a

perfect clustering opportunity because

you can create a dedicated page for this

particular keyword phrase and it will

rank much better just remember google's

number one goal is to deliver the most

relevant results possible so with that

said these clustering opportunities are

an awesome way to capture more organic

search traffic and build more topical

relevance which will improve the

performance of all pages in that cluster

take advantage of it the next method for

finding keyword opportunities is to use

semrush's keyword magic tool so while in

sem rush go to the keyword research

section and click on keyword magic tool

now there's no right or wrong way to

begin your search but the key is to

leverage the filters so let's use seo

for example this head keyword is

extremely competitive and should be

avoided pretty much at all costs however

we can use it as a seed to find better

opportunities so let's use the filters

to get started i like to start with the

lowest kd and then work my way up so

what you'll notice right away in this

case is that there's a ton of irrelevant

keywords and you can combat this in two

ways first set the language filter to

only show the target language in this

example it's english and next use the

exclude filter to eliminate more

irrelevant keywords i've added five to

this filter and then at this point you

should be left with a nice pool of

perspective keywords add each relevant

keyword to your keyword list and then

repeat this process going further up the

kde ladder and once you've tapped out

all keywords specific to the broad topic

of seo or whatever your broad topic is

you should go to wikipedia and look for

relevant subtopics within the larger

vertical in the case of seo i found

website traffic site maps keywords

inbound links meta tags and the list

goes on and on use these as seed phrases

to find even more untapped ideas in sem

rush so the two methods i just showed

you are more than enough to build a

large keyword database however to take

it to the next level i recommend taking

advantage of google's people also asks

section bringing me to point number

three which is use

alsoast.com this tool is incredible for

finding all phrases from google's people

also ask section and these long tail

keyword phrases are a powerful way to

build topical relevance and attack

keywords that no one else is paying

attention to so how do i know that well

because most of these phrases won't have

search volume in the traditional keyword

research tools however you can conclude

that these are real searches occurring

on google because google wouldn't show

them as options in the first place in

short the people also ask section is

giving you real-time keyword validation

now the tool also asks streamlines this

entire process just enter your keyword

in this case i'll use seo again and the

first tier of ideas might be competitive

but you'll strike gold in the second

tier and so on because it gets more

granular as you go all right so now you

should have a nice database of keyword

opportunities but how do you decide what

keywords are best to target well that's

when keyword qualification comes into

play but before you can qualify keywords

i need to cover one very important point

you need to select a primary keyword so

let's say you have a page that's ranking

for st louis personal injury lawyer

personal injury lawyer st louis and even

st louis injury attorney these are all

variations of the same primary keyword

and therefore they should be targeted on

the same page now the key is to select

whichever variation has the most search

volume but let's say you also want to

rank for st louis car accident lawyer

well this keyword has a totally

different intent and therefore deserves

its own dedicated page so as you go

through the following process just

remember one primary keyword per page so

with that said there are several key

factors that should help you filter

through your list of keywords number one

your current position so if you have

existing keywords that are ranking well

these should be prioritized number two

minimum search volume i recommend a

minimum of 100 searches per month for

most industries however if it's local

you may want to adjust this downward

number three keyword difficulty so focus

on low competition keywords first and

then work your way up as your site

builds more topical authority and

acquires more backlinks number four

focus on keywords with transactional

intent first and then work your way up

the funnel to broader targets number

five relevance always prioritize

keywords that are hyper relevant to your

core offerings for example if i sell seo

training keywords like seo training

boston are super important however a

keyword like seo tools isn't as

important because it isn't directly

relevant to my core offer yes it's

broadly relevant but it should not be

high on the priority list number six is

trend if you're struggling to pick a

keyword then pick the one that's

trending the best you can find trending

data using semrush's keyword research

tool on the overview tab and number

seven is ctr potential and this is the

final consideration for qualifying

keywords which is the potential organic

click-through rate for example if there

are many cert features and ads then your

ctr will be lower so with semrush you

can easily see at a glance how many cert

features are present by looking under

the serp features column so use these

seven factors to find the best keyword

opportunities but once you've selected a

nice pool of 50 to 100 keywords then you

need to decide which ones are best to

target in priority order and that's when

keyword prioritization comes into play

now there are a few factors you can use

to prioritize your keyword set and it

largely has to do with resources and

that said you'll want to prioritize

keywords based on content and backlinks

for content you'll need to gather word

count targets for each individual

keyword so go into scm rush go to the on

page and tech seo section and click on

on page seo checker now you'll need to

run each primary keyword through this

tool and collect the target word count

and then go to the top ten benchmarking

tab and look under content length

semrush will show you the average for

the top ten and this should be your

target and the goal is by identifying

the ideal length it's going to help us

estimate what our budget will be the

second part of prioritization is based

on backlinks go to the keyword tool and

find the primary keyword in this case

i'll use used cars douglas georgia

scroll down to serp analysis and look

under ref domains which stands for

referring domains this is the total

number of unique domains linking to each

ranking page i recommend getting the

overall average of these top 10 ranking

pages repeat this process for every

primary keyword and let's just say it

costs 300 to acquire a backlink based on

time and resources you can now estimate

based on content length and the total

number of backlinks how much it will

cost to rank for this keyword and then

from there you can prioritize keywords

that have the lowest investment or in

other words which will be the most

profitable to rank for so that is how

you do keyword research like an seo pro

now the next phase of the seo process is

to conduct a complete step-by-step seo

audit and don't worry you don't need a

phd in computer science to conduct and

audit you just need to know what to look

for and how to prioritize what you find

and that's what will be the focus of the

next video in this free seo training

series so please subscribe and hit the

bell button because you'll get first

access when it goes live now will you do

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thank you so much for watching and i'll

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