Keyword Research for SEO: The Definitive Guide + Template
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Keyword Research: The Definitive Guide

Today Iโ€™m going to show you exactly how to do keyword research in 2024.

In this comprehensive guide Iโ€™ll cover:

  • How to find keywords
  • How to choose the right keywords
  • How to use popular keyword research tools
  • Advanced keyword research tips
  • Lots more

So if you want higher Google rankings and more traffic, youโ€™ll love this guide.

Letโ€™s get started.

Introduction

Chapter 1: Keyword Research Basics

Keyword Research Basics

In this chapter, Iโ€™ll cover the fundamentals of keyword research.

First, youโ€™ll practically learn what keyword research is (and why itโ€™s important for SEO).

Iโ€™ll also show you how keyword research helped grow my siteโ€™s search engine traffic to 360k+ unique visitors per month.

What is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of identifying and analyzing the specific words and phrases that people use to search for information online. This valuable insight helps you create content, ads, and videos that directly address your target audience’s search queries, enhancing your website’s visibility and attracting more visitors.

Brian's Tip
Brian's Tip

Try the FREE Backlinko Keyword Research Tool. Discover new keywords and performance data to use in your site content, SEO campaigns, and more.

Why is Keyword Research Important for SEO?

Keyword research impacts every other SEO task that you perform, including finding content topics, on-page SEO, email outreach, and content promotion.

Keyword research process

Thatโ€™s why keyword research is usually the first step of any SEO campaign.

Put another way:

Keywords are like a compass for your SEO campaigns: they tell you where to go and whether or not youโ€™re making progress.

As a bonus, researching keywords help you better understand your target audience. Thatโ€™s because keyword research gives you insight into what customers are searching for… and the exact words and phrases that they use.

In other words: keyword research is market research for the 21st century.

How Keyword Research Helped My Siteโ€™s Traffic Grow

Today, my site generates 449,058 visitors every month:

Backlinko – Users – September 2021

And 362,732 of those visitors (80.78%) come from Google:

Backlinko – Organic traffic – September 2021

Obviously, there are a lot of factors that went into my siteโ€™s success with SEO, including content, on-site optimization, link building and technical SEO.

But the #1 factor that contributed to my siteโ€™s traffic growth was keyword research.

For example:

A while back I used the process in this guide to uncover a low-competition keyword: mobile SEO.

And I created a piece of SEO-optimized content around that term: The Definitive Guide to Mobile SEO.

Backlinko – Mobile SEO guide

Because that keyword wasnโ€™t super competitive, my site quickly ranked in the top 3:

And thanks to that top 3 ranking, that single page brings in hundreds of visitors from Google every month:

Mobile SEO guide – Monthly users

With that, itโ€™s time for chapter 2.

Chapter 2: How to Find Keyword Ideas

How to Find Keyword Ideas

Now itโ€™s time to get into the nitty gritty of keyword research.

Specifically, itโ€™s time to generate a list of keywords.

In this chapter Iโ€™m going to show you proven strategies that you can use to come up with LOTS of keyword ideas.

Letโ€™s dive right in.

Keyword Research Template

Whether youโ€™re starting a new SEO project, want to improve your siteโ€™s search traffic, or are looking for target keywords for a new piece of content, this template will help you do keyword research quickly and effectively.

Why Use a Keyword Research Template?

This template brings together all the different tool options and approaches into one place. So instead of bouncing around between a thousand tabs, losing track of where you are in the processโ€ฆ

You can just go through this template. Simple. Step-by-step.

When youโ€™re done, youโ€™ll have a BIG list of keywords. Plus all the metrics to help you pick which to target.

Download Now: Keyword Research Template

Brainstorm a List of Topics

Hereโ€™s where you come up with topics that your target customer is interested in.

For example, letโ€™s say that you run a digital marketing agency.

Well, youโ€™d want to ask yourself: โ€What topics do people search for that are related to my business?โ€

Some topics that come to mind would be things like:

  • Social media
  • Email marketing
  • Website traffic
  • Content Marketing
  • Blogging
  • PPC

Note: These topics arenโ€™t keywords (yet).

Which is exactly what youโ€™re going to learn how to do right now…

Wikipedia Table of Contents

Wikipedia is an overlooked keyword research goldmine.

Where else can you find articles curated by thousands of industry experts… all organized into neat little categories?

Hereโ€™s how to use Wikipedia to find keyword ideas.

First, head over to Wikipedia and type in a broad keyword:

Wikipedia – "Coffee" search

That will take you to the Wikipedia entry for that broad topic.

Wikipedia – "Coffee" page

Then, look for the โ€œcontentsโ€ section of the page. This section lists out the subtopics covered on that page.

Wikipedia – Contents

And some of the subtopics listed here are awesome keywords that would be tough to find any other way:

Wikipedia – Contents keywords

You can also click on some of the internal links on the page to check out the Table of Contents of other, closely related entries.

For example, on the coffee entry we have a link to โ€œCoffee Preparationโ€:

Wikipedia – Cross link

When you click on that link, youโ€™ll notice that the table of contents for the Coffee Preparation page has even more keywords that you can add to your list:

Wikipedia – "Coffee preparation"

Pretty cool.

Searches Related To

Another cool way to find keywords is to check out the โ€œSearches Related toโ€ section at the bottom of Googleโ€™s search results.

For example, letโ€™s say one of your topics was โ€œcontent marketingโ€.

Well, youโ€™d want to search for that keyword in Google.

Google SERP – Content marketing

And scroll to the bottom of the page. Youโ€™ll find a list of 8 keywords that are closely related to your search term.

Google SERP – Related searches

Just like with Google Suggest, these are keyword ideas that come straight from Google. So you donโ€™t need to guess whether or not theyโ€™re popular. Google is literally telling you: โ€œTons of people search for these keywords.โ€

Pro Tip: Click on one of the โ€œSearches Related Toโ€ keywords.

Related searches – Highlight

Then, scroll to the bottom of THOSE results. This will give you a new list of related keywords. Rinse and repeat.

Find Keywords on Reddit

Chances are your target audience hangs out on Reddit.

Which means you can usually find lots of keyword ideas on this platform.

Hereโ€™s how:

Letโ€™s say that you run a site that sells organic dog food.

Youโ€™d head over to Reddit. Then search for a broad topic that your target audience is interested in… and something thatโ€™s related to what you sell.

Reddit search – "dogs"

Then, choose a subreddit where your audience probably hangs out:

Reddit – Community – Dogs

Finally, keep an eye out for threads that have lots of comments, like this:

Reddit – "dog food allergies"

In this case youโ€™d add โ€œdog food allergiesโ€ to your keyword ideas list.

Pro Tip: โ€œKeywordditโ€ is a free SEO tool that scans Reddit for words and phrases that people useโ€ฆ and sorts those phrases by monthly search volume.

Keyworddit – Results

Very cool.

Use Google and YouTube Suggest

Now that you have a list of topics, type each one of them into Google.

Google search – "content marketing"

And see what terms that Google Suggests to you.

Google search – "content marketing" – Suggestions

These are great keywords to add to your list.

Why?

Because if Google suggests a keyword, you KNOW that lots of people are searching for it.

But you donโ€™t need to stop with Google Suggest.

You can also find keyword suggestions with YouTube Suggest:

YouTube suggest

And Bing:

Bing search – "content marketing" – Suggestions

Find Popular Topics Using Forums

Forums are like having live focus groups at your fingertips 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The easiest way to find forums where your target audience hangs out is to use these search strings in Google:

โ€œkeyword forumโ€
โ€œkeywordโ€ + โ€œforumโ€
โ€œkeywordโ€ + โ€œforumsโ€
โ€œkeywordโ€ + โ€œboardโ€

Once you find a forum, note how the forum is divided up into sections: Each of these sections are potential keywords that you can add to your list.

Home Barista Forums

To dig deeper, check out some of the threads on the forum to find other specific topics that your target audience struggles with:

Home Barista – Brewing

Pretty cool, right?

Chapter 3: Keyword Research Tools

Keyword Research Tools

This chapter is all about tools.

Can you find keywords without a tool?

Sure.

But a tool makes the entire process A LOT easier.

With that, here are the keyword research tools that I personally use and recommend.

Semrush

If you want to invest in a paid keyword tool, I HIGHLY recommend Semrush.

Thatโ€™s because SEMrush is a HUGE time saver.

Hereโ€™s why…

Instead of popping random keywords into a tool, Semrush shows you the exact keywords that a site already ranks for.

So if you have a site that youโ€™re competing against in Google, just pop it into SEMrush.

Semrush – Homepage

And steal all of their keywords.

Nice.

The Google Keyword Planner

Googleโ€™s Keyword Planner is THE most reliable source of keyword information online.

Thatโ€™s because, unlike most other tools, the data you get from the Keyword Planner come straight from Google.

(So you know theyโ€™re accurate)

The big downside of the GKP is that itโ€™s designed to help people with their Google ad campaigns… not with SEO.

That said, you can still use the GKP to get lists of keyword ideas…

…and find search queries that get lots of searches.

ExplodingTopics.com

This new tool is like Google Trends… but better.

Exploding Topics – Homepage

Exploding Topics scrapes the web for terms that are surging in popularity. And it bubbles those terms up for you.

Exploding Topics – Keyword overview

You can even sort the list of topics by category.

Exploding Topics – Categories

Nice.

Keyword Surfer

Keyword Surfer might be my favorite keyword research tool.

Why?

Because it shows you keyword ideas from inside Google’s search results.

Keyword Surfer – Coffee SERP

All you need to do is install the Chrome extension. And the next time you search for something in Google, youโ€™ll see a list of keyword ideas… and data on each keyword.

Keyword Surfer – Coffee keyword ideas

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest was the first Google suggest scraper that I used. And the tool recently got a massive upgrade and overhaul.

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest still generates keyword ideas from Googleโ€™s search suggestions. But it also gives you data on each keyword (like search volume, CPC, keyword difficulty and more).

Ubersuggest – Results

Ahrefs

Most people consider Ahrefs a link building tool.

But not as many people know that Ahrefs also has a REALLY good keyword tool.

Whatโ€™s nice about Ahrefs โ€œKeyword Explorerโ€ is that you get a ton of helpful data on each keyword.

Ahrefs – "Keyword Research" – Overview

Which can help you decide whether or not itโ€™s a keyword thatโ€™s worth going after.

My one gripe with Keyword Explorer is that itโ€™s not great at coming up with new keyword ideas. It usually generates keywords that are just simple variations of the keyword I typed in.

Ahrefs – Search suggestions

That said:

When it comes to drilling down to a single term, you canโ€™t do much better than the features found in Ahrefs Keyword Explorer.

Chapter 4: Keyword Difficulty

Keyword Difficulty

How do you know if a keyword is too competitive to rank for?

Itโ€™s a good question to ask.

Because if you choose a keyword thatโ€™s super competitive, you might have trouble getting past Googleโ€™s third page.

But if you can find a keyword without a ton of competition, you have a good chance of cracking the top 3.

With that, hereโ€™s how to figure out a keywordโ€™s SEO difficulty.

Long Tails Are (Usually) Less Competitive

If your site is brand new.

Or if you want to focus 100% on keywords that arenโ€™t competitive.

Then you DEFINITELY want to target long tail keywords.

Iโ€™ll explain…

Most people in SEO (myself included) divide keywords into three main categories: head, body and the long tail.

Keyword category division

Hereโ€™s a breakdown of each keyword type:

Head Terms

These are usually single-word keywords with lots of search volume…and competition. Examples of head terms are keywords like โ€œinsuranceโ€ or โ€œvitaminsโ€. Because searcher intent is all over the place (someone searching for โ€œinsuranceโ€ might be looking for a car insurance quote, a list of life insurance companies or a definition of the word), Head Terms usually donโ€™t convert very well.

Body Keywords

Body keywords are 2-3 word phrases that get decent search volume (at least 2,000 searches per month), but are more specific than Head Keywords. Keywords like โ€œlife insuranceโ€ or โ€œorder vitamins onlineโ€ are examples of Body Keywords. These almost always have less competition than Head Terms.

Long Tail Keywords

Long tail keywords are long, 4+ word phrases that are usually very specific. Phrases like โ€œaffordable life insurance for senior citizensโ€ and โ€œorder vitamin D capsules onlineโ€ are examples of long tail keywords. These terms donโ€™t get a lot of search volume individually (usually around 10-200 searches per month). But when you add them together, long tails make up the majority of searches online. And because they donโ€™t get searches for that much, long tail terms usually arenโ€™t very competitive.

Thereโ€™s no โ€œbestโ€ keyword category to focus on. All 3 have their pros and cons.

But when it comes to competition, long tails are usually the least competitive of the bunch.

Authority of Sites on Googleโ€™s First Page

Hereโ€™s a quick way to evaluate a keywordโ€™s competition level.

First, search for your keyword in Google.

Google search – "CRM"

Then, look at the sites ranking on the first page.

Google SERP – "CRM"

(Not individual pages)

If the first page is made up of uber authority sites (like Wikipedia), then you might want to cross that keyword off from your list:

Uber authority sites in SERP

But if you see a handful of smaller blogs on page 1, thatโ€™s a sign that you have a shot to hit the first page too.

Keyword Difficulty Inside of Keyword Tools

The vast majority of keyword research tools have some sort of keyword competition feature, including Semrush:

SEMrush – Keyword Difficulty

Ahrefs:

Ahrefs – Keyword Difficulty

KWFinder:

KWFinder – Competition

And Moz Pro:

Moz competition

We recently tested a bunch of them. And we found that they all size up keyword difficulty based on a combination of page authority and domain authority. YET they all tend to come up with completely different keyword difficulty scores.

Bottom Line? If your favorite keyword tool includes a keyword difficulty feature, go with that. It may not be perfect. But they do tend to give you a general idea of how competitive a keyword is to rank for.

CanIRank

Believe it or not, but thereโ€™s an entire tool dedicated to keyword difficulty: CanIRank.

"Can I Rank?"

What I like about this tool is that it doesnโ€™t just spit out a keyword difficulty number. Instead, it evaluates a keywordโ€™s competition level relative to your website.

For example, I popped the keyword โ€œSEOโ€ into CanIRank.

And the tool looked at Googleโ€™s first page competition compared to my siteโ€™s authority. And it gave me a โ€œRanking Probabilityโ€ of 90%:

"Cank I Rank? – 90%"

Super helpful.

Chapter 5: How to Choose a Keyword

How to Choose a Keyword

Now that you have a list of keywords, how do you know which one to pick?

Unfortunately, thereโ€™s no tool out there that will tell you: โ€œThis is the best keyword on your listโ€.

Instead, you need to size up each keyword based on a handful of different factors. Then, pick the keyword thatโ€™s the best fit for your business.

Additionally, conducting keyword analysis to ensure reaching the target audience takes time and effort. Lucky for you, Backlinko simplified the process to ease your work.

As you might expect, thatโ€™s exactly what Iโ€™m going to show you how to do in this chapter.

Search Volume

This is pretty straightforward.

The more people search for a keyword, the more traffic you can get from it.

The question is:

Whatโ€™s a โ€œgoodโ€ search volume?

Short answer: it depends.

The long answer:

Search volumes vary A LOT between different industries.

For example, a long tail keyword in the fitness niche (like: โ€œbest ab exercisesโ€) gets 10K-100K searches per month:

"best ab exercises"

But a long tail keyword in a B2B space like digital marketing (like: โ€œbest seo softwareโ€) only gets 100-1K monthly searches.

"best seo software"

Thatโ€™s why you want to figure out what a โ€œhighโ€ and โ€œlowโ€ search volume number is in your niche.

Then, choose keywords based on whatโ€™s โ€œnormalโ€ for your industry.

Organic Click-Through-Rate

Itโ€™s no secret that the number of Google searchers that click on an organic search result is way down.

Google Organic Click-Through Rate (CTR) Desktop vs. Mobile

And itโ€™s no wonder why.

Featured Snippets make it so you donโ€™t need to click on anything to get an answer:

Google Featured Snippet

Plus, Google now packs the search results with more ads than ever before:

Google Ads take SERP real estate

The bottom line?

Search volume only gives you part of the story. To get a full estimate of how many clicks youโ€™ll get from a first page Google ranking, you also need to estimate organic CTR.

Here are two simple ways to do it…

First, you can look at the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) for your keyword.

If you see a lot of stuff on the first page (like a Featured Snippet and multiple Google Ads), then you know that youโ€™re not going to get a ton of clicksโ€ฆ even if you rank #1.

"best chatbot software" SERP

Second, you can use a tool.

Ahrefs and Moz pro both estimate organic CTR.

Organic CTR – Compare

With all that said:

I wouldnโ€™t avoid a keyword just because it has a low CTR. If lots of people search for that term, it might still be worth going after.

Difficulty

If your site is new (or doesnโ€™t have a ton of links yet), target low-competition terms at first.

Then, as your site grows in authority, you can start to target more competitive stuff.

For example:

When I first launched Backlinko, I targeted almost 100% long tail keywords (like: โ€œhow to get backlinksโ€).

And because I didnโ€™t have a ton of sites to compete with, I was able to get some organic traffic rolling in within a few weeks. Which helped me achieve some early SEO success.

Early SEO success

Today, my site has backlinks from over 37k different domains:

Ahrefs – Backlinko – Referring domains – October 2021

So I can target more competitive keywords (like: โ€œYouTube SEOโ€).

Google SERP – YouTube SEO

CPC

CPC (cost per click) is a single metric that answers one important question:

Do people searching for this keyword actually spend money?

So yeah, search volume is nice and all.

But if that keyword has zero commercial intent, then thereโ€™s no point in targeting that term.

Plus, you can sometimes get a great ROI from a keyword that doesnโ€™t get that many searches… if the CPC is high enough.

For example, one of my target keywords is โ€œlink building servicesโ€.

Backlinko – Link building services

According to Ahrefs, this keyword gets 1.3K searches per month.

Ahrefs – Link building services – Volume

So if I ONLY looked at search volume, Iโ€™d say: โ€œThis is a horrible keywordโ€.

Thatโ€™s why itโ€™s super important to ALSO look at CPC.

The CPC on that keyword is $25.00.

Ahrefs – Link building services – CPC

This means that people are spending $25 every time someone searching for that keyword clicks on an ad.

So even though the search volume for that term isnโ€™t that high, the CPC more than makes up for it.

Based on CPC (and the fact that the keyword wasnโ€™t super competitive) I decided to create content optimized around that term.

And that blog post now ranks in the top 3 for my target keyword.

Google SERP – Link building services

Business Fit

Hereโ€™s where you look at how likely it is that someone searching for a keyword will become a customer.

Yup, CPC helps you figure this out. But it doesnโ€™t tell the entire story.

For example, a few weeks ago I came across the keyword: โ€œbacklink checkerโ€.

On the surface, this is a great keyword.

It gets a decent amount of searches:

"backlink checker"

And has a $4.01 CPC:

"backlink checker" price

Itโ€™s also not that competitive.

So this keyword is a winner, right?

Well… not really.

You see, Backlinko is an SEO training company. Which means I donโ€™t sell a backlink analysis tool. So even if I DID rank #1 for โ€œbacklink checkerโ€, it wouldnโ€™t do me much good.

Contrast that with a keyword like โ€œYouTube SEOโ€.

This keywordโ€™s CPC is only $2.22.

"youtube seo" – Price

But considering that I sell a YouTube training course, this term is a 10/10 in terms of business fit.

This is why I wrote a piece of content around that keyword:

Backlinko – How to rank YouTube videos

Keyword Trends

Finally, you want to see if your keyword is growing fast… or dying slow.

And the best way to do that? Google Trends.

For example, last year I was considering the keyword: โ€œvoice search SEOโ€.

But I decided to pop that keyword into Google Trends before pulling the trigger.

As you can see, interest in that keyword is growing quickly.

Google Trends – Voice Search

Which is why I optimized this page around that term.

Backlinko – Voice search SEO study

Even though that piece of content only brings in about 1k monthly search engine visitors per month today…

Voice Search traffic

…the trend tells me that traffic to this post should increase over time.

Another key trend to consider is the use of AI for keyword research. Think of integrating ChatGPT for diverse SEO tasks including keyword research. Learn all about how this innovative trend can impact your SEO journey in our guide.

Chapter 6: Advanced Tips and Strategies

Advanced Tips & Strategies

Now that youโ€™ve mastered the basics of keyword research, itโ€™s time to cover some cool advanced stuff.

Specifically, Iโ€™m going to reveal a bunch of tactical keyword research tips that you can implement right away.

So without further ado, letโ€™s dive right into the tips.

Barnacle SEO

Letโ€™s say that you found the PERFECT keyword.

And you rank in the top 3 for that term.

Youโ€™re pretty much done, right?

Actually… not really.

As it turns out, you can get even MORE traction from that keyword with Barnacle SEO.

Barnacle SEO is the practice of using other sites’ authority to rank on the first page.

For example, one of my best keywords (in terms of conversions) is: YouTube SEO.

Like I mentioned earlier, I wrote a post about YouTube SEO. And that post ranks in the top 3 for that keyword.

Google SERP – YouTube SEO

Sure, a top 3 ranking is great. But itโ€™s still only one spot in the SERPs.

Thatโ€™s why I created a YouTube video optimized for that keyword…

YouTube video

…a video that also ranks on Googleโ€™s first page.

Google SERP – YouTube SEO – Video results

Bottom line? If you find an amazing keyword, you want to take up as much first page real estate as you can. First, create content on that topic on your own site. Then, publish keyword-optimized content on authority sites, like YouTube, LinkedIn, Medium and more.

GSC Keyword Research

The Google Search Console is a goldmine of keyword ideas.

Hereโ€™s how it works:

First, login to your GSC account and head over to the โ€œPerformance Reportโ€.

Google Search Console – Performance Report

This report shows you the terms that bring in the most clicks from Google search.

GSC – Performance Report

Then, sort the list by โ€œImpressionsโ€.

GSC – Performance Report – Impressions

This shows you keywords that get lots of impressions… but not necessarily clicks.

GSC – Clicks .vs. Impressions

Finally, create a piece of content optimized around that same keyword.

Why is this a powerful strategy?

These are keywords that you KNOW people are searching for. You also know that Google sees your site as a good fit in the search results.

You just need to publish content thatโ€™s super focused on that specific keyword (or optimize a piece of existing content around that keyword) and youโ€™re set.

Optimize Content around Synonyms and Related Keywords

Yes, you want to optimize your page around your main keyword.

But donโ€™t stop there.

You can get even more search engine traffic to your page by optimizing it around synonyms and closely related terms.

Iโ€™ll show you how this works with a real life example.

Some time ago I published this post on my blog.

Backlinko – Hub – SEO Visibility

As you can probably guess, my target keyword for that page is: โ€œsearch engine visibilityโ€.

But I also made sure to sprinkle in variations of that keyword, like: โ€œSEO visibilityโ€.

SEO visibility – Keyword in post

In the end, I was able to rank #1 for my main keyword…

Google SERP – Search engine visibility

…and lots of keyword variations.

Google SERP – SEO visibility

Ahrefs Content Gap

Content Gap has quickly become one of my favorite features in Ahrefs.

Hereโ€™s how it works:

Just like with Semrush, you can use Ahrefs to see the exact keywords another site ranks for.

And with Ahrefs Content Gap, you can take this type of competitor keyword analysis to the next level.

Hereโ€™s how:

Head over to Ahrefs content gap. And put in 2-3 competing sites.

Ahrefs – Content gap

This will show you keywords that at least 2 of your competitors rank for… but you donโ€™t.

Competitors keywords

And because multiple competitors rank for these terms, you know that you also have a good chance of cracking the top 10.

Analyze Keywords Based on Searcher Intent

In other words, ask yourself:

What does someone searching for this keyword want to see?

Are they looking to buy? For information? Or are they looking for a specific page (like a login page)?

For example:

A while back I created a post that ranks #2 for the keyword โ€œBuzzStreamโ€.

Google SERP – "buzzstream"

Even though that keyword gets around 2k searches/month, that post only brings in 194 monthly visitors.

BuzzStream – Visitors

What gives?

Well, as it turns out, โ€œBuzzStreamโ€ is a navigational keyword.

Which means that most people that search for that keyword are looking for the website… not information about BuzzStream.

So yeah, that keyword looked great at first glance. But because itโ€™s a navigational keyword, VERY few people click on anything but the first result. Which is why that post gets so little traffic.

Thatโ€™s why I recommend looking at the Search Intent of a keyword.

Types of user intent

If Search Intent is โ€œNavigationalโ€, then you may want to avoid that term… even if it has great CPC and monthly search volume numbers.

(As you just saw, this is a lesson I had to learn the hard way)

But if Searcher Intent is โ€œInformationalโ€, then a piece of content optimized around that term could do GREAT.

Find โ€œShoulder Keywordsโ€

Most people ONLY optimize their site around keywords that are very closely related to what they sell.

And itโ€™s a BIG mistake for two main reasons:

1. Product keywords are usually super competitive.
2. There are thousands of keywords that your potential customer searches for when theyโ€™re not searching for what you sell.

And if you can get in front of your customer with an awesome piece of content, theyโ€™re SUPER likely to buy from you down the road.

For example, like I mentioned earlier, I run an SEO training company.

But I donโ€™t optimize every page on my site around commercial terms.

(Like โ€œSEO trainingโ€ and โ€œSEO coursesโ€).

Instead, I rank for keywords that my customers search for when theyโ€™re not looking for SEO training.

(Keywords like: โ€œlink buildingโ€, โ€œon-page SEOโ€ and โ€œSEO Toolsโ€).

Backlinko – Post collage

I call these keywords โ€œShoulder Keywordsโ€.

These keywords arenโ€™t directly related to what you sell. But theyโ€™re keywords that your customers search for. Which makes them worth going after.

How about another example?

Letโ€™s say you run an eCommerce site that sells basketball hoops.

Obviously, youโ€™d want to optimize some of your pages around terms like โ€œbuy basketball hoops onlineโ€.

But donโ€™t stop there.

After all, someone interested in buying a basketball hoop may also search for:

  • How to shoot a better free throw
  • Slam dunk highlights
  • How to get recruited by college scouts
  • Nutrition for basketball players
  • How to improve a vertical jump

So youโ€™d want to create content around these โ€œShoulder Keywordsโ€ too.

Now It's Your Turn

Conclusion

I really hope you enjoyed my new keyword research guide.

And now Iโ€™d like to hear from you.

Which tip from todayโ€™s guide are you going to try first?

Are you going to try Shoulder Keywords?

Or maybe you want to optimize around trending keywords.

Either way, let me know by leaving a quick comment below.

317 Comments

  1. Ashley Avatar Ashleysays:

    WOWZA! Someone was reading my mind. I was just trying to search your site for keyword research and all of a sudden get an email with exactly what I needed.

    As usual, thanks Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re not alone, Ashley: keyword research is something a lot of my readers ask me about. I hope you enjoy the guide.

  2. Jake Avatar Jakesays:

    Hi Brian,
    I love these guides. Besides the graphics which I assume are custom built, is there something special you use to create the general layout of these? The change in colors, etc. just make these really clear to read – would love to replicate that kind of flow.

    Thanks as always!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Jake. That’s right: this guide is custom designed and coded. So we built the layout from scratch so that our guides would be super easy to read and skim through.

      1. Thanks a million Brian. I love your guides, they are informative and hilarious too. Great work.

  3. Mike Avatar Mikesays:

    Brian this is great advice and content. Usually I un-subscribe from some of those ‘other’ email lists – but after visiting your site I can’t wait for the next update! Thanks for your help and advice.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Mike. Happy to have you as a subscriber.

      1. Great and informative content.
        Brian, thanks for your excellent keyword research guide.

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          You’re welcome, Idris.

  4. Daniel Cuttridge Avatar Daniel Cuttridgesays:

    Absolutely love this guide, it will be something that I can use as a constant reference in the future if I ever need to double check on something, and that convenience is much appreciated ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      No worries, Daniel. Happy to help.

  5. Matt Avatar Mattsays:

    And the reason you gave this away for free is…jk. Kick ass guide Brian. Much more valuable than some of the paid guides. Would be sweet if you could package this up into a printable PDF.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thank you, Matt. I’ll look into getting the new guide put into a PDF.

  6. Looking good – love the design and everything! You’ve done it again, Brian Dean!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Brian, thanks for that. I agree: I’m really happy with how the design turned out.

  7. The word is often overused – but not in this case – this is ‘awesome’ Brian!

    Ha! I’m actually laughing out loud right now at just how good this content is.

    Folks – this is why Brian is the best in the business when it comes to SEO.

    Great stuff man!

    Cheers

    Loz

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Loz!

  8. Zak Avatar Zaksays:

    Brian, I say this without any bias – every bit of content you provide is Gold. Have been hooked on Backlinko ever since I stumbled here not so long ago ๐Ÿ™‚

    Great Work!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Zak, thank you. I appreciate that ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘

  9. Argh the sharing toolbar is destroying the article on my iPad. Can’t read anything on the left.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks for the heads up, Steve. Fixed.

  10. Would you consider offering your guides as single pages or pdfs? I prefer reading longer form content like this when offline/on the road. If on a single page, I can easily Pocket them to read offline. Thanks for considering!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Daniel, we usually add PDF versions to each guide eventually. But it can take some time.

    1. If you are reading on your laptop then simply press the ctrl+s button you have to see the save option to save this.
      And if you using your phone then open the Chrome browser and you have to see three-dot at the top-right corner, click on that and you see the download button and click on that and download the amazing article.

  11. Mark Luckenbaugh Avatar Mark Luckenbaughsays:

    Awesome write up Brian. Thanks a lot for taking the time to write this and share it with us.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Mark. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

  12. Brian, you killed it (again) with this article.
    I have to admit, I opt out of almost all newsletters but from the ones I keep, yours is the only one with a CTR of 100% for me.
    Keep up the awesome work and thank you so much!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Volker ๐Ÿ‘ ๐Ÿ‘ ๐Ÿ‘

  13. James Avatar Jamessays:

    Great guide. Sharing with my colleagues in the department now.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks James.

  14. Hi Brian,
    I think is going be very difficult to make a better content than you period… You are Rock ๐Ÿ™‚
    Thanks
    Claude

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Claude. I appreciate that.

  15. This is the best email in my inbox this morning! Great surprise. Wow youโ€™ve been busy crafting another SEO goodie. Shoulder keywords make for easy blog post ideas. I like this guide. Great job Brian.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Jennifer, happy to hear that. For sure: Shoulder keywords are kind of an underrated approach. Of course we all want to rank for keywords that are about our products (“Buy X”). But the fact is, most of the traffic out there is for informational keywords (like “how to X”). And if your content impresses the pants off of people, you can turn that traffic into leads and sales.

  16. I am pretty certain I will be feasting on this article for days if not weeks to come! I can’t thank you and your team enough for the incredible knowledge and insight.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Eric, you’re welcome. This is basically everything I’ve learned about keyword research over the last few years.

  17. Another awesome content. Thank you, Mr. Brian, to share with us. Cheers!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      ๐Ÿ‘ ๐Ÿ‘ ๐Ÿ‘

  18. Definitely something I was looking into. Thanks for another great, lengthy, informative and useful post Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Darshana.

  19. Awesome stuff as usual Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Davis. Like all of our guides, a ton of work went into this one.

  20. Somehow you always seem to hit me with the right content at the right time ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for being an inspiration over the years.
    /Rued

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Rued. I’ve got more cool stuff on the way.

  21. In-depth guide about keywords research. Specially about the keywords to be chosen for new and old websites

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thank you

  22. Expanding on your keywords using Google Search Console has led us to driving double the amount of clicks so great info there.

    Plus effective frequency in ranking in youtube, linkedin articles and other platforms is key because they drive referral traffic back to your page also and this massively helps ranking.

    Great guide Brian!!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks James. Nice. Yeah, that Google Search Console strategy is awesome because it’s Google telling you: “we think your site would be a good fit for that keyword”. No 3rd party tool can do that.

  23. Hi Brian,

    I would like to add a tool for finding keyword difficulty – Kwfinder.
    I have been using this tool since the start of my career and I can say that it provides the most trustable data.

    Best Regards,
    Himanshu Tyagi
    Founder, CodeItBro

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Himanshu. I actually have the Mangools suite on my tools that I need to check out. I used KWFinder back in the day but haven’t used it in a year or so.

  24. Get your email in the middle of night on GMT+7

    Thanks for your sharing
    Its helpfull

    And my i ask
    I get nothing in email while im trying to join waiting list SEO Course via seothatworks.com

    Im also already cek spam/junk
    And still get nothing

    Thanks again for your sharing.

    Sorry for bad english and grammar
    Im indonesian

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Helmi. Re: the waiting list email. If you email support@backlinko someone will look into that for you.

  25. Graham Avatar Grahamsays:

    Your email just hit my inbox Brian, I took a look at the size of your post and thought “how do you do it?” haha. I’ve just skim read it because a full read will mean settling in later this evening when there’s more time. One thing that stood out though was how well you have laid this all out, I’m not a huge fan of ultimate guides because they’re bulky but I can already tell that the way you have broken this down into easy to read chunks coupled with nice graphics and illustrated examples means so much (and I’ve not even got to how well you do your research yet LOL).
    Cheers
    Graham

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Grahman, thanks man! That’s actually how I write these guides. I don’t set out to make them this long post full of random information. I outline each one into discrete chunks. That way, everything it easy to read and skim. Plus, I don’t go off into tangents about this and that. The outline means that I have to stick to the script ๐Ÿ™‚

  26. Absolutely great for beginner and expert. I really like your way of keyword research. Thanks for sharing.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Jose.

  27. Hello sir, excellent article and it did showed me some new tips because I was struggling to find Keyword for a particular topic.

    Thanks ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Nice. Glad to hear that.

  28. Amazing, have you actually ever published something that did not look so wonderful. Really you always make all my stuff look drab and boring. Although I have to do it myself, being small but hope to have good looking content like some day, when I am rich and famous like you. Thanks for all the help you give us

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Timothy, Thank you. If I had to do this myself I can’t imagine how bad this would look! Guides like this are a true team effort. Thankfully I’m not in charge of the design, LOL. But seriously, it takes a designer and talented developer to make our guides look as great as they do. I just write up a Google Doc and the team takes care of the rest.

  29. Avdhesh Avatar Avdheshsays:

    Hi Brian,

    Wonderful guide put up so nicely!

    Thanks

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      ๐Ÿ‘

  30. Thanks for new updated keyword research guide for 2020, and especially thanks for Wikipedia strategy

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Rahul.

  31. Hi Brian,

    Great content as always ๐Ÿ˜‰ Content gap tool in Ahrefs is lately one of my favourite place to find new keywords. I usually find there keyword that I would never think of.

    Looking forward to your next guide.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Karol, you’re welcome. Have you tried their “link intersect” feature. It’s similar to that but for backlinks.

  32. Ganesh Avatar Ganeshsays:

    if you write like this articles one day Google will kidnap you.

    Amazing article Brian thanks for taking keyword research to the next level.

    you will be #1 for “keyword research” in Google

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      I hope so. Moz is currently #1 so it won’t be easy to hit the #1 spot.

  33. Melissa Avatar Melissasays:

    Great stuff, Brian, as usual! Very smart nuggets that are both actionable & consumable!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Melissa, thank you! I tried to make this guide super actionable (outside of some of the background info in Chapter 1). Glad to hear that I hit the mark.

  34. arif Avatar arifsays:

    I start to read your guide and keep reading word by words, this is an awesome piece of content and very helpful for me. Thank You- “Brain”

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Arif.

  35. Thanks, Brian for such a brief but clear keyword research guide. I have a question regarding keyword research. For some keywords, I find a lot of business directories, review sites ranking, but the intent is clear commercial. Can I rank using those keywords?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Manoj. If there are some results that aren’t directories and review sites, you might. But if it’s literally 9/10 or 10/10, then I’d go with the flow and try to create a page that’s aligned with what’s already ranking.

  36. Ever since I stumbled on your site while searching for “On-site SEO” I’m glued at the level of content you share for free.

    Maybe I should ask, what’s your research strategy? Because I do wonder how on earth you dig up these valuable details.

    Great one Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Montfort. My research strategy is more or less “Document. Don’t create”. I talk more about that here.

      1. Excellent. I’m already digesting it.

        Awesome again!

  37. This information is exactly what I am looking for to make my SEO more effective. There is so much information for me to digest. Thanks again.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Henry. With guides like these, chunking is super important. So I try to make it so it’s not a giant wall of info. But more like an SNES strategy guide.

  38. This is a really solid guide. I already knew a few of these tricks… but sometimes you forget about all the SEO tricks you’ve previously learned, and it’s great to get a refresher or reminder ๐Ÿ™‚ For example, the GSC opportunities tactic of looking at impressions and then finding opportunities. I think I’ll use that one shortly! Thanks for the reminder on this one!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Doug. Nice! Yeah, the GSC has a lot of untapped features. If you haven’t seen it already, I’d check out my giant guide to the Google Search Console here https://backlinko.com/google-search-console.

  39. Great content as usual. While reading this post I came across some new tool like Canirank that I will surely start to use for my next keyword research. Really love this guide Mr. Brian.

    Thanks for this article.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Rupam, no problem.

  40. Hi Brian,
    Thanks again. Iโ€™m going to visit Wikipedia right now ๐Ÿ˜‰
    I personally find it hard to start with the lower keywords competition. But in the longterm it is the way to go for a new website. (Mental note to myself)

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Guido, you’re welcome. For sure. I even think there’s a place for low-competition keywords for older + established websites. I’m finding with Backlinko that it still takes a while to rank for anything competitive (although I do usually rank eventually!). But low competition terms can rank within weeks.

  41. Brian this is massive, very detailed and useful to both newbies and experts. Kudos

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Arnold. I tried to tackle some of the beginner-level stuff in Chapter 1. That way, I could focus on more advanced strategies later on in the guide.

  42. Hi Brian. Great content always.

    Brian could you please help me on one issue.

    What is the reason of website down in google search now a days?

    I mean my website was on 1st page in 6-7 months before, but today it is going back and appears on around page 8-9. I am making quality backlinks and doing proper one-page seo. But still nothing happened.

    Could you please tell me what should I do ?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Hermant. That’s a tough thing to diagnose. It could be an update, penalty, a technical SEO issue. It’s hard to say without really digging into your Google Analytics and GSC. That said, one thing I’d look at is if your entire site dropped or just a few pages. Sometimes focusing on pages that did and didn’t get hit can help you figure things out.

      1. Hi Brian,

        My First main competitive keyword was on first page 6-7 months before. which was related to my website home page.

        My second Low competitive keyword is coming on 1st rank on first page, which is also related to my Home page.

        But I am surprise that my second keyword is on 1st rank but still my website didn’t get even a single click in one month. I checked impression in GSC of that keyword, which is more than 200. And my website not get even single click.

        This is horrible thing is happened with me. My all other competitor websites title and description is 90% same.

        I am really worried about this type of critical issue in my website ranking. I am sharing my website on social site, building quality backlink, proper on-page SEO, writing content on website, etc. But still not getting any good response.

        I also checked Manual Action or penalty by google in GSC. Fortunately my website not penalize.

        Could you please give me some steps which I should check according to your experience ?

        And could you please make any blog or video related to Google Analytics – Complete Guide ๐Ÿ™‚

  43. A super helpful guide, Brian. I’m using CanIRank for a few weeks and found it amazing in keyword research (suggestions and ideas).

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Nice! Yeah, it’s a cool little tool. I like that it has a standard keyword difficulty score. But also takes your own site’s authority into account.

  44. Thanks so much for this!

    Search results question:

    If I see a competitive search term that does NOT have any videos ranking on the first page…is that an opportunity to make a video and get it to rank there? As in, there just AREN’T any videos for the term to rank

    OR

    Seeing no video results means that Google is just not going to show videos for that particular search term?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Amanda. It’s definitely “Seeing no video results means that Google is just not going to show videos for that particular search term?”. In my experience, if there’s no video, Google doesn’t see video as a good fit for that keyword. Of course, that can change over time. But I try to focus on keywords that already have videos in the search results.

      1. Great help – thanks!

  45. Brain, I am blown away with the expert detail you put into your articles and the amount of quality content you give away for free. I have learned so much from your work, please keep it up!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Rick, thanks man! I appreciate that. I’ll definitely keep it up. We have some cool stuff on the way.

  46. Ankush Agrawal Avatar Ankush Agrawalsays:

    Thank you for such a lovely post brian dean. I must follow your tips

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Ankush.

  47. Michael Chen Avatar Michael Chensays:

    Brian,

    Do you have an SEO agency? If not, can you recommend a couple?

    Thanks!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Michael, I don’t have an agency. Backlinko is an online training company that sells online courses.

  48. Hi Brian,

    Definitely useful information which I will use developing my new website.

    Thank you!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Sergy, great. Let me know if you have any questions.

  49. Moya Avatar Moyasays:

    Great read Brian, surely helps when you’re working for an SEO agency doing keyword research for pitches day in and day out.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      HA! AS someone that used to run an agency, I can 100% relate to that.

  50. Hey Brian,

    I am almost following you since you were explained a Skyscraper Technique & learned from you that no one is perfect to initiate, experience makes us perfect.

    I keep my close view on your strategy from video, text content to graphics & keep on following them for my clients as & when needed.

    Thank you for supporting & sharing your experiences to improve my experience. Just by following you I am motivated & left the JOB to started my own business & initiated everything last month.

    Although, this is just a beginning a day will come with the help of mentors like you & Neil.

    Keep it up & help us to share your knowledge

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Ahmed. Congrats on the new business!

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