The importance of advanced keyword research cannot be overstated. The first benefit of advanced keyword research is that it allows you to better understand your audience and determine what topics and keywords are driving the most traffic and buzz.
The second benefit of advanced keyword research is that it enables you to select the right keywords for optimizing your content and ranking higher in search results.
In the right hands, an advanced keyword research strategy can enable you to become a content marketing thought leader and provide business opportunities for your website.
Let's explore 15 advanced keyword research techniques for supercharging your DIY blog or expanding your business brand.
1. Take advantage of the success of your competitors
In order to determine which pages are generating the most traffic, you can use competitive research tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs. SEMrush's Organic Research tool, for instance, allows us to analyze which pages have the highest total traffic percentage, and then identify which keywords are driving the most traffic to those pages.
It is possible to get a list of every single keyword that the site ranks for using tools such as SEMrush. Google Ads also allows you to do this, but it will not show you the position. Additionally, SEMrush provides a keyword difficulty score and monthly traffic volume so that you can target keywords that are less competitive.
2. Search for LSI keywords
It is a method of advanced keyword research that enables you to discover related keywords to your seed keyword using latent semantic indexing (LSI). With SEMrush, you can uncover words based on carefully segmented subtopics relating to your seed keyword, rather than using some form of latent semantic indexing.
To succeed at content marketing, you must be able to identify which keywords make the most sense for any given topic and which are best reserved for their own categories.
3. Intent-based keyword filtering
In order to understand why users search for a particular keyword, we need to understand its intent. There are generally four types of intent we can distinguish:
- Informational: Queries seeking further information about a topic (e.g., What is content marketing?)
- Commercial: Requests for information on products or services (for example, content marketing services)
- Navigational: Searching for specific pages on a website (ex., Content marketing awards)
- Transactional: Inquiries relating to completing a specific action (for example, content marketing near me)
Using SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool, you can filter keywords based on their intent.
By filtering for the highest top-of-page bid for commercial keywords your competitors are bidding on, you can filter keywords by intent with Google Ads.
4. Identify keywords that are competitive
There is nothing wrong with Reddit, but it is a general forum. The best keywords are those that are relevant to your business. While concentrating on bulk keywords such as "content marketing" will yield better results than anything else, it is not very practical.
You should instead filter your keyword searches by competitiveness to find keywords that can make an immediate impact by ranking for them.
You can achieve the same results by filtering keywords by bid in Google Ads.
5. Use question phrases when discussing subtopics
When writing long-form or evergreen content, you will benefit greatly from making your post as thorough as possible. Many people use the skyscraper strategy, but I have found that gathering as many questions and subtopics as possible yields the best results.
SEMrush can be utilized to filter keywords by question phrases that can be answered through your posts or even serve as standalone articles.
You should also type in your seed keyword to see what questions appear on Google's search engine results page.
6. Utilize Google's search engine results
Besides question phrases, Google's search engine result pages provide all the information you need to determine what users and Google value as the best results.
You can uncover new keywords in several areas, including:
- Top Ad Results
- Panel of knowledge
- Search terms that people also use
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Below are related searches
Simply run the top results for your seed keyword through your advanced keyword research tool to determine what other keywords those pages rank for.
7. Search for images on Google
Google image search is a hidden gem and advanced keyword research tactic that very few people discuss. Google images search naturally leads you to keyword ideas without trying hard. In addition to finding related keywords, you will also be able to find topics that are directly related to the keyword.
8. Find out what's trending
A popular resource for searching for trending keywords in your industry and monitoring their popularity over time is Google Trends.
If you would like to get more detailed, use a tool like SEMrush that provides a list of trending subtopics related to your topic.
By opening one of these cards, you can discover some of the top trending articles and related questions. I like to run the URLs of these pages through SEMrush, and use the Organic Research tool to view what keywords they are using.
9. Look for secondary topics in forums
You may think that you have created a comprehensive list of potential keywords after brainstorming and doing your initial research, but Google Adwords can only take you so far. Research similar topics and secondary trends by using popular websites, such as Wikipedia and Reddit, that aggregate information or facilitate mass discussion to uncover potential keywords that you have not considered.
10. Find smaller blogs using advanced search operators
It is possible to use search operators to build links, conduct keyword research, or even find authors to contact for posts using search operators.
You can find topic-specific blogs that allow comments - as well as more opportunities for unique views and keyword possibilities - by putting the search term you are looking to expand upon along with a phrase that will specifically indicate sites that allow these discussions, such as:
- "Cajun cuisine" + "Powered by Disqus"
- "Vegetarian recipes" and "Powered by vBulletin"
11. Search within the site
While there are many ways to gain insight into what your audience wants, few methods are as simple or comprehensive as analyzing what they are searching for on your website.
In contrast to researching general trends, your internal site search will provide you with the most relevant information about your site. Despite the fact that both have their place, you can gain insight into what your users think is lacking, what they search for the most, and even what is difficult to locate on your website by analyzing the searches that they make.
Click on "Admin" in the top right of Google Analytics, and then go to the profile settings in the standard reports. Click “Do Track Site Search” in “Site Search Settings” and add your search query parameter, which can be found by conducting a site search and checking the URL, which usually begins with s, search, q, or query followed by an equal sign (“=”).
Now you need to identify how your site identifies internal search terms. Your site uses a query parameter for this. We need to make sure Google Analytics knows to look for this query parameter.
12. Negative keywords should be excluded
Last but not least, advanced keyword research involves maintaining a clean keyword sheet. It is common for negative keywords to appear along with the keywords you are targeting, but these are not keywords you wish to incorporate. This tip is often focused on PPC because you don’t want to waste money on ads that don’t convert, but it is always important to clarify your purpose for web crawlers.
You may wish to exclude the words "free" and "exercise plan" from your keyword lists if you are in the fitness industry.