Keyword research in SEO is the process of identifying and analyzing the words and phrases (keywords) that people use when searching for information, products, or services online. It’s a crucial aspect of search engine optimization (SEO) because search engines like Google use keywords to understand the content of web pages and match them with users’ search queries.

The goal of keyword research is to discover the terms and phrases that are relevant to your website or content and have a reasonable search volume but relatively low competition. By targeting these keywords strategically in your website content, you can improve your chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and attracting more organic traffic to your site.

Keyword research involves several steps:

1. Brainstorming: Generating a list of potential keywords that are relevant to your business, products, or content.

2. Keyword Expansion: Using keyword research tools to expand your initial list of keywords by discovering related terms, synonyms, and variations.

3. Keyword Analysis: Evaluating each keyword’s search volume, competition level, and relevance to your target audience.

4. Competitor Analysis: Researching the keywords that your competitors are targeting and analyzing their search rankings and traffic.

5. Keyword Selection: Choosing the most relevant and valuable keywords to target based on search volume, competition, and relevance to your content and audience.

6. Content Optimization: Incorporating selected keywords naturally into your website content, including titles, headings, body text, meta tags, and URLs.

7. Monitoring and Adjusting: Tracking the performance of your chosen keywords over time, monitoring changes in search rankings and organic traffic, and making adjustments to your SEO strategy as needed.

Effective keyword research can help you optimize your website for the right terms, improve your search engine rankings, drive more organic traffic to your site, and ultimately achieve your business goals.

10 best keyword research tools (free)

1. Google Keyword Planner: A powerful tool that provides keyword suggestions, search volume data, and competition level, directly from Google.

2. AnswerThePublic: Generates keyword ideas in the form of questions and phrases based on search queries.

3. Keyword Surfer: Chrome extension that shows search volume data directly in Google search results and offers keyword suggestions.

4. Ubersuggest: Provides keyword ideas, search volume, and competition metrics, along with related keywords and content ideas.

5. KeywordTool.io: Offers keyword suggestions for Google, YouTube, Bing, Amazon, and more, with search volume and competition data.

6. Soovle: Aggregates keyword suggestions from various search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Wikipedia, providing a wide range of ideas.

7. Google Trends: Shows the popularity of keywords over time, allowing you to identify trending topics and seasonal trends.

8. WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool: Offers keyword suggestions along with search volume and competition data.

9. SEMrush Free Version: Provides limited access to keyword research features, including keyword suggestions and search volume data.

10. Keyword Sheeter: Generates a massive list of keyword ideas by scraping autocomplete suggestions from Google.

These tools can help you identify relevant keywords for your content, SEO, and marketing efforts without breaking the bank.