5 Little Known Ways to Perform Keyword Research for SEO
Ask any SEO practitioner or a digital marketer about the ways to do keyword research and most will suggest using Google Keyword Planner, SEMRush, and other paid or free tools.
These are no doubt the widely used tools out there, however, they may not be accessible to everyone or be the most ideal option in many cases. For instance, if you are looking for some hidden gems from lesser-used sources or simply do not have access to the commonly used tools. However, there are plenty of other options.
Let us try to uncover a few of these and widen our repertoire of keyword research tools and tricks. Read on….
Use Wikipedia as a source for SEO keywords
Wikipedia is a great source of both general and specialized information… we all know it. Furthermore, Wikipedia pages tend to rank well in search engines so you can use them as an additional resource for keyword research. You can browse through tables of content and sub-chapters to get more detail about your subject, and you will discover some hidden gems through it.
Keyword Suggestions using Amazon
Did you know that Amazon has a search engine of its own? This is a great tool for finding products that match your search query. It also provides suggestions based on the popularity of similar searches. These suggestions are relevant to your interests because they are based on the conversion rates and buying behaviors of other users. These keywords may be especially useful when looking for products sold by affiliates or e-commerce stores. Amazon is also included as a keyword.
Keyword Research from YouTube suggestions
YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine today and it can be used as a keyword research tool. Select a topic, type in related words and check YouTube’s autocomplete feature for keyword ideas. You can also use YouTube’s Keyword Research Tool, which is a barebones tool that generates and discovers new keywords for YouTube videos, to help you come up with ideas for your video titles. The tool is fairly straightforward – just enter your chosen language and country, type in a keyword or phrase, then click “Get keyword suggestions.”
Using Quora to find keywords
Quora is a question-and-answer website where people ask questions and answer each other’s questions. Asking questions here can provide valuable insight into how people talk about your product/service. You find useful keywords here by searching for popular questions. To start off, make sure you select “Search Questions” instead of “Search Answers”.
Use the search box at the top of the screen to search for the topic relevant to you. For example, let’s say you run an accountant business, and you want information about bookkeeping. If you search and pick the “bookkeeping software” topic you will immediately see a list of questions that will unveil some great keyword ideas.
Your Competitor’s Website
Google your competitors, both in the chosen niche and in your geographic region. Check their websites and identify the keywords and topics they’re ranking for. You can also use the inspect element on a competitor’s page to see what headers (h1, h2, etc) they use. These will give you some really good keyword ideas. And if you have access to Google Keyword Planner or SEMRush you can simply put in your competitor’s website URL and reverse engineer!
Final thoughts
Besides the above-suggested ways and tools mentioned, keyword research can also be performed simply by brainstorming with stakeholders and colleagues. For instance, frontline sales staff who deal with users/customers will know what matters to them and the terms and queries they’d typically use for searching.
For a complete and step-by-step approach to keyword research consider enrolling in our SEO course and take your skills to the next level.
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Instructor: Azhar Katib
About the author
Azhar Katib is the founder-director of WebSell Solutions Ptd Ltd., a company specializing in online presence management for SMEs in Singapore and Malaysia.
He has a background IT and Digital Marketing for the past 25+ years. He is also a trainer for Singapore SkillsFuture Programs