Keyword Opportunities: 13 Easy Tricks to Boost Your Research and Traffic
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Search engine optimization relies on your ability to find keyword ideas that speak to your audience. Nobody will be able to find your page if you don't include the keywords people are looking for when they think of your product or service. The question is: how do you find new keyword opportunities to make the most of the search engine results?
The good news is that there are tons of keyword research tools out there for you to consider, ranging from free to premium.
Here are the places you need to look if you want to show up more on the search engines.
Contents
Find New Keywords with Google
The first and maybe the most obvious place to start with your keyword research is Google. Their tools, like Google Keyword Planner, can help you to find a particular keyword and analyze its monthly search volume. Other tools that can be used in conjunction with Google Keyword Planner are also available and can help you find relevant keywords in short order.
Let's take a look at some of the easiest places where you can come up with a seed keyword.
Google Autocomplete or People Also Ask
Everyone has been on Google before and noticed that a drop-down box appears to prompt you with the questions other people are also typing into the search bar. This autocomplete feature is a great way to locate new keywords and see what other people are interested in.
While it may not give your monthly search volume, it does highlight key ideas.
Once you type in a query, you might also notice that there is a section at the bottom of the Google search results labeled People Also Ask. This is a great place for additional keyword ideas.
Google Trends for Fresh Ideas
Not sure what you can write about next? It might be time to survey what's hot and trending at the moment. Google Trends allows you to type in a subject and then see its overall interest over a given timeframe. If you want to target something hot right now, it's a great resource for free inspiration about what's relevant to your industry.
Google Search Console for More Clicks
Last but not least, Google Search Console will show you how search traffic impacts your site. It has the power to pinpoint which phrases garner the most clicks, giving you an idea of how many people have an interest in the topics you discuss on your website. It's a valuable tool for keyword discovery.
Social Media for Keyword Research
Of course, some of the most important keyword tools are also related to social media. Here are a few places you can look to if you want to find search terms for your growing website.
Facebook Groups & Social Media
If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of current trends, there is no better place than social media. You can see what people are interested in and tailor your content to include similar keywords. Facebook groups that target your niche and prospective audience are great places to mine data.
However, you can also use social media to comb through hashtags that might be relevant to your site. These can give you a good idea of the search volume for certain keywords and give you ideas from some competitors of content you can create.
Forums like Quora and Reddit
Similar to social media, Quora and Reddit are great options to find trending topics. You can see the types of questions people ask, but you can also use this to get more backlinks for your brand. Be helpful and create content that meets a need you see in these forums. Then, you will have great content to share with others.
Finding Keyword Opportunities with Questions
Most of the time, people come to the internet because they have a burning question to ask. Here are two tools that will help you with keyword discovery in the form of questions.
Answer the Public
Answer the Public is a freemium tool that gives you a visual representation of the types of questions people are asking about top keywords. You get three daily searches for free and can pay for additional searches if you want to mine as much data as possible in a short window of time.
It even gives you search volume and cost per click. Their topic clusters make it possible for you to reverse engineer your way to a seed keyword that ultimately resonates with your audience.
AnswerSocrates
Another helpful tool for keyword discovery is the AnswerSocrates tool, which is similar to Answer the Public but is always free. It doesn't have the nicest visual like Answer the Public, but it's still very functional and helpful.
It breaks down questions by type (like "What..." and "Can I...") so it's easy for you to filter to find content for your next blog post. However, it does not include information about search volume for your given keyword or what you can expect to pay per click.
Still, it's a great tool if you don't want to spend money or if you have limited time to comb through the "People Also Ask" section of Google.
Analyze Competitors for Keyword Opportunities
One of the best things you can do to find more organic traffic is to analyze what your competitors seem to be doing well. If you can mark what they are advertising and doing, you can start to steal the keywords that they are ranking for, making the most of traffic that already exists.
Moz is one of the leading tools for keyword discovery in terms of competitor traffic, so you may want to get this tool on board. Better yet, the SEO Competitive Analysis Tool is free to get started.
What can you do with Moz to help you get more organic traffic just like your competitors? Here are a few of the functionalities of the competition tool:
- Locate top competitors for your keywords and niche.
- Find new keyword opportunities from competitors.
- See the impact on site traffic by "stealing" keywords.
- Understand domain authority and website metrics.
- Gain insight into content gaps and fill them with fresh ideas.
Whether you want to find seasonal keywords or just stick with run-of-the-mill keyword discovery, you can't go wrong by seeing what your competitors have to offer.
Tools to Find Keyword Opportunities
In addition to some of the above sites, there are also tools designed specifically to help you pinpoint new organic keywords you could rank for. If you really want to start building keyword lists and gain visibility for your site, then you need the right keywords.
These tools range from free to premium and offer lots of versatility for your site if you want to write content that resonates with your audience or improve existing content.
Free: Keywords Everywhere
Keywords Everywhere is a free Google Chrome extension that can help you drastically improve your search traffic. Despite being a free keyword research tool, it's still quite powerful when it comes to finding keywords. Some of the benefits of this tool include:
- Search engine optimization (SEO) difficulty
- Related keywords
- People Also Search For
- Long-tail keywords
- Trends
- Traffic metrics
A paid version of this tool exists that can help you find even more keywords sending traffic to your page. If you find the free keyword discovery tool helpful, you might want to consider investing in the paid version when you have the budget for something more robust.
See our full Keywords Everywhere review here.
Low-Cost But Still Effective: Keysearch
Maybe you want to find search terms and relevant content a little more easily than you can with Keywords Everywhere. If so, then Keysearch might be the next logical option. A small budget is required to find keywords on Keysearch, but you'll find that its overall capabilities are worth the initial investment.
Some of the features of this keyword research tool include:
- Competitor analysis
- Rank tracking
- Related keywords and trends for 12-month periods
- Long-tail keyword opportunities
- Webpage audit analyzer
You can get started with Keysearch for free for the first month to see if this tool is the right fit for you. And after this one-month trial (which doesn't even require a credit card), the price goes up to an affordable $17 per month.
For more information, see our full Keysearch review here.
Premium: Semrush for Keywords Related to Your Niche
Anyone serious about developing a strong keyword strategy should consider investing in Semrush. This tool might be a more premium option, but you'll fall in love with its features to help you prioritize keywords and master organic traffic sources.
The best features of this premium keyword tool include:
- Backlink analysis
- Trends
- Keyword difficulty scores
- PPC advertising opportunities
Not only does it help you find top keywords, it also allows you to steal some of the traffic from your competitors who successfully use organic keywords. It enables you to create a competitor list and keep it handy to steal their traffic.
Pricing starts at $129.95 per month for five projects, tracking 500 keyword opportunities and generating 10,000 results per report.
See our full Semrush review and tutorial here to see if this tool is the right move for you.
Final Thoughts: Where Will You Find Keyword Opportunities?
Are you on a journey of keyword discovery? If you want to find keywords that resonate with your audience before you create content, you will want to tap into some of these tools. Every site has room for improvement when it comes to finding top keywords and ranking them with your content strategy.
No matter what your budget is, there are keyword research tools out there for you!
For more information on how to target low-competition keywords, see our guide here.
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