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

researching keywords help you better understand your target audience. That’s because keyword research gives you insight into what customers are searching for… and the exact words and phrases that they use.

Wikipedia is an overlooked keyword research goldmine.

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

Another cool way to find keywords is to check out the “Searches Related to” section at the bottom of Google’s search results.

Just like with Google Suggest, these are keyword ideas that come straight from Google. So you don’t need to guess whether or not they’re popular. Google is literally telling you: “Tons of people search for these keywords.”

Pro Tip: “Keyworddit” is a free SEO tool that scans Reddit for words and phrases that people use… and sorts those phrases by monthly search volume.

Use Google and YouTube Suggest

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

Google’s Keyword Planner is THE most reliable source of keyword information online.

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

What’s nice about Ahrefs “Keyword Explorer” is that you get a ton of helpful data on each keyword.

Long Tails Are (Usually) Less Competitive

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

when you add them together, long tails make up the majority of searches online. And because they don’t get searches for that much, long tail terms usually aren’t very competitive

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

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

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.

The Google Search Console is a goldmine of keyword ideas.

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.

Ahrefs Content Gap

This will show you keywords that at least 2 of your competitors rank for… but you don’t.

If Search Intent is “Navigational”, then you may want to avoid that term… even if it has great CPC and monthly search volume numbers.

if Searcher Intent is “Informational”, then a piece of content optimized around that term could do GREAT.

There are thousands of keywords that your potential customer searches for when they’re not searching for that you sell.

“Shoulder Keywords”.

These keywords aren’t directly related to what you sell. But they’re keywords that your customers search for. Which makes them worth going after.