Keyword research process
Initial Review
Current ranking performance for your target terms / pages, compared to overall site rankings.
Core Opportunities
Core opportunities identified based on current ranking terms, used as a base for further research,
Growth Potential
New terms identified as opportunities for driving further growth, based on audience interest.
Prioritised actions
Identified opportunities are grouped into actions, and then prioritised based on performance potential.
What does keyword research include?
Many will just provide you with a list of terms you currently rank for, and may tell you which of those are important, but that isn’t true research.
True research goes beyond just identifying what you rank for in which positions.
It spans into uncovering new opportunities – ones which might be within your current reach, as well as ones to aspire to as your business scales.
For that, you need to look outside the box. And that takes time.
When I do keyword research, I’ll look at:
- What you rank for currently – terms, positions, URLs
- Whether you should ranking for those terms
- Whether the right URLs are ranking for those terms
- What you aren’t ranking for, but should be now
- What you aren’t ranking for, but could be in time
Interested in a keyword research project?
Keyword research can cover many different needs, including:
- Smaller individual projects, e.g. you’re launching a new product or service and want to make sure you’re targeting the right terms
- Projects to inform larger activities, e.g. content strategies connected to main services and broader informational terms to reach your customers at different stages of the journey
- Large-scale opportunity identification, e.g. based on your current performance as well as that of your competitors to determine where the gaps are and how you can close (or expand) them
Because of that, scoping for keyword research projects is done on a case-by-case basis dependent on your needs and is provided following an initial discussion which will cover your objectives, any “target” terms or areas, upcoming site changes (if applicable), and timelines you’re looking for.