Using keyword research workflow as part of integrated marketing

Marketers who are worth their salt don’t view keyword research as a side dish – it’s one of the main dishes that you cannot take for granted. Targeting the right keywords ensures that SEO, PPC, and content marketing campaigns reach the right audience. And it helps identify primary competitors.  A keyword research workflow can help determine the best keywords consistently.

1. Starting with a Seed Keyword

Before you launch any form of keyword research tool, you must first obtain a set of “seed keywords” ready.  A seed keyword is any broad yet relevant term in your niche. It’s also referred to as a “primary” or “main” keyword. If you’re generally in tune with your niche, you should already have a few seed keywords in mind. You can also grab a handful of new ones real quick with Google Autocomplete.  All you need to do is type anything that’s relevant to your niche, brand, or products and let Google do the rest:

For this step, you don’t have to go out of your way to bag multiple seed keywords. Just one will yield hundreds of potential keyword opportunities, so just relax and find something that looks interesting.  Just remember that you can also find long-tail keywords with this method. In which case, you don’t have to worry — you can still use them as your “seed keywords” for the next step:

2. Expand It

After you come up with at least one seed keyword, it’s time to expand it through Ubersuggest — a fast and powerful keyword research platform.  To start, enter your seed keyword into the “Enter in a keyword or phrase field” and click “Look Up.”

Here’s an important tip: if you run a local business, don’t forget to set the correct language and region in the drop-down menu before you expand your seed keyword.

Keep in mind that the demand for keywords varies depending on the searcher’s location. If you want your keyword research to generate profitable results eventually, use keywords that your target audience actually use. Once Ubersuggest completes its initial search, you should be able to see hundreds of long-tail keyword suggestions. This includes important metrics that will help you decide which keywords are worth targeting — namely the average search volume, cost per click, and competitiveness rating.

In keyword research, it’s common knowledge that you must pick low competition keywords with reasonable monthly search volumes.  While the search volume metric is quite self-explanatory, the competitiveness rating in Ubersuggest warrants a concise clarification. Put simply; it gauges keyword competitiveness on a scale of 0 to 1.0.  0.4 is the sweet spot for new brands as well as those without a lot of extra budget. It indicates that a keyword is neither unpopular nor too competitive to be viable.

At this point, you’re probably ready to jump at the first keyword you see with a high search volume and low competition. However, you need to curb your excitement — these numbers aren’t everything.

3. Filtering Results

Before you pick out keywords based on metrics, you should refine the keyword suggestions first through filters.  A good start is to weed out keywords that include your competitor’s brand name.  For example, if your seed keyword is “crossfit shoes” but would like to exclude big-name brands like Adidas and Nike, simply add their names in the “Negative Keywords” section and click “Save.”

Ubersuggest will then instantaneously refresh the page and remove suggestions that contain any of the specified negative keywords. Of course, filtering results using negative keywords isn’t always necessary. But it’s a great way to avoid wasting time on keywords that you’ll never use.

The next step is to spice up your keyword suggestions list by adding terms that signal commercial intent.  For example, if your seed keyword is “web designer,” you can add terms like:

• Hire
• Services
• Find

As you add new filters, Ubersuggest automatically refreshes the page and pulls in keywords with your specified terms.

Not only do these keywords have decent search volumes and workable competitiveness ratings, but they also imply that the user is ready to take action. In other words, these are the perfect kind of keywords that you should use in your SEO, PPC, or content marketing campaigns.

Congratulations! You now know how to spot potential keyword suggestions with Ubersuggest. But don’t relax just yet — there’s still work to be done.

4. Exporting Your Keywords

A smart marketer would know to export lucrative keyword opportunities into a CSV file for reference and tracking purposes in the future. Fortunately, this can be done with Ubersuggest within minutes. Simply select the keywords you want to use via their checkboxes and click the “Export to CSV” button below:

That’s it! You don’t have to register for an account or answer a captcha to download your CSV file, which should look something like:

5. Prioritizing Your Keywords

Finally, you need to figure out which keywords to prioritize in your upcoming campaign. Ubersuggest has an elegant solution that will help you do so. By moving your mouse pointer over the “graph” icon next to each keyword’s search volume, you’ll be presented with its performance by the month:

In the example above, the decline in monthly searches may be subtle, but it’s definitely a trend that you should worry about. The keyword “web designer for hire,” on the other hand, looks a bit more promising.

Upon identifying which keywords are more likely to perform well in the foreseeable future, consider marking them as your priority in your CSV file:

Conclusion

Developing a repeatable system is the key to maximizing productivity in any activity. When it comes to keyword research, the guide above is a tried and tested workflow that can help you find winning keywords every single time. How much time did you spend on keyword research with the steps above?Do you have any suggestions on how to make it even more efficient? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!