What is keyword research?

Keyword research is a core SEO task that involves identifying popular words and phrases people enter into search engines -make in an attempt to figure out what to rank for. Researching keywords gives marketers a better understanding of how high the demand is for certain keywords and how hard it would be to compete for those terms in the organic search results, offering some direction to optimization efforts.

Keyword research isn’tjust about verifying how many searches a particular keyword has — it’s also about exploring the many varied ways that people use language to research an idea or topic. As such, researching popular keywords isn’t just a big part of search engine optimization, it’s also a major element of content marketing as a whole. Why? Because it can help you find ideas for your next blog post, learn more about the needs of your audience, and keep up to date with the lingo of the ever-changing search landscape. Ultimately, by researching the words people type into search engines and using this research to create targeted content, you can drive the right traffic to your site — traffic that is more likely to convert.

(moz)