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Powerful Keyword Research: the Key to Attracting More Traffic

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Does increasing traffic, leads, and sales seem hopeless? It isn’t. But what you need is a plan. And that plan starts with powerful keyword research.

Back when we started GrowMap, search engines including Google sent us many times more traffic than they do today. Sadly, those days are long gone for most blogs and sites.

RIP: Google Keyword Planner

And something else that is gone is accurate keyword data that Google used to give us for free in Google Analytics and Google Keyword Planner.

It has been many years since analytics revealed what keyword phrases visitors use to find our sites. At first, you could still do keyword research by having an AdWords account – even if you did not buy ads.

Later, SearchEngineLand reported that Google was officially throttling (reducing) keyword planner data even for advertisers who spent money with them if they were not heavy spenders.

Then starting March 26, 2018, Google started suspending AdWords accounts. If you aren’t actively running ads, Google has likely already shut down your AdWords account or may do so in the future.

Even if you are willing to spend periodically to keep access to the Google Keyword Planner within AdWords, how will you know how much you have to spend to actually see all the keyword data?

We obviously need keyword research alternatives. My readers regularly ask me what to use now.

Neil Patel’s Google Keyword Planner Alternative

There are multiple tools, both free and paid. Neil Patel acquired the popular free keyword research tool Ubersuggest, improved it, and made it available free for anyone to use.

Here is a video on how it works:

There are some important points to be made regarding using this (or possibly any) keyword tool:

  • Trying to enter a phrase using quotes around it to get more relevant results does not work.
  • Many unrelated phrases appear in the unfiltered results.
  • You can only enter 5 negative keywords.

Unlike Google Keyword Planner, no one needs an account or to login, so using it is super fast and convenient.

How to Do Powerful Keyword Research

As you can see when you try Ubersuggest, there are a lot of results that are not relevant. So here is my strategy for using the tool. Do the steps in this order:

  • First, input your search keyword(s).
  • Then choose 5 negative keywords and save them.
  • Filter results using a specific word.
  • Sort by search volume.

This will let you hone in on the most relevant phrases that have the most traffic.

Obviously, there are other methods you can use. This is just one to get beginners started or offer a new way to those with experience.

Here is an example using the process above:

Ubersuggest Poweful Keyword Reasearch Example: Twitter Best Practices

Notes about the above example:

  1. Even though the search was for “twitter best practices”, I had already confirmed that the results were exactly the same for twitter best practices without the quotes.
  2. First I removed a lot of irrelevant results using the maximum number of negative keywords allowed. I chose them by scanning the results and using the ones that were listed most often.
  3. Then I used “practices” as my filter to pull out all the results that included that word.
  4. Lastly, I sorted by search volume to see which phrases were the most popular with searchers.

At this point, the next step is to check the ones you want to save or export.  The reason to do that is so you can re-use your research for more than one page.

I choose this example because my Twitter Best Practices page used to rank for that phrase. Because it was popular, other sites saw searches for that phrase and created content that now outranks mine.

The reason mine wasn’t strong enough to keep ranking was that is it primarily a page that summarizes and links to other posts about Twitter strategies.

So if I wanted to get that post to rank again (now that the competition is stiffer), I would expand the content to be more comprehensive.

And I would use the research I pulled from Ubersuggest to include all the relevant, related phrases that turned up in that new content.

Another way to use the research would be to create additional posts or pages targeting additional phrases and to ensure my existing Twitter strategy pages target the best keywords.

To do that, we need to understand that “best” is probably not what you may think.

Do Not Mistake Low Competition For Easy to Rank!

Even if you never open links in content you read, I strongly recommend you read Why You Can’t Bank on Google’s Keyword Planner Tool.

In it, Darren DeMatas provides excellent advice including this:

“Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t understand the important difference between keyword competition for advertising and keyword difficulty for SEO.”

He goes on to explain that low keyword competition only means that advertisers do not bid on those keywords because they are too general or do not convert.

It does NOT mean you can easily rank for them.

Here is another video that provides an excellent analogy that explains how to choose the best keyword phrases for your posts, pages, and videos.

While his video shows the old Ubersuggest at the end, I share it with you here because his strategy will work in the new version just as well.

Most importantly, I share it because his explanation will make keyword research more understandable to many.

Keyword research is what separates the sites that are successfully growing with those that are falling by the wayside.

Choosing the best keywords and knowing what to do with them is essential to your success. Every site owner must invest time in learning to do keyword research or hire someone to do it for them.

Have you tried Ubersuggest?  If you would like to share your tips on keyword research, let us know in the comments.

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Gail Gardner

Small Business Marketing Strategist at GrowMap
Gail Gardner is the founder of GrowMap.com. She is a Small Business Marketing Strategist who mentors small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers. After 23 years in the field with IBM and 5.5 years managing AdWords accounts, her focus shifted to small business marketing strategy. GrowMap.com is listed by Cision as a Top 100 Site for Marketers and has received three Small Business Influencer Awards from Small Business Trends. Named by D&B a Top 50 SMB Influencer on Twitter, you can follow Gail @GrowMap and on LinkedIn.
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Comments

  1. Hi Gail Gardner,

    Thanks for sharing such amazing content about keyword research.

    But, There one video is missing… I mean, it’s not there… Maybe it’s deleted on youtube.

    Cheers,
    Keep writing great content like this.

    Reply

  4. This is an exactly nice post and the research for the powerful keyword. I could understand, it’s a nice post to learn about keywords thanks to you sir for giving opportunity.

    Reply

  5. I think the SEO would be raised with powerful and meaningful work that is your post and it’s a great post to me I have learned the technique. And apply this technique getting good feedback. Thank you, Manish for your great post.

    Reply

  6. Welcome Manish, for your great blog post. Sometimes I feel some problem. When I read your post then I automatically solved my problem and I could understand how to optimize SEO. And it’s powerful keyword research, thanks to you, and I desire you please visit my website.

    Reply

  7. Google keyword planner and uber suggest both are the good keyword research tool but after getting an update of keyword planner. I don’t like to use it much.
    Now, I prefer to use ubersuggest for find out profitable keywords for my blog.
    Thank you for sharing this post.

    Reply

  8. I am a new blogger trying to find articles on ‘keyword research ‘. Found this article which is interesting

    Very useful article for me – Thank you

    Reply

  10. This is really interesting! These tips and tricks can really help people whenever they are needing a boost in the SEO realm also. the biggest keyword ranking factor would be the keyword search. This is not only a big factor that can have a huge impact on your company.

    Reply

  12. Hi Gail Gardner, thanks for sharing this article. Keyword research is a main part of SEO. As google has already blocked my adword account I use Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest. It is great, it shows exact search volume and competition.

    Reply

  13. Very important article it is, as today everyone wants their product rank on the first page, but its only possible with the good SEO and Keywords they want to target, So to choose best keyword is a really big task, And the author has described everything which is needed for good keyword research.
    Thanks much for the beautiful article.
    Regards

    Reply

  14. Thanks for sharing this incredibly eye opening information,
    because it’s definitely time, I started closely studying this
    constantly evolving subject again. as i am completely dependent on digital marketing

    Reply

  17. I have been facing problems planning my keywords for my posts. This article with the step-by-step guidance is really helping me a lot. Thats why I returned to your post and made it my point to thank you for this wonderful post. Thanks a lot.

    Reply

  18. Awesome awesome post very helpful.

    I learn something new every day.

    Keyword research is vital for gaining more free traffic to your blog or website from the major search engines.

    Go after the wrong keywords and you could be buried on the 2nd 3rd or 4th pages for the more competitive keyword terms depending on the keywords that you are targeting.

    Anyhow,

    Very helpful thank you for the info.
    Jay would love you to read ..Digital Marketing Services – Pick From 10 Done For You Businesses In The Lucrative Digital Marketing Services NicheMy Profile

    Reply

  19. Keyword research is important to start any blog and we should do it manually by testing our top 10 competitors. We should not trust on paid tools.manual work can give much more benefits.

    Reply

  20. Hello, Gail Gardner nice article. I have tried ubersuggest many times but semrush is top of all. well, semrush is a paid tool and if someone wants free keyword planner tool I would suggest going with ubersuggest. Nice article. Keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing this amazing post

    – John Roberts

    Reply

  22. hi, thanks for sharing your valuable information with us im an seo freelancer and here now Everyone is talking about long-tail keywords. How do I find long-tail keywords? and how to find long tail keyword with good search volume

    Reply

  25. Its Very Good Post for Keyword Research. I personally feel Keyword research is the best thing and most significant step for picking a niche As if you select a low difficulty keyword Your 50% SEO is Done,
    But I think You miss the best Keyword tool which is Kwfinder, and It’s too close to Google Manual that one can love it after Saw results.

    Reply

  26. Its Very Good Post for Keyword Research. I personally feel Keyword research is the best thing and most significant step for picking a niche As if you select a low difficulty keyword Your 50% SEO is Done,
    But I think You miss a best Keyword tool which is Kwfinder,

    Reply

  27. Key Word research is most important and is the base of the other digital marketing campaign. For the Google adword is the base for this.

    If a tool we can find for Google Adword really it will be helpful.

    Reply

  29. Finally, the explanation! So many articles extol the virtue of Google’s keyword tool, yet the signup insists on cc info which I refused to give. Found this article while seeking a work-around. You not only provide an explanation and alternative, but a how-to trail as well. Über thx! Just bookmarked Neil’s tool to check out this weekend.
    PamG would love you to read ..11 Quality “Little Things” Fueling Superior ProductivityMy Profile

    Reply

  30. Yes…it is very important do keyword research….it is very hard to rank on the competitive keywords. So have moved the focus to long tail keywords….now i am getting better results.

    Reply

  31. Keyword research is the biggest challenge I think when you are doing SEO , Both On Page and Off Page.
    Thanks for this post.
    And yes Google Keyword Planner has lost its charm specially when considering low competition keywords.

    Reply

  33. Gail Gardner Your blog is very informative it will help to find the Powerful Keyword. I like the way you described everything step-by-step of keyword research. Please suggest me some tools which help me to find the unique keywords. Vert good. I give your 10 points.
    Rio would love you to read ..Avengers Infinity war SpoilersMy Profile

    Reply

  34. Hello, Gail Gardner nice article. I have tried ubersuggest many times but semrush is top of all. well, semrush is a paid tool and if someone wants free keyword planner tool I would suggest going with ubersuggest. Nice article. Keep up the good work.

    – Jatin.

    Reply

    • Hi Fritz,

      I suspect the changes Google made are why you’re hearing more about UberSuggest – that and because Neil Patel bought it. He has a huge following and high visibility.

      With Keyword Planner only showing partial data and probably not revealing what percentage, it really isn’t very useful except to high spenders now.
      Gail Gardner would love you to read ..Content Marketing Is So Much More Than Blogging!My Profile

      Reply

  38. Hi, thanks a lot for sharing such an informative post which is very helpful especially for the beginners like me, I was using google keyword planner but now will also use ubersuggest as well for the long tail keyword research which is an important part for the website ranking. Keep it up!

    Reply

  40. Hi Gail,

    You are right about the fact that Google now require users to create an ad campaign and set a spending budget before using the tool. I tried to use it for my guest post on SEMrush but could not due to the recent update, so I used Ubersuggest.

    However, keyword research is important for your content marketing strategy, as it helps you position your brand on SERP.
    For me doing keyword research, I first of all try to find keywords my competitors are ranking for, as well as related keywords – LSI. I also brainstorm keywords by filtering based on location.

    Thank you for sharing this insightful post.

    Reply

  42. Hi Gail,
    Liked the way of your explanation and coming to this post, it’s very informative and helpful for me. I am a vivid fan of google keyword planner, but in recent times its showing very limited data as of result I am searching for best keyword tools then I came across your post it helps me a lot.

    Thanks

    Reply

  43. Great article! Indeed its true keyword research is very Important for any brand. There are lot of sites available for keyword research like google Adwords keyword planner, SEM RUSH etc..

    Reply

  44. Good Post .Fully read out this articles, Nice tips and learn some new things
    Thanks For Sharing with us , Keep it up

    Reply

  46. Thank you for sharing, ubersuggest is really useful, it has saved me some money. Google has really make things more and more difficult for small businesses like mine.

    Reply

  47. Hi Gail,

    Great content. I haven’t had the chance to use the new UberSuggest yet. It seems promising though. For a free service, it is worth checking to get an idea on which keywords might be out there. I don’t know much about its database or how reliable it is yet, but the future will tell.

    I like that pointed out the difference between competition for advertisers and competition for search engine rankings. Unfortunately, not many articles out there explaining this problem in detail. Young SEOs and bloggers always confuse the two. And especially now that the data you get from GKP is almost worthless.

    What I like to do when using Google tools is use check my Search Console and Google Analytics for keywords I already rank for. I put them in GKP and filter the result based on search volume, and then use those in Google Trends. That way the data I get is much more filtered and reliable than simply using what a single tool tells me.

    Thanks again for sharing this content!
    Youness Bermime would love you to read ..How to Use Social Media to Boost SEOMy Profile

    Reply

  51. Hai,

    This is a good post for powerful keyword research.Keywords are the most critical thing one must know,very informative.An article worth reading.Thank you for such a good post

    Reply

  52. Aside from Google Keyword Planner, I have tried using Screaming Frog which is a really great tool for keywords as well. Its the 2nd time i have read about ubersuggest today and it is really interesting. Thanks for the shown example. Will definitely try it out!
    Erika Ann would love you to read ..SE Ranking: An In-depth ReviewMy Profile

    Reply

  57. Hello Gail Gardner,
    I Read your blog, I Found your blog is Interesting and Very Informative, I learned A lot About Keyword Research but I have a doubt About Negative keywords.Is Negative Keyword is helpful for Website?

    Reply

  58. Thank you for sharing such a great article…Gail Gardner
    Keywords are the most important thing, I am Lil bit confused about which keyword is the best for the website long tail keyword or Short Keyword

    Reply

    • Hi Atul,

      The shorter the phrase, typically the tougher the competition and the longer it will take to rank for it – if that is even possible.

      So what most people do is target long-tail phrases and work toward ranking for them to get traffic started coming to their sites. And then over time, all the incoming links to long-tail phrases will make your site more competitive and you can eventually possibly rank for some short keyword phrases as well.

      So, for your site, “ceramic tile” would be a short phrase that would be much more competitive than a long-tail phrase such as “handmade ceramic tile manufacturer” or “handpainted ceramic tiles india”.

      You should create a separate page or post for each phrase you want to target and write exceptional long (at least 700 words, but ideally 1500+) words about that phrase.

      Note that the type of content that attracts links and helps your site rank in search engines will possibly be much longer than the kind of content that your typical buyer wants to read.

      So what you do is have the short buyer pages link to the long, indepth pages. That way, those who want lots more information can get it, but you aren’t forcing your buyers to read through it to find the buy button.
      Gail Gardner would love you to read ..8 SEO Trends You Should Keep an Eye on and Implement in 2018My Profile

      Reply

  59. Thank you, author, for sharing such a valuable Post it is really helpful. Your informative post helped me to find the best keyword for my websites thanks a lot, Keep sharing such an informative blog with us…

    Reply

  60. Thank you for sharing such awesome inside info Gail!

    And while I’m obviously far from a qualified SEO specialist
    by any stretch of the word.

    I clearly had no idea, Google has really changed things around so
    much, with regards to it’s free keyword planning tools.

    And you are so right, with your advice, about taking the time
    and making the effort, to learn the current SEO basic fundamentals.

    Even though I have definitely used the Ubersuggest tool a few times
    in the past.

    I clearly have not done so in quite a while.

    Thanks for sharing this incredibly eye opening information,
    because it’s definitely time, I started closely studying this
    constantly evolving subject again.

    Reply

  62. Uber suggest is an good alternative for google keyword planner. Keywords are the main and powerful factor for ranking your website on search engines. When compared to google keyword planner i guess uber suggest lets you to decide keywords based on lot of factors and comparisons. Completely a good information about keywords, thanks for the article.

    Reply

  63. There is very less difference between competition for keyword in advertisement and competition in SEO ranking. If you have high competition for SEO then it is difficult to rank. These keywords definitely have high click rates in Google Adword advertisement. Both are more or less same keywords. We should optimise keywords both for SEO ranking as well as advertisement.

    Reply

  64. Truly said, Keywords and knowing what to do with them is essential to your success. Keywords are the most important thing one must know. Informative. An article worth reading.

    Reply

  65. Gail Gardner Your blog is very informative it will help to find the Powerful Keyword. I like the way you described everything step-by-step of keyword research. Please suggest me some tools which help me to find the unique keywords.

    Reply

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