How to Improve Your Rankings with Semantic Keyword Research
Don't forget about semantic keyword research to help you focus your content and and improve your rankings.
Keyword Research
Almost all SEO begins with keyword research. Understanding what people are searching for and how many people are searching helps form a solid content strategy.
Beyond the basics, keyword research encompasses many more advanced considerations, including SERP features, keyword search intent, competitive analysis, and even internationalization.
Read the latest Moz posts on keyword research. We’ve also included links to our most popular keyword research resources to help your SEO journey.
Keyword Research : Everything you need to get started with keyword research.
Keyword Research Learning Center : Our free keyword research learning hub. Here, we’ve gathered our top resources in one place.
What is search intent and why does it matter? : Learn more about the power of search intent and how to use it in your keyword research strategy.
Keyword Explorer : Want to dive in? Try our top-rated keyword research tool, with over 500 million keyword suggestions.
Find Striking Distance Keywords With Moz Pro : How to quickly locate, track, and label these keyword opportunities in Moz Pro in this Whiteboard Friday video
Most Recent Articles on Keyword Research
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How Much Does That Keyword Cost? [TOOL]
More and more, SEOs and small business owners are realizing that you cannot pay the electric bills or rent in rankings, and often times, traffic. Google Analytics or other site analytics packages can tell you your most profitable keyword broken down into a dollar value, however, what if you’re not ranking for the keyword but still want to assign a dollar value to it?
50 of the Most Competitive SEO Keywords!
So recently I was having a chat to some friends involved in the digital space and they had a question: "Hey what do you think are the most competitive SEO term in the Australian SEO market?". Been involved with internet marketing for almost 8 years now I had a good grasp on some of the most difficult terms, I have personally worked in some of the most difficult markets in both Australia and the United States so I thought what better opportunity than to put together some research in this space.
Stop Paying for Stupid Clicks: Negative Keywords for Positive ROI
One of my guilty pleasures is looking through the search query reports (SQR) of an AdWords campaign for the cringe-worthy search queries that led to someone clicking on a PPC ad. Really Google? You felt that goat transportation cost was related to my keyword of freight costs? Or that a babe cam search should show my ad for digital camera? Sadly, these matches and worse can happen if you lack proper negative keywords.
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How to Forecast Seasonal Keyword Traffic with Google Insights and Python Scripts
A while back, I went to a Distilled meetup here in NYC. SEER Interactive's Mark Lavoritano did some cool slides on the seasonality of keywords. Basically, his presentation made the point that you should not only think about which keywords you want to rank for but also WHEN they are most valuable.
Be Careful Using AdWords for Keyword Research
For the past decade, most of us in the field of search have relied on Google's AdWords data (either in the public tool, the API or the tools inside AdWords accounts). It's the best source we've got, but many marketers may not realize that sadly, the numbers and queries may not always match up to what's actually happening on Google's search engine. I'll illustrate ...
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How to Build an Advanced Keyword Analysis Report in Excel
Analyzing keyword performance, discovering new keyword opportunities, and determining which keywords to focus efforts on can be painstaking when you have thousands of keywords to review. With keyword metrics coming from all over the place (Analytics, Adwords, Webmaster Tools, etc.), it’s challenging to analyze all the data in one place regularly without having to do a decent amount of manual data manipulation. In addition, dependent on your site’s business model, tying revenue metrics to keyword data is a whole other battle.
Advanced SEO Keyword Research Tips and Ideas!
This post is for anyone who is an SEO, Online Marketer, Domain Name Buyer or PPC in general and does keyword research using the Google Keyword Tool. Don't get me wrong -- keyword research is a very important aspect for SEO and if you do not do it correctly you can make a huge mistake by targeting your whole SEO campaign around specific keywords which are not all that correct. Some times the data can leave you a bit angry when you compare it with other real time sources or more accurate PPC data.
Using Social Media to Get Ahead of Search Demand
Before I even start saying anything about keyword research I want to take my hat off to Richard Baxter because the tools and methodologies he shared at MozCon make me feel silly about even thinking about bringing something to the Keyword Research table. Now with that said, have a few ideas about using data sources outside of those that the Search Engines provide to get a sense of what needs people are looking to fulfill right now. Consider this the first in a series.
6 Keyword Research Mistakes You Might be Making
Keyword research is an all too often under-appreciated aspect of SEO. I've written a few keyword research posts here on Moz and that's because I believe it to be the blueprint of any successful SEO campaign...
Are Word Limits in the Google Keyword Tool Affecting the Long Tail in Your SEO Keyword Research?
Chances are - if you visit SEOmoz on a regular basis - you already know the importance of keywords, choosing your keywords correctly and therefore that keyword research is one of the most important areas behind a successful SEO strategy. The Google AdWords Keyword Tool is probably the i...
How to Get Search Volume Data Straight into Excel [Mozcon Debrief]
Just to say thanks to the Mozteam for flying me over to sunny Seattle, I brought them a new toy to give away. And, it rocks...
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What Small Business Clients Need to Know About Keywords and SEO
OK, so I've worked-on or managed well over 100 SEO campaigns over the last few years and a common trend I've noticed is that many small business clients don't really understand how choosing the right keywords affects and defines an SEO campaign and what it takes to deliver results.
Using E-Commerce Keyword Research to Hook More Customers
To some, keyword research is keyword research...the type of website doesn't matter! To me however, ecommerce websites require a different approach to keyword research because ecommerce is in my opinion an entirely different beast. The following is a step-by-step process for how I do SEO keyword research for my ecommerce clients...