When it comes to SEO, the first place you need to start is keyword research.
But where do you find the most relevant keywords for your website?
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There are lots of tools which will give you search terms and their search volume (how many searches are done each month on that phrase). SEMrush, Ahrefs and Moz are the most commonly used ones but they can be very expensive, especially if you just want to use it a few times a year for one business.
Google AdWords has a keyword planner which you can access, but if you want to get accurate data, you need to be spending a decent amount on ads. If you aren’t spending with Google, you’ll only be getting ranges of data and you can’t be assured of the accuracy of the numbers. Sneaky move Google.
Using Google search can help you get started on keyword research without spending a single cent. Here are 3 ways you can use Google search to find keywords.
Google Predictions
When you start typing a phrase in the search box on Google, Google will predict what you’re going to type. These predictions are based on commonly searched phrases, so when they appear, you know there are other people out there searching these terms.
Use this and type in as many different phrases, with words in different orders to see what Google suggests as possible keywords.
Related searches
After you’ve hit the search button, you’ll get a results page. Usually it starts with some ads at the top, sometimes you’ll get a map result and then there will be the organic results.
At the very bottom of the page, just above where you click to go to page 2 results (who does that?!), there is a section called ‘Searches related to [keyword phrase]’. In this section, there can be up to 8 other search terms related to the phrase you just Googled.
They are usually fairly similar but sometimes they can throw some new ideas into the mix that you hadn’t searched for before or wouldn’t have even considered searching.
What Are Others Using?
The final way you can use Google search to find keywords is by looking at the organic search results on the page. This is really useful as you can see what results Google thinks are relevant for the phrase you searched for and this gives you an insight into what you could include on your own website.
Sometimes it’s because no one else is using the phrase you searched for, and then you may find some patterns in what other people are using and therefore what Google considers a good result for that term.
This isn’t always the best way to find keywords, as not everyone has put as much effort into their keyword research but it can help you to find some similar phrases that would help you rank on that all important first page of the Google search results.
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