How to know which keywords to use







A keyword is your gateway to the SERP listing and ultimately organic traffic. How to know which keywords to use will not only save you time but also improves your chances to get a top spot on a SERP listing.
You have done your research, you have a good listing of keywords, but now you want to know which keyword is best to use. This is where keyword competition analysis happens. There are probably keywords in your niche with lots of traffic with little competition, and you have probably wondered why.
Doing a little bit of Keyword competition analysis will reveal the reason why, and help us focus on keywords that will help us get more traffic. Beginner online marketers should pay close attention to keyword competition because their website most likely still have a low Page and Domain Authority. As your site grows and more traffic flows, page and domain authority will increase. Picking the right keyword is definitely a good way to start to bring more organic traffic.
Competition analysis
SERP Research

Things to prepare:
Spreadsheet

Keyword research tool
You will also need a keyword research tool. This will verify our current competition for the keyword, and other possible alternative keywords we could use. Most keyword research tool will include related search keyword, we can research further that keyword should we determine our keyword is not a good keyword to use.
Get a free jaaxy account if you are looking for a keyword research tool. In general, you need to know the possible keywords that you can use before you can ask how to know which keywords to use.
Page Authority Analysis tool

Analysis starts here
3 Red flags to watch out
Identify Weak sites

Analyze it
Analyze the first 10 result and save your findings using the spreadsheet. After completing the spreadsheet, identify if any of these sites is weak enough for you to take over. As I have mentioned earlier, to be on the first page of SERP means that your post or page is relevant to the keyword and it is popular.
A keyword the produces a lot of blog post and niche site on the SERP is an ideal keyword to use. I suggest that aim at low traffic and low competition keyword than competing on high traffic and high competition keyword. Beginners who still are working on their Page and Domain authority should stick with low competition for now. Build your organic traffic and google will reward you with higher page rank.
Easy does it
You may end up with tons of possible keyword to use, but the next step should be how to know which keywords to use.
Keyword competition analysis will go a long way. When I started I have always aimed at high traffic keyword with less than 100 competition, but nowadays I still use the keyword with less than 20 competition for easy ranking on the first page.
If you continue to create content that targets low competition and low traffic, eventually all these small streams of organic visitor will be combined to create a sea of visitors.
Hi Jonathan a very easy to read and detailed review and guide.
The SERP guidance is super and I have just started using MozBar myself and taking more notice and time with SERP.
I also like the idea of using a spreadsheet to keep your research tracked, as i often lose track of what I have done.
Regards
Neil
This is one of the most thorough articles I have read on keyword research and use! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain some of the things that are skipped over at times. I am going to implement right away.
Have a great day!
Rhonda Jean
Hi Rhonda,
Im glad you enjoyed my post. Have a great day!
This was a great read and I’ve learned so much! I haven’t done analysis like this on the SERP and this will come in handle next time I do my keyword research. If the competition is very low below 20 or even below 10, do you think we still need to do this kind of analysis?
I use low competition keyword, as low as possible, and that’s why I haven’t done analysis of the SERP. Your reply will help me decide if I need to do this for very low competition keywords too. Thanks!
Hi Grace,
I will still do an analysis on those low competition keyword. It was just the other day that I found one. Total search was 4,545 with 773 traffic and 3 Competition. I thought I hit a jackpot, but competition analysis showed authority websites with 90 DA and above 50 PA. Enjoy hunting and have a great day!