How to Analyse Keywords

Now that you have dozens of keyword ideas, your main task is to choose the ones that will bring the most value to you. You don’t want to optimize for hundreds of keywords, after all.

Each time you create new content, you should assign it a focus keyword. This keyword should best represent the topic of the page and have the strongest SEO properties.

Consider three key aspects: popularity, difficulty, and relevance of the keyword.

I like to think of these aspects as the three legs of a tripod, which is why I call it The Keyword Tripod Rule.

Like any tripod, your keyword strategy will only be effective if it stands firmly on all three legs.

Let’s take a closer look at these 3 legs:

1. Popularity of the keyword

The popularity of a keyword typically refers to its search volume, indicating how many people search for that term. This is usually calculated as a monthly average over the past 12 months.

There are two primary sources of search volume data used in keyword research tools:

• Google data – This comes from the Google Keyword Planner database.
• Clickstream data – This is based on the behaviour of internet users, collected from browser extensions, plugins, and similar sources.

Different keyword tools use various sources and methods for processing this data, leading to differences in search volume values.

Both sources have their advantages and disadvantages, and neither is 100% accurate.

You should also consider a keyword's popularity from a long-term perspective by examining its trend over time.

A useful tool for this is Google Trends. By entering a specific keyword or topic, the tool displays its interest over time on a scale from 1 to 100.

Here are four distinct graphs illustrating various patterns of search interest over time:

For instance, the keyword "3D television" might have a decent monthly search volume (around 2,400 searches globally). However, a long-term trend analysis reveals that interest has been declining over the past few years.

Google Trends is also useful for identifying the seasonality of keywords. Seasonal keywords are tied to specific times of the year (such as summer, winter, holidays, or annual events).

Consider the keyword "garden pool" shown in the screenshot above. It experiences natural spikes in interest during the summer and lower interest in the winter. Keep this in mind when planning your content.

Lastly, you should consider the click-through rate (CTR).

CTR largely depends on your website's position in the search results. However, it's also influenced by the presence of rich snippets, such as:

• Google Ads
• Featured snippets
• Answer boxes
• Map packs
• Various other snippets

Here's a graph showing the organic CTR on result pages with and without different rich snippets. As illustrated, when rich snippets are present, the CTR for organic results is significantly lower.

There are tools that assess the impact of rich snippets on organic results. You can use these insights to better estimate the potential visits a keyword might generate.

Now, let's examine the second leg of our tripod—an essential aspect.

2. Keyword difficulty

Keyword difficulty is a metric that estimates how challenging it is to rank for a specific keyword. The higher the keyword difficulty, the harder it will be to rank your website for that keyword.

Keyword tools calculate difficulty by considering the authority of the websites appearing on the first page of search results (SERP). If many low-authority websites rank on the first page, your chances of ranking for that keyword are higher.

Website authority is generally calculated based on two factors:

• Number of backlinks: How many pages link to the website.
• Quality of backlinks: The authority and relevance of the linking pages.

Several well-established metrics measure authority, including Domain Authority and Page Authority by Moz, and Citation Flow and Trust Flow by Majestic.

These metrics condense the authority of a page into a single number on a scale from 1 to 100. By evaluating the authority of all the websites ranking for a keyword on the first page, you can estimate how difficult it will be to rank for that keyword.

To use the keyword difficulty metric effectively, keep a few things in mind:

• Use it as a guideline: Don't rely solely on keyword difficulty. It's a helpful indicator, not an absolute value. Superior and more relevant content can outrank websites with higher authority.
• Avoid comparing across tools: Different keyword research tools use varying data to calculate keyword difficulty, so values will differ. Instead, compare difficulty metrics within the same tool.
• Consider subjective factors: No metric can precisely determine how challenging it will be for you to rank for a keyword. Consider factors like:

1. your SEO skills,
2. your website's authority,
3. the relevance of your content.

Alternative ways to estimate the keyword difficulty

While the difficulty metric is likely the most reliable way to gauge competition, there are other methods:

• Domain age: Focus on the age of domains in the SERPs. Keywords with relatively young websites (e.g., 6 months old) on the first page might be easier to rank for.
• Keyword Golden Ratio: This method helps you find long-tail keywords that you can rank for quickly. Learn more in our Keyword Golden Ratio guide

Now, let's discuss the third essential part of keyword research tripod

3. Relevance (search intent)

SERP analysis should be a fundamental part of every keyword research.

1. Evaluate Keyword Difficulty: By examining the authority of the top-ranking websites, you can better assess how hard it is to rank for a particular keyword.
2. Discover Search Intent: It helps you understand the user's purpose behind the search, ensuring the keyword aligns with your content.

There are four main types of search intent:

• Navigational: The user is looking for a specific website or brand.
• Informational: The user seeks general information on a topic.
• Transactional: The user intends to make an online purchase.
• Commercial: The user wants to gather information before making a purchase decision.

Here are example keywords and content types for each search intent:

To understand the intention behind a keyword, the most effective method is to search for it on Google and observe the top results on the first page of the search engine results page (SERP).

Occasionally, a keyword might be thematically related to your page but may not align with the search intent.

Consider this scenario:

Imagine you run an online store selling aquarium supplies, and you're searching for a primary keyword for the product page of a new advanced aquarium filter called AquaClear.

You come across the keyword "top aquarium filter." It shows promising search volume and appears relatively easy to rank for.

AquaClear – the ultimate aquarium filter for your fish tank! Sounds attention-grabbing, doesn't it?

But a brief glance at the SERP reveals that the keyword you selected isn't appropriate for your content.

Why? Because the search intent doesn't align.

Google clearly identifies 'best aquarium filter' as a commercial keyword, as evident from the search results showing reviews and buying guides.

Your product page, being transactional in nature, would struggle to rank for this keyword.

Now, you have two choices:

1. Choose a focal keyword aligned with the appropriate intent (e.g., 'buy aquarium filter,' 'Aquaclear filter price’).
2. Develop a new content piece tailored to meet the search intent (e.g., a comparison of top aquarium filters linking to your online store).

The primary objective is to synchronize the intent behind the search query with the type of content you provide.

Now that we've completed the initial two steps of finding and analyzing the keywords,

Let's proceed to the next lesson in next few days

Previous Lessons:

1. Lesson 1 - Keyword Research for SEO
2. Lesson 2 - How to find keywords

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