Effective Keyword Research Strategies for Inbound Marketing

Using the right keywords in your content is one of the best plans of action you can have to help get found and rank in search engines. Being able to search for the right keywords for your target audience is an important part of the keyword strategy. There are different steps to take when starting your keyword research strategy.

1. Create a list of keywords, which are: searched for and relevant to your business and audience to help bring in leads for conversion.
2. Generate content ideas based on the keywords you found and what you know your customers are searching for.
3. Develop a link building strategy using your new keywords as the “anchor text” for your links. Using target keywords as links helps with getting found in search engines.
4. Test out different keywords and keyword phrases to determine which keywords bring in the most traffic and leads. Track these keywords to help start tackling the long-tailed keyword phrases.
5. Build your SEO strategy based on your findings and integrate is into your website and content.

Use free keyword research tools to help the research process. Here are some valuable tools that can be used:

1. Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool
2. Wordtracker
3. SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool
4. Google Trends
5. SEMrush

Another valuable tool is GoogleRankings.com, which reports keywords most used on a website. 

HubSpot provides keyword research tips and keyword research mistakes to avoid. A couple paid SEO and keyword research tools we use are HubSpot and Raven Tools. You might also want to check out SEOmoz. All three of these have 30-day free trials and are worth looking into.

What are some keyword research tools you use? Are they helpful? Share them with us!