Seed keywords are the foundation of your keyword research strategy. They are the starting point from which you can expand your keyword list and find more specific long-tail keywords. This article will explain what seed keywords are, techniques for brainstorming seed keywords, and tools you can use to generate them.
What are Seed Keywords?
Definition:
- Seed keywords are short, general terms related to your industry, products, or services. They are typically one or two words and represent the core topics around which your content is centered.
Importance:
- Seed keywords help you uncover broader keyword ideas.
- They provide a base for expanding into more specific and targeted keywords.
- They align with the main themes of your website, making it easier to organize and prioritize your content.
Techniques for Brainstorming Seed Keywords
- Think Like Your Audience:
- Put yourself in the shoes of your audience and think about what they might search for.
- Consider the problems they are trying to solve and the language they use.
- Analyze Your Existing Content:
- Review your current content to identify common themes and topics.
- Extract keywords from high-performing pages to find patterns.
- Use Your Industry Knowledge:
- Leverage your expertise to list out terms that are relevant to your industry.
- Include industry jargon, product names, and common questions.
- Look at Competitor Websites:
- Analyze the content and meta descriptions of your competitors to identify keywords they are targeting.
- Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to see what keywords your competitors are ranking for.
- Customer Feedback and Surveys:
- Gather insights from customer feedback, surveys, and support interactions.
- Identify recurring terms and questions.
Tools for Generating Seed Keywords
- Google Search:
- Use Google’s autocomplete feature to see suggested searches related to your initial ideas.
- Review the “People also ask” and “Related searches” sections for more ideas.
- Google Keyword Planner:
- Enter your initial keywords to get a list of related keyword ideas.
- Analyze the search volume and competition for each keyword.
- AnswerThePublic:
- Enter a keyword to see a visualization of related questions and phrases that people are searching for.
- Identify common queries and topics.
- Ahrefs Keywords Explorer:
- Use the Keywords Explorer tool to enter seed keywords and find related keyword ideas.
- Analyze metrics like search volume, keyword difficulty, and click-through rate (CTR).
- SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool:
- Enter your seed keywords to get an extensive list of related keywords.
- Filter and sort keywords based on various metrics to find the most relevant ones.
Example Table: Seed Keyword Generation Tools
| Tool | Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search | Autocomplete, People also ask, Related searches | Initial brainstorming |
| Google Keyword Planner | Search volume, competition analysis | Broad keyword research |
| AnswerThePublic | Visualization of related questions | Discovering user intent |
| Ahrefs Keywords Explorer | Search volume, keyword difficulty, CTR | In-depth keyword analysis |
| SEMrush Keyword Magic | Extensive keyword list, filtering options | Comprehensive keyword research |
Finding seed keywords is a crucial step in building a solid keyword research strategy. By brainstorming and using various tools, you can generate a list of seed keywords that will serve as the foundation for your further research. The next article in this series will focus on using keyword research tools to expand your seed keywords into a comprehensive keyword list.
