Keyword research is the heart of SEO. It's how you get your business in front of the right eyes, helping you climb those search engine rankings, and most importantly - convert. Here are ten top keyword research techniques that can propel your site to the top of Google.

<h2>1. Understanding Your Niche</h2>
<h3>Identify Your Audience's Needs</h3>
<p>Before you dive headfirst into keyword research, it's important to understand your niche. What are your audience's needs and interests? What type of content are they looking for? Understanding these aspects will help you in determining relevant keywords.</p>
<h3>Engage with Your Audience</h3>
<p>One simple way of understanding your niche is by engaging with your audience. Use social media platforms, forums, and even the comments section on your blog to gather insights about your audience's interests and questions. Basically - talk to your customers/users.</p>
<h2>2. Long-Tail Keywords</h2>
<h3>The Power of Specificity</h3>
<p>Long-tail keywords are phrases with three or more words. They may not drive as much traffic as shorter, more general keywords, but they often attract highly targeted traffic, which can lead to higher conversion rates. The idea here is to create a "cluster" of content to interlink with and to build around your main keyword.</p>
<h3>Tools for Long-Tail Keywords</h3>
<p>There are several tools available for identifying long-tail keywords. Google's "Searches Related To" feature at the bottom of search results is a simple but effective one. You can also use tools like AnswerThePublic, Ubersuggest, or SEOSHIP to <a href="/">find long-tail keywords related to your niche</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Use Keyword Research Tools</h2>
<h3>Explore with Google Keyword Planner</h3>
<p>Google Keyword Planner is the OG tool for keyword research. It gives you keyword ideas and shows you how often they're searched for. The competition level data can also help you choose the most effective keywords.</p>
<h3>Delve into SEOSHIP</h3>
<p>SEOSHIP is a powerful tool for keyword research. It allows you to find out which keywords your competitors are ranking for, giving you an idea of what you're up against.</p>
<h2>4. Competitor Analysis</h2>
<h3>Identify Competitors' Keywords</h3>
<p>Finding out which keywords your competitors are ranking for is a smart way to refine your own strategy. Tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs also allow you to do this and provide much deeper analytics and data but that does come at quite the cost - starting at $99/month!&nbsp;😬</p>
<h3>Understand Competitors' Content Strategy</h3>
<p>By analysing your competitors' content, you can get a sense of which keywords they're targeting. This can give you ideas for your own content and keyword strategy.</p>
<h2>5. Google Trends</h2>
<h3>Stay Up-to-Date</h3>
<p>Google Trends is a great tool for staying up-to-date with what's currently trending and the general move of keywords and search intent around a specific keyword/content. This can help you identify emerging keywords before they become highly competitive.</p>

<h2>6. Using LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) Keywords</h2>
<h3>Enhance Your Content</h3>
<p>Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) refers to a mathematical method used to determine the relationship between terms and concepts in content. With regards to SEO, these are synonyms or related words that are often found together because they share the same context. Kind of similar to long-tail keywords.</p>
<p>E.g., if you're writing a blog post about apple pies, the main keyword might be "apple pie recipe." LSI keywords could be terms like:</p>
<ul><li>Baking</li><li>Desserts</li><li>Granny Smith apples</li><li>Pie crust</li><li>Cinnamon</li><li>Homemade apple pie</li><li>Thanksgiving desserts</li><li>Serving suggestions for apple pie</li></ul>
<p>Google and other search engines use these related terms to understand the context of your content. If your article about apple pies includes words like "baking," "desserts," "Granny Smith apples," and "Thanksgiving desserts," the search engine will have a better idea that your content is indeed about making apple pies, not about Apple Inc., or apple farming.</p>
<p>Using LSI keywords in your content can help make it more comprehensive and relevant, potentially improving your search engine rankings. It's important to note, though, that these should be used naturally within your content and not forced or overused (don't keyword spam).</p>
<h3>Tools for LSI Keywords</h3>
<p><a href="https://lsigraph.com/">LSIGraph</a> is a handy tool for identifying LSI keywords. Just enter your main keyword, and it will generate a list of related terms.</p>
<h2>7. Social Media Listening</h2>
<h3>Monitor Conversations</h3>
<p>Social media platforms can be goldmines for keyword research. By monitoring conversations related to your niche, you can discover new keyword ideas and gauge their popularity.</p>
<h3>Use Hashtags</h3>
<p>Hashtags used on social media can often be great keyword ideas. Tools like <a href="https://hashtagify.me/">Hashtagify</a> can help you explore popular hashtags related to your niche - it works particularly well for Twitter.</p>
<h2>8. Keyword Difficulty</h2>
<h3>Understand the Competition</h3>
<p>Keyword difficulty refers to how challenging it will be to rank for a particular keyword. Tools like Ahrefs, SEMRush, Moz, and SEOSHIP provide<button></button><span style="font-size: 16px;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 21px;"></span>keyword difficulty metrics, helping you choose keywords that you can realistically rank for.</p>
<h3>Balance Difficulty and Search Volume</h3>
<p>While it's tempting to target high-volume keywords, they often have high difficulty scores. Finding a balance between search volume and keyword difficulty is key and a painful reality when you're just starting out. I always recommend going after long-tail keywords first and just building up a clustering of keywords to get the ball rolling.</p>
<h2>9. Local SEO Keywords</h2>
<h3>Target Your Local Audience</h3>
<p>For businesses serving a specific geographic area, local SEO keywords can be extremely effective. These are keywords that include specific locations, such as "best coffee shop in Brooklyn." This is also brilliant to use when building a marketplace or listing directory style product - perfect for programmatic SEO.</p>
<h3>Use Google My Business</h3>
<p>Google My Business is a powerful tool for local SEO. By optimising your Google My Business listing with your local keywords, you can improve your visibility in local search results.</p>
<h2>10. Regularly Review and Update Keywords</h2>
<h3>Stay Relevant</h3>
<p>SEO is not a leave and forget job. It's a process. Regularly reviewing and updating your keywords, blog posts and content is crucial to staying relevant as trends and search patterns evolve.</p>
<h3>Use Analytics</h3>
<p>Google Analytics and other analytics tools such as; Fathom Analytics can help you understand which of your keywords are performing well and which ones might need to be replaced.</p>
<h1>Wrapping Up</h1>
<p>Keyword research can seem daunting, but these techniques should give you a solid starting point. Remember, the key to successful keyword research is understanding your audience and their needs. Use these techniques to help guide your SEO strategy, but don't be afraid to experiment and find what works best for your business. SEO is an art as much as it is a science, and every business is unique.</p>
<p>Remember, keyword research is the beginning, not the end. Once you've identified your keywords, you need to integrate them into your content effectively. But that's a topic for another day. Happy researching!&nbsp;🤙</p>

Top 10 Keyword Research Techniques for Your Business 🔍

Looking to boost your site's search engine rankings? Check out our list of the best SEO tools that can help you optimise your website and improve your online visibility on Google.

<h2>
    Introduction
</h2>
<p>
    Search engine optimisation (SEO) refers to the process of optimising a website to improve its ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is achieved by ensuring that the site's content and structure aligns with what search engines <i>(let's just say Google) </i>are looking for in a well organised, high-quality web page.</p>
<h2>
    Overview of SEO software
</h2>
<p>
    SEO software tools and products are designed to help you optimise your site for search engines. These tools typically use various features, such as keyword research, competitor analysis, on-page reporting, backlink analytics, to name just a few. The fundamental goal is to help you improve your site's ranking position and exposure on Google.
</p>
<h2>
    The Benefits of SEO Software
</h2>
<p>
    One of the primary benefits of using SEO software is increased online visibility. By improving your site's ranking, and making it easier for users to find your project when searching for specific keywords or phrases that are likely to convert them from site visitor, to customer. A higher position on Google conveys much more authority and therefore trustworthiness in certain areas. This in turn should help drive conversion rates and revenue.
</p>
<h2>
    What to Look for in SEO Software
</h2>
<h3>
    Keyword Research Capabilities
</h3>
<p>
    Keyword research is a critical aspect of SEO, as it helps you identify the keywords and phrases that users are searching for related to your business. Look for tools that include robust keyword research capabilities, such as search volume data, keyword difficulty scores, and keyword suggestions.
</p>
<p>
    Typically with keyword research, you need to be tactical as it's nowadays pretty tough to rank for highly competitive keywords. For example, for seoship.io to rank for the keyword of "seo", it's almost impossible. However, we can work around this by targeting long-tail keywords or similar keywords and gradually build authority around the seed keyword of "seo".
</p>
<p>
    Proper keyword research also helps attract more qualified traffic and can  help identify new topics and content opportunities that you may not have considered otherwise - think of new trends or fads or general change in search behaviour.
</p>
<figure>
    <img src="https://editor.blogstatic.io/web/assets/uploads/7d1394d923233dec5711071810ebc262.png" id="/tmp/phpPoPsiJ" data-image="/tmp/phpPoPsiJ">
</figure>
<h3>
    On-Page SEO<br>
</h3>
<p>
    
    On-Page SEO analytics is a critical feature for an SEO  tool because it helps identify areas where a site can be improved on a semantic level. For example, it can analyse title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, content length, and keyword usage to ensure they are optimised for the targeted keywords.
</p>
<p>
    By analysing on-page SEO factors, an SEO reporting tool can help you identify pages that are not performing as well as others and provide recommendations for how to optimise them for better search engine rankings. They can usually even identify technical issues that could be negatively impacting rankings, such as broken links, slow page load times, or duplicate content. This can lead to improved  traffic and better overall performance in search engine results pages.
</p>
<figure>
    <img src="https://editor.blogstatic.io/web/assets/uploads/4392966151bacac754763480e47225f0.png" id="/tmp/phpN4CDVi" data-image="/tmp/phpN4CDVi">
</figure>
<h3>
    Backlink Analytics
</h3>
<p>Now to probably the most important area; backlinks. Backlinks are links from other sites to your website, and they signal to Google that other sites consider your content to be valuable and relevant. Analytics of backlinks is therefore a crucial area for an SEO  tool because they're  one of the most important ranking factors in Google's search algorithm. 
</p>
<p>
    An SEO  tool with backlink analytics capabilities can provide valuable insights into the number and quality of backlinks pointing to a website. This information can be used to identify areas where a website is lacking and to develop a strategy to improve  your backlink profile.
</p>
<p>
    Additionally, the analytics provided can often help identify potentially harmful backlinks that could be negatively impacting your search engine rankings. By identifying and removing these harmful backlinks,  you can improve its search engine rankings and avoid penalties from Google.</p>
<figure>
    <img src="https://editor.blogstatic.io/web/assets/uploads/dffef63a066d6767e6a97a1a715b5a7a.png" id="/tmp/php1405Dn" data-image="/tmp/php1405Dn">
</figure>
<h2>
    The Best SEO Software
</h2>
<h3>
    Ahrefs
</h3>
<p>
    Ahrefs is a very popular, very in-depth SEO  tool that offers an extensive range of features designed to help you optimise your website for search engines. Its keyword research capabilities are among the best in the industry, and its backlink analysis features can help you identify opportunities to improve your site's authority. It is however like using an <i>intercontinental missile to open a can of tuna</i> for the vast majority of cases (indie hackers, small sites, brand new projects, etc.). It's best suited to SEO agencies who have extensive SEO knowledge and complex clients. Not to mention, it's eye-wateringly expensive.
</p>
<h3>
    Moz Pro
</h3>
<p>
    Moz Pro is another popular SEO  tool that offers a range of features, including keyword research, site audits, and backlink analysis. Its site crawler feature can help identify on-page optimisation issues, and its reporting features make it easy to track your site's performance. It's much in the same line as ahrefs regarding cost and use cases - but in my opinion, not as good.
</p>
<h3>
    SEOSHIP
</h3>
<p>
    SEOSHIP is a new <a href="/" target="_blank">SEO tool specifically designed for indie hackers</a> and small businesses. It include keyword research, on-page SEO, and backlink analytics reporting, making it a comprehensive solution for improving your website's ranking in SERPs for beginners and indie hackers. It also starts at just $9/month.&nbsp;👀
</p>
<h3>Tag Parrot</h3>
<p>Tag Parrot is the ultimate tool for your Open Graph &amp;&nbsp;Indexing needs. With TagParrot, you can easily preview and manage all of your Open Graph cards in one place, ensuring your site looks great when shared on socials. Plus, TagParrot makes it super easy to get your pages indexed with Google. They even have automatic page issue alerts, so you can be sure that your site is always up-to-date and optimised for search engines. </p>
<h3>Serpjoy</h3>
<p>Serpjoy.com provides a comprehensive set of SEO tools that help businesses improve their site content, identify relevant keywords, and track their search engine rankings over time. It offers  keyword research tools, on-page optimisation recommendations, and backlink analysis, with a no-nonsense, no jargon approach.</p>
<h3>
    SEMrush
</h3>
<p>
    SEMrush is another popular, long-standing SEO  tool that offers all the features listed above that you've come to expect from an SEO tool now. It's the same price bracket as ahrefs and Moz Pro.
</p>
<h3>
    KW Finder
</h3>
<p>
    KWFinder is an SEO tool that specialises in keyword research, offering a range of features designed to help you identify high-volume, low-competition keywords for your website. Its interface is user-friendly, making it a great option for those who are new to SEO looking just for keyword solutions.
</p>
<h2>
    Conclusion
</h2>
<p>
    Before choosing an SEO software tool, it's essential to evaluate your needs and goals. Consider factors such as the size of your site, the level of competition in your industry, and your budget when selecting a tool. By taking these steps, you can select a tool that offers the functionality you need to achieve your SEO goals and help your site rank higher in search engine results pages.&nbsp;🚀
</p>

The Best SEO Tools to Rank on Google

An introduction for a series of posts on how indie hackers and solo makers, can improve their search engine site rankings

<h2>
    First of all, let's define what SEO is
</h2>
<p>
    SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation&nbsp;and is the practice of optimising your website and its content in order to rank higher in search engine results.
</p>
<p>
    <i>There are loads of search engines, but for the sake of simplicity - and the fact that they have &gt;80% marketshare, I'll just say Google from here on out. They're actually dropping a little bit but still super dominant. Quick shoutout actually to&nbsp;<a href="https://duckduckgo.com/" target="_blank">duckduckgo</a> for their privacy friendly approach, they're my go to.</i>
</p>
<p>
      The simplified tl;dr version is that SEO is the process that just makes it easier for Google to understand, firstly; what your content is about and secondly; your authority (how important what you say is).
</p>
<p>
    So, when someone searches for a specific term or phrase, your website has a higher probability of being near the top of the search results, increasing the chances of someone visiting your site.
</p>
<h2>
    Benefits to implementing SEO strategies
</h2>
<h3>
    Increased organic traffic
</h3>
<p>
     By ranking higher in search engine results - and/or just ranking for specific keywords, you'll see an increase in  traffic to your website. More people will discover your business!
</p>
<h3>
    Higher visibility and credibility
</h3>
<p>
    When you appear near the top of search results, it also adds a level of credibility to your business. People are more likely to trust and visit websites that are ranked highly in search results, as they perceive them as more trustworthy and authoritative. Not to mention, if you don't rank on page one, the likelihood of people finding you decreases exponentially.&nbsp;
</p>
<h3>
    Target specific keywords and audiences
</h3>
<p>
    With SEO, you can target specific keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business and your preferred target audience. This allows you to attract the right people  and improve the potential conversion rate of visitors (💰).
</p>
<h2>
    How to get started with SEO as an indie hacker<br>
</h2>
<h3>
    1. Conduct keyword research<br>
</h3>
<p>
    Identify the keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business and that your target audience is searching for. For example, for seoship.io, I want to rank (ideally) for terms such as: '<a href="/" target="_blank">affordable seo tools</a>', 'how to build backlinks', etc.
</p>
<p>
    There are several tools available, such as SEOSHIP's Keyword Research tool, Google's Keyword Planner, ahrefs, etc. that can help you with this.
</p>
<h3>
    2. Optimise your site structure<br>
</h3>
<p>
    <span style="font-size: 21px;">Once you've identified your target keywords, you'll want to include them in your site's content. So for example; page titles, headings, and throughout the body of your content.&nbsp;</span>
</p>
<p>
    <span style="font-size: 21px;">You'll also want to add internal links between your site's pages, this is so firstly Google can crawl your entire site architecture, but also provides the opportunity for you to add relevant anchor links (the text part of a link).</span>
</p>
<div class="code-div">
    <pre><code class="language-html">&lt;a href='https://www.seoship.io'&gt;affordable seo tool&lt;/a&gt;</code></pre>
</div>
<p>
    <span style="font-size: 21px;">You should also make sure that your website is easy to navigate, loads quickly and is of course responsive mobile-friendly (it is 2023 after all), as this is crucial for user experience and&nbsp;search engines.</span>
</p>
<h3>
    3. Build a strong backlink profile<br>
</h3>
<p>
    <span style="font-size: 21px;">Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your site. These are probably the most important aspect for SEO as they indicate to Google that your website is credible and trustworthy. You typically  earn backlinks by creating high-quality content that other websites want to link to, or via collaboration with other makers and sites by reaching out to ask for a link for example; in exchange for a podcast interview or something similar.</span>
</p>
<p>
    <span style="font-size: 21px;">There are a lot of white hat (legit), grey hat (kinda legit), black hat (not legit) methods for getting backlinks and is a whole topic on its own. But the basic rule is - <b>DON'T&nbsp;PAY&nbsp;FOR&nbsp;BACKLINKS</b>. You'll end up being penalised eventually and it's not scalable. SEO is a marathon, building backlinks is a marathon. Just create great content and become an expert domain in your niche.&nbsp;👌</span>
</p>
<h3>
    Track and measure your SEO efforts
</h3>
<p>
    It's important to track and measure your SEO efforts so that you can continually improve your strategy.
</p>
<p>
    With regards to general site and traffic analytics, there are a variety tools available, such as Google Analytics, that can help you track and measure your site's traffic to see how your SEO efforts are paying off. However one thing to think of is the privacy movement and where people's sentiment is going towards big tech and tracking people's data. I'm using <a href="https://usefathom.com/ref/IYPVPS" target="_blank">Fathom analytics</a> for all my sites analytics and highly recommend as it's a privacy first tool!
</p>
<p>
    For SEO specific analytics, you'll want a tool that can monitor and track your backlink profile, keyword rankings, etc. For this you can use tools such as; ahrefs, Semrush, or seoship.
</p>
<h2>
    Conclusion
</h2>
<p>
    SEO is a very important strategy for indie hackers to consider, as it can increase organic traffic to your business, improve your visibility and credibility, and allow you to target specific keywords and audiences.
</p>

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Top 10 Keyword Research Techniques for Your Business 🔍

The Best SEO Tools to Rank on Google

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