32 Actionable
Keyword Research Tips
(based on 10+ Years of Agency Experience Finding Profitable Keywords for SEOs & In-House Teams)

Want keyword research advice that actually works?

After years of helping businesses meet their SEO goals, we’ve learned a thing or two about what really moves the needle.

“Keyword research is understanding the core keywords that your business should rank for in Google, and then reverse engineering what’s working for your own site.”

Aaron Haynes & Adam Steele, the founders of Loganix, bring years of experience driving real results from SEO. No fluff, no theory – just proven keyword research tactics that get results.

These keyword research best practices are based on that experience, NOT regurgitated information from Google searches or AI-generated fluff.

Instead, these are proven strategies from:

• Years of digging through data and refining our approach

• Countless keywords analyzed across many niches

• Cundreds of successful SEO campaigns for businesses big and small

Keyword Research Tips & Best Practices (based on 10+ Years of Experience)

1. Don’t just rely on keyword volume – consider the actual value of the keyword, aka is this helpful for potential customers (user intent and commercial value).

 
(☝️ 7x more keywords on the first page of Google with help from Loganix)

2. Look at the SERPs for your target keywords to understand what content Google wants, and structure your page accordingly.

3. Use tools like Ahrefs to find keyword gaps your competitors are missing.

4. Focus on long-tail keywords for easier wins and more targeted traffic, but don’t forget about short-tail keywords.

5. Don’t ignore branded keywords – they often have high conversion rates.

6. Use tools like AnswerThePublic and Google’s “People Also Ask” boxes for content ideas and related keywords, specifically the question-based search terms.

7. Leverage Google Suggest and related searches for keyword expansion (aka build a keyword list to go after).

8. Don’t forget about local keyword modifiers for geo-targeted campaigns.

9. Use Reddit and industry forums to find real questions people are asking.

10. Analyze your competitors, look at their top-performing content for keyword inspiration.

11. Don’t become a slave to keyword metrics and don’t overlook low-volume keywords – they can add up to significant traffic.

12. Use Google Trends to identify seasonal keyword opportunities.

13. Look for keywords with high business value but relatively low competition (use keyword difficulty scores as a guide).

14. Don’t just focus on Google – consider keywords for YouTube, Amazon, Reddit etc and don’t neglect your own site’s search data for keyword opportunities you’re missing (GSC data is your friend here.)

15. Use PPC data to inform your organic keyword strategy (SEO and PPC can work together ya know, like finding search terms with low organic competition but high PPC competition).

16. Group terms into logical keyword clusters to build out comprehensive content strategies.

17. Don’t forget about image search – use keyword research for alt text and file names.

18. Use social media listening tools to find trending topics in your industry.

19. Use keyword research to inform your site’s information architecture and to inform your internal linking strategy.

20. Look for keywords with featured snippets opportunities.

21. Don’t just focus on discovery – regularly audit and refine your keyword targets and monitor performance.

22. Understand your SEO KPIs so you can analyze your top-converting keywords and look for similar opportunities.

23. Don’t overlook industry jargon and technical terms your audience might use.

24. Use keyword research to identify potential new product or service offerings.

25. Don’t ignore national (or even international) keyword opportunities if relevant to your business (see: local SEO vs organic SEO)

26. Use keyword research to develop content ideas and to inform your content calendar and topic clusters.

27. Analyze keyword trends over time to stay ahead of industry shifts.

28. Don’t forget about offline keyword research – talk to your customers and sales team.

29. Use keyword research to identify potential partnerships or guest post opportunities.

30. Look for keywords that align with different stages of the buyer’s journey.

31. Don’t just focus on text – consider keyword opportunities for video content and audio content.

32. Remember, keyword research is an ongoing process – stay curious and keep exploring (read more: how to pick SEO keywords).