SEO Step 1 – Keyword Research

Even before you buy a domain name, it is important to do your keyword research on the website you are going to host or blog and rank high on google. The first step to design a website to be ranked first on Google is to conduct keyword research and identify the keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for. This will help you understand the topics and content your website should focus on to attract visitors and improve your search engine ranking. 

Identifying a few target keywords is a good start, but to optimize your website for search engines, you’ll need to conduct comprehensive keyword research to identify additional keywords and phrases that are relevant to your website’s content and have high search volume and low competition.

One tool that you can use for keyword research is the Google Keyword Planner. It’s a free tool provided by Google that allows you to research and analyze keywords related to your website’s content. It provides information on search volume, competition, and even suggests related keywords. You can use this tool to identify additional long-tail keywords and phrases that are relevant to your website’s content and have high search volume and low competition.

Other keyword research tools that you can use include Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz Keyword Explorer. These tools provide more advanced keyword research features and can help you identify additional keywords and phrases related to your website’s content.

When conducting keyword research, it’s important to consider the relevance of the keywords to your website’s content, the search volume of the keywords, and the level of competition for each keyword. You’ll want to focus on keywords that have high search volume and low competition, as these are more likely to drive traffic to your website.

When conducting keyword research, in addition to search volume and competition, you should also consider other characteristics of the keywords such as:

1. Relevance: The keywords should be relevant to your website’s content and the needs of your target audience. You want to focus on keywords that are most likely to attract visitors who are interested in your content.

2. Intent: Consider the intent behind the keywords and whether they are relevant to informational, navigational, or transactional searches. This will help you understand the type of content to create and optimize on your website to attract visitors with different search intents.

3. User experience: Ensure that the keywords and related phrases are integrated naturally into your website’s content and metadata. Avoid keyword stuffing, which can negatively impact your website’s ranking and user experience.

4. Long-tail keywords: Consider targeting long-tail keywords and phrases that are more specific and less competitive. These can be easier to rank for and may attract more qualified traffic to your website.

For a website with 100 to 200 blog posts, a good starting point for keyword research would be to identify at least 50 to 100 primary keywords that are relevant to your website’s content and have high search volume and low competition. Depending on the topics covered in your blog posts, you may also be able to identify several related long-tail keywords for each primary keyword.

However, it’s important to note that the number of keywords you target is not as important as the relevance and quality of the keywords you choose. It’s better to focus on a smaller number of high-quality, relevant keywords than to target a large number of irrelevant or low-quality keywords.

Additionally, as your website grows and you publish more blog posts, you may discover new keywords and phrases that are relevant to your content and target audience. Ongoing keyword research and optimization is an important part of maintaining and improving your website’s search engine ranking over time.

So for example, for the subject of strategy you have identified a few opening keywords like strategy, science of strategy, art of strategy, strategic planning, vision, mission, systems thinking, living system, strategic initiatives, end goals, goals, objectives, game theory, wargaming, red team analysis. After you carry out a keyword research to identify the following long tail keywords. 

Long-Tail Keywords:

1. what is strategy
2. strategy definition
3. types of strategy
4. strategy formulation
5. strategy implementation
6. strategy evaluation
7. strategy execution
8. strategy framework
9. strategy process
10. strategic management
11. strategic leadership
12. strategic thinking
13. strategic decision making
14. strategic alignment
15. strategic alignment framework
16. strategic visioning
17. strategic foresight
18. strategic foresight tools
19. strategic foresight techniques
20. strategic foresight methodology
21. strategic foresight process
22. strategic foresight framework
23. strategic foresight models
24. strategic foresight scenarios
25. strategic foresight trends
26. strategic foresight analysis
27. systems thinking definition
28. systems thinking approach
29. systems thinking tools
30. systems thinking methodology
31. living systems theory
32. living systems approach
33. living systems model
34. living systems principles
35. living systems analysis
36. living systems design
37. strategic initiatives examples
38. strategic initiatives framework
39. strategic initiatives planning
40. goals vs objectives
41. goals and objectives definition
42. goals and objectives examples
43. goals and objectives framework
44. goals and objectives planning
45. game theory definition
46. game theory examples
47. game theory models
48. game theory strategy
49. game theory applications
50. wargaming definition
51. wargaming process
52. wargaming methodology
53. wargaming examples
54. wargaming strategy
55. red team analysis definition
56. red team analysis process
57. red team analysis methodology
58. red team analysis examples
59. red team analysis framework
60. red team analysis strategy

Using some additional key words like grand strategy, business strategy, and corporate strategy, will give you some additional primary keyword as follows:

Primary Keywords:

1. grand strategy definition
2. grand strategy examples
3. grand strategy framework
4. grand strategy planning
5. grand strategy principles
6. grand strategy formulation
7. grand strategy implementation
8. grand strategy evaluation
9. business strategy definition
10. business strategy examples
11. business strategy framework
12. business strategy planning
13. business strategy principles
14. business strategy formulation
15. business strategy implementation
16. business strategy evaluation
17. corporate strategy definition
18. corporate strategy examples
19. corporate strategy framework
20. corporate strategy planning
21. corporate strategy principles
22. corporate strategy formulation
23. corporate strategy implementation
24. corporate strategy evaluation
25. strategic management process
26. strategic management framework
27. strategic management definition
28. strategic management tools
29. strategic management models
30. strategic management planning
31. strategic management implementation
32. strategic management evaluation
33. strategic planning process
34. strategic planning framework
35. strategic planning definition
36. strategic planning tools
37. strategic planning models
38. strategic planning implementation
39. strategic planning evaluation
40. strategic planning examples
41. strategic analysis framework
42. strategic analysis tools
43. strategic analysis definition
44. strategic analysis process
45. strategic analysis models
46. strategic analysis techniques
47. strategic analysis methods
48. strategic analysis planning
49. strategic decision making definition
50. strategic decision making process
51. strategic decision making models
52. strategic decision making tools
53. strategic decision making techniques
54. strategic decision making methods
55. strategic decision making planning
56. strategic decision making evaluation
57. competitive advantage definition
58. competitive advantage examples
59. competitive advantage framework
60. competitive advantage planning
61. competitive advantage principles
62. competitive advantage implementation
63. competitive advantage evaluation
64. competitive analysis definition
65. competitive analysis process
66. competitive analysis framework
67. competitive analysis tools
68. competitive analysis models
69. competitive analysis techniques
70. competitive analysis methods
71. competitive analysis planning
72. competitive analysis evaluation
73. market analysis definition
74. market analysis process
75. market analysis framework
76. market analysis tools
77. market analysis models
78. market analysis techniques
79. market analysis methods
80. market analysis planning
81. market analysis evaluation
82. market research definition
83. market research process
84. market research framework
85. market research tools
86. market research models
87. market research techniques
88. market research methods
89. market research planning
90. market research evaluation
91. marketing strategy definition
92. marketing strategy examples
93. marketing strategy framework
94. marketing strategy planning
95. marketing strategy principles
96. marketing strategy implementation
97. marketing strategy evaluation
98. marketing analysis definition

Here are a few general tips to help you identify high volume and low competition keywords:

1. Focus on long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords are more specific and have less competition than broader keywords. For example, “strategic planning for small businesses” is a long-tail keyword that may have less competition than the broader keyword “strategic planning.”

2. Look for keywords with low keyword difficulty scores: Many SEO tools provide a “keyword difficulty” score that indicates how difficult it is to rank for a particular keyword. Look for keywords with low keyword difficulty scores, as these may be easier to rank for.

3. Consider user intent: Choose keywords that are relevant to the intent of your target audience. For example, if your target audience is looking for information on “corporate strategy examples,” then using this keyword can help you attract visitors who are interested in this topic.

4. Analyze search volume and competition: Use an SEO tool like Google Keyword Planner to analyze the search volume and competition for your chosen keywords. Look for keywords with high search volume and low competition, as these may have the best potential to drive traffic to your website.

Based on keyword strategic planning you could get the following additional long tail keywords:

1. “strategic planning process for startups”
2. “strategic planning tools for small businesses”
3. “strategic planning templates for entrepreneurs”
4. “strategic planning models for small businesses”
5. “strategic planning framework for SMEs”
6. “strategic planning techniques for new businesses”
7. “strategic planning for family-owned businesses”
8. “strategic planning for non-profit organizations”
9. “strategic planning for service-based businesses”
10. “strategic planning for retail businesses”
11. “strategic planning for hospitality businesses”
12. “strategic planning for healthcare businesses”
13. “strategic planning for tech startups“
14. “strategic planning for e-commerce businesses”
15. “strategic planning for B2B companies”
16. “strategic planning for B2C companies”
17. “strategic planning for international businesses”
18. “strategic planning for local businesses”
19. “strategic planning for small business growth”
20. “strategic planning for small business success”
21. “strategic planning for small business owners”
22. “strategic planning for small business marketing”
23. “strategic planning for small business finance“
24. “strategic planning for small business operations”
25. “strategic planning for small business development”
26. “strategic planning for small business management”
27. “strategic planning for small business innovation”
28. “strategic planning for small business leadership”
29. “strategic planning for small business productivity”
30. “strategic planning for small business efficiency”
31. “strategic planning for small business sustainability”
32. “strategic planning for small business resilience”
33. “strategic planning for small business continuity”
34. “strategic planning for small business risk management”
35. “strategic planning for small business decision making”
36. “strategic planning for small business problem solving”
37. “strategic planning for small business collaboration”
38. “strategic planning for small business partnerships”
39. “strategic planning for small business networking”
40. “strategic planning for small business branding”
41. “strategic planning for small business customer service”
42. “strategic planning for small business employee retention”
43. “strategic planning for small business training“
44. “strategic planning for small business outsourcing”
45. “strategic planning for small business technology”
46. “strategic planning for small business cybersecurity”
47. “strategic planning for small business legal compliance”
48. “strategic planning for small business taxes”
49. “strategic planning for small business insurance”
50. “strategic planning for small business funding”
51. “strategic planning for small business loans”
52. “strategic planning for small business grants”
53. “strategic planning for small business crowdfunding”
54. “strategic planning for small business angel investors”
55. “strategic planning for small business venture capitalists”
56. “strategic planning for small business mergers and acquisitions”
57. “strategic planning for small business exit strategies”
58. “strategic planning for small business succession planning”
59. “strategic planning for small business retirement planning”
60. “strategic planning for small business estate planning”
61. “strategic planning for small business tax planning”
62. “strategic planning for small business financial planning”
63. “strategic planning for small business marketing planning”
64. “strategic planning for small business sales planning”
65. “strategic planning for small business customer relationship management”
66. “strategic planning for small business project management”
67. “strategic planning for small business time management”
68. “strategic planning for small business goal setting”
69. “strategic planning for small business visioning”
70. “strategic planning for small business mission statements”
71. “strategic planning for small business values”
72. “strategic planning for small business culture”
73. “strategic planning for small business diversity and inclusion”
74. “strategic planning for small business social responsibility”
75. “strategic planning for small business sustainability goals”
76. “strategic planning for small business carbon footprint”
77. “strategic planning for small business green initiatives”
78. “strategic planning for small business social media”
79. “strategic planning for small business website development”
80. “strategic planning for small business SEO”
81. “strategic planning for small business content marketing”
82. “strategic planning for small business email marketing”
83. “strategic planning for small business advertising”
84. “strategic planning for small business public relations”
85. “strategic planning for small business events“
86. “strategic planning for small business sponsorships”
87. “strategic planning for small business community involvement”
88. “strategic planning for small business partnerships”
89. “strategic planning for small business joint ventures”
90. “strategic planning for small business strategic alliances”
91. “strategic planning for small business networking events”
92. “strategic planning for small business industry associations”
93. “strategic planning for small business trade shows”
94. “strategic planning for small business conferences”
95. “strategic planning for small business webinars”
96. “strategic planning for small business online courses”
97. “strategic planning for small business coaching”
98. “strategic planning for small business mentoring“

These long-tail keywords are more specific and targeted, which can help you attract more qualified traffic to your website. However, it’s important to note that the search volume and competition for each keyword may vary, so it’s important to conduct keyword research to determine which keywords will be most effective for your website and target audience. In conclusion, it’s important to consider the relevance of the keywords to your website’s content, the search volume of the keywords, and the level of competition for each keyword. You’ll want to focus on keywords that have high search volume and low competition, as these are more likely to drive traffic to your website.