How do you do keyword research for SEO?

[Advertising13]

What tools or methods do you use to find the best keywords?

[Dani]

I don't. All of the content on DaniWeb is user-generated, so I have very little control over the words that appear on each page. Years and years and years ago, back when backlinks weren't banned by Google, I used to be a little intentional when it came to keywords in anchor text, but we're talking over 2 decades ago.

[Reverend Jim]

I'm confused. In this thread you recommend creating backlinks, but here you say Google banned them.

[Dani]

Building backlinks is an important part of any SEO strategy, but Google has banned the buying/selling/trading of backlinks.

Back in the before-times, you could purchase backlinks and be very strategic about the keywords used in doing so and exactly how that link looked, since it was essentially a paid advertising campaign.

Nowadays, building backlinks is more about creating great content that entices people to want to link to it naturally. When that happens, you don’t have any control over how it’s linked to. For example, if someone links to an article from a Reddit post, the website publisher of the article isn’t around to whisper in the person’s ear what text to use in the Reddit post.

[AussieWebmaster]

There are a number of good keyword tools - Google Keyword Planner, SpyFu my preferred and has a free version to start and see if works for you - SEMRush and others

[bijutoha]

I’m using Ahrefs, SEMrush, though these are premium tools.

On the free side, I rely on Google SERP to research topics and find keywords. There are several valuable methods for keyword research using Google, such as:

• Exploring auto-suggestions to uncover LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) and long-tail keywords
• Checking the "People Also Ask" (PAA) section
• Reviewing related searches at the bottom of the page
• Using keyword modifiers to expand your keyword list

[sophiabrooks]

Step 1. Use Google Keyword Planner to cut down your keyword list. In Google's Keyword Planner, you can get search volume and traffic estimates for keywords you' ...

[FrankieA]

Along with keyword tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush, don’t overlook using an SMM panel to test keyword performance in social media posts. It’s a great way to see what resonates with audiences in real time and boost reach on trending topics.

[m2host]

I use semrush and kwfinder for keyword research.