How To Use Google Search Console For Keyword Research

How to Use Google Search Panel for Keyword Enquiry

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Past: Guest Author — Aug 28, 2020

Google Search Console (GSC) is oftentimes overlooked past SEOs and content marketers as a tool for keyword research—but that'south a big mistake. GSC offers not only a treasure trove of insight nigh the current and celebrated performance of your website, but too ideas for keyword optimization and new content.

Specifically, using Google Search Console, you tin can find out how to ameliorate optimize your existing content and identify new SEO keyword opportunities. Below, we talk over both apply cases in more depth.

Optimize Existing Content

Content writers ofttimes create content designed to target specific keywords—only to find out later that a blog postal service has either:

failed to rank for those terms, or
started ranking for something unexpected.

Using Google Search Panel, you can notice out what exactly your content is ranking for—so make adjustments in your content strategy accordingly.

Unlike other SEO tools, Google Search Console displays the verbal search queries users are typing into Google, regardless of how infrequently these terms are searched. This is peculiarly helpful for revealing lengthy, question-based searches and other long-tail keywords.

This as well means you can identify which terms are the most successful in generating clicks to your website. Armed with this information, it'll be easier to identify how a page can be optimized for certain keywords.

When Your Content Ranks for Its Desired Keywords

Google Search Console reveals where your pages are ranking for specific keywords. For example, our blog mail "6 Crusade Marketing Campaigns to Inspire for 2019" ranks for the following keywords:

Using this information, we can decide whether our targeting efforts have been successful—plus, where there is room for improvement. GSC's data can even reveal boosted optimization opportunities for other phrases.

This optimization strategy focuses on identifying search terms for which your content has a realistic hazard of gaining a higher rank.

For instance, if the data shows that you've got a page sitting between positions 3 and 10 for a relevant keyword, information technology ways your content is already appearing on the offset folio of Google'south search results for that detail keyword. It should thus be easier to climb the ranks from in that location past implementing targeted optimization.

Examples of such optimization techniques include:

Adding the exact friction match keywords to your title tag

Using the verbal match keywords in headings where relevant

Increasing the prominence of that keyword topic before in your content

When Your Content Doesn't Rank for Its Target Keywords

If you find that your content isn't ranking for its target keywords, you've got two options:

Y'all tin can either focus your efforts on better optimizing it for its original target keyword, or
You can consider finding new keywords to adjust your content for.

A common reason why quality content fails to rank is that their focus keywords are as well competitive. You tin can detect out if this is the case by searching for the keyword and checking to see if the top spots are dominated by well-known websites.

Look out for niche long-tail keywords that you tin optimize your content for instead. For example:

In the screenshot in a higher place, instead of targeting "cause marketing 2019", we focus more on "cause-related marketing examples 2019"—which incidentally receives more than searches.

Optimizing Current Content for New Keywords

Besides determining whether your content ranks for the keywords it was intended for, Google Search Console tin can also reveal other unanticipated keywords your content also ranks for. However, you lot'll need to decide how relevant these new keywords are to your content.

If your content is ranking for new relevant (only unexpected) keywords, consider further optimization to target these keywords. That might be by creating new sections in your content to address these new keyword phrases.

On the other hand, if these new keywords aren't peculiarly relevant to a piece of content, apply them instead to brainstorm new content.

Place New SEO Opportunities

Google Search Panel may reveal new, unexpected keywords your content ranks for. Sometimes, your content may not rank highly for these other keywords, and the keywords are non so relevant that you'd want to re-optimize your content to target them.

In this case, you may want to create new content to target these new keywords. As long as they're relevant to your target audience, creating new pieces that are designed to meet the needs of a searcher's intent volition benefit your overall SEO strategy.

For example, nosotros can run across that our blog, "6 Cause Marketing Campaigns to Inspire for 2019" is ranking for the term "all-time global marketing campaigns". Because this term does non necessarily apply to what is existence discussed in the blog, it could warrant its own new piece of content.

When a new idea like this is born, further keyword inquiry will be required. This is necessary to identify other, similar terms that could be worth including in your content. You can use keyword tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to do this or, for further keyword inspiration, search the term in Google and look at the "People also ask" and "Searches related to" information at the bottom of the search results.

Google related searches example — Here's an example of related searches for the keyword phrase "subscription boxes". This helpful info always appears at the lesser of Google's search results.

Just be sure to choose the right keywords for your site—that is, the almost relevant phrases that your target audience is using.

How to Identify the "Right" Keywords to Target

Unfortunately, finding which keywords are suitable for a new piece of content can exist boring. You'll need to plough through the listing of obtained queries on Google Search Console and appraise them on a example-by-instance basis.

For our blog post virtually cause marketing, this phrase needs to exist added equally a search filter then that all the relevant queries will appear:

Y'all need to analyze all the queries that have generated interest in your content. Chances are most of the unexpectedly ranking keywords won't accept resulted in clicks because your content doesn't directly answer the searcher's intent. They may, however, have led to college impressions.

As you lot can run across with our results below, there are several potential keywords that nosotros could utilize as a basis for new content. These include "all-time marketing entrada 2019" or "best global marketing campaigns 2019," for example.

If you have many keywords to choose from, it may exist difficult deciding where to focus your efforts. Here's a tip: consider which areas of your site you about desire to promote.

For instance, there may be a specific product or service folio you wish to push. If Google Search Panel suggests any keywords that relate to these pages, that'south a cracking place to get-go.

Of grade, you'll besides need to check that these keywords are not overly competitive. You tin check this by seeing what appears on the first folio of search engine page results when you search for the term. If Google Search Console indicates any question keywords, these might be easier to obtain when information technology comes to developing a new piece of content and getting it to rank well.

One final annotation to remember: Low impressions practice non necessarily mean low search book.

Practise not disregard those queries generated by Google Search Console that accept a depression impression rate for your existing content. They could still bring in plenty of traffic if y'all make up one's mind to create and optimize a new piece of content.

Decision

Understanding how to research keywords is a crucial part of improving your website'south SEO, considering without strategic keyword targeting (and of form, quality content), your spider web pages will never exist found. Free tools like Google Search Console provide a wealth of keyword research data and brand a perfect starting point for getting this enquiry underway.

About the Author

Adam heads the squad at MRS Digital , a leading SEO agency in Hampshire, UK. With over a decade of feel in the industry, Adam ensures that MRS is at the forefront of search marketing by using the latest SEO techniques and technology.