SEO Research: Why It Should Always Shape Your Strategy

Getting a clear understanding of all the opportunities available and what top performers are doing is what should shape an SEO strategy. Just giving it a go may work for some, but the chances are you’ll waste a lot of time and money just trying to the engine started. Worse, you get it going, off the ground, to then lose control.

What is SEO Research?

SEO research is the process of identifying the opportunities that search engines present for your business and analysing how others go about targeting them. Proper research sets a clear standard for what needs doing and why, later informing the start or next stage of an SEO strategy.

Components of SEO Research

In-depth SEO research is made from two main components: keyword research, which is the most talked about, and competitor analysis. Both work together to create a clear picture of the search landscape.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of identifying what your target audience frequently searches on search engines. To perform this, keyword research tools are used, which uncover valuable data into estimated search volumes, cost per clicks for paid search ads, ranking difficulty, and much more.

Fancy exploring what keyword opportunities await your business? Give some basic keyword research a go using these free tools:

• Moz Keyword Research Tool
• SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool
• WordStream Keyword Tool

Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis involves examining the websites of top-performing competitors, usually those ranking in the top 3 positions for keywords that matter most to your business. Analysing their SEO strategies, you can gain valuable insights into what they're targeting and how, where their advantages lie, and what they're actively doing.

Why You Shouldn't Dive into SEO Blind

Going into SEO without investing time or money in proper research first is like stepping into a vast jungle clueless on how you're going to get to the other side. Winging it may eventually, but it of course comes with its risks.

Competitors May Continue to Dominate

If you haven't taken the time to analyse your competitors'sites, the chances are you'll just cruise along while they continue to dominate. Understanding what they've done and what they're actively doing gives you a baseline to work from, making sure you at least match, or better, exceed their efforts.

Getting Search Intent Wrong

Keywords all have different intent, requiring different forms of content. Get the intent wrong because you didn’t analyse the search results to see what content is ranking first, and you’re set for failure.

Achieving A Fraction of Your Potential

Without research, you may underestimate the value search engines can bring to your business. Just doing a bit here and there, only optimising what you’ve currently got, you may miss out on many valuable targeting opportunities you don’t even know exist.

How Often Should SEO Research Be Done?

New searches are made daily and new competitors are always on the rise. By the time you’ve done some fresh research, the chances are things would have changed a month down the line. With that, SEO research should be done regularly, but how regularly will depend.

In-House

As you may expect, SEO done in-house often offers more flexibility. Working on an ongoing strategy which is less black and white, research can easily be performed to cover new insights, adjusting the strategy accordingly. For most businesses, every quarter is sensible, but in competitive industries, every month may be wise.

Outsourcing

Many SEO agencies/consultants offer SEO audits to shape the start or next stage of an SEO strategy. As a part of these, SEO research is usually performed before hand. Although each has different ways of doing things, SEO strategies are usually renewed annually, where fresh research should be performed. Working with budgets, for some, it may be performed more frequently.

Shape Your SEO Strategy

SEO research shouldn’t be overlooked. Keyword research and competitor analysis both bring valuable insights to be used for an SEO audit, shaping the start or new stage of your business's SEO strategy. For the time or money it’ll cost you, the chances are it’ll be worth every penny in the long run.

An experienced search marketing specialist offering a bespoke SEO auditing service, I’m here to help your business, big or small, uncover a clear path to better search performance. Consisting of SEO research, auditing of your site, and strategy development, you’ll get more than just insights into what opportunities stand and how others are targeting them, but an actionable strategy on how you can capture them while going beyond others' efforts.

Don't have the facilities to implement the strategy in-house? Offering SEO management, I can handle it all.

Take your next step towards search success – get in touch today.