A Comprehensive Guide For eCommerce Keyword Research

1. Identify Search Intent

Identifying what customers are looking for won’t help unless you understand the intent behind those search terms. 

Depending upon the search intent, there are four types of keywords:

• Navigational: When users want to search a specific site, like Google or Twitter.
• Informational: When users want to learn something or want some information, such as “How to optimize a website.”
• Commercial: When users want to compare products, like searching for the “Best SEO agency.”
• Transactional: When users are looking for a specific product page to make a purchase, like “men’s sports shoes.”

Understanding the user intent is important to identifying the website pages (product pages, category pages, and blog posts) on which to optimize the keyword. 

2. Finding The Relevant Keywords 

Suppose your online store sells home decor, and you launch a new collection of dining tables; focus on the following factors to select the best keywords:

• Product Details: Select the style, material, and design of the dining table you’re selling, and then use these details to find the “seed keyword.”
• Product Categories: Find the broader categories of your product, such as minimalist decor or boho theme, to target the customers searching for a specific type of home decor.
• Niche: Find your market niche, which, in this case, is home decor or dining tables, and target a broader audience searching for related products. 

Using these factors in your keyword research will help you create an effective keyword strategy relevant to your niche and audience, ultimately driving more traffic to your website.

3. Google Autosuggest 

Google Autosuggest is the best free keyword research tool for finding highly competitive keywords for your business. 

Here is how to use it:

• Open Google browser and go to the search bar.
• Type a relevant word or phrase that aligns with your business.
• Review the suggested search terms list to see what people are searching for.
• Use these terms to refine your keyword list.

If you want to pick informative or commercial keywords, use terms like “do,” “how,” “what,” and “best” on Google search.

4. People Also Ask 

Unlike a generic keyword list, Google’s People Also Ask section includes the questions people ask about that specific topic.

This section can help you craft perfect blog titles or FAQs for your product page, making your content a valuable source of information. 

When you click on a question mentioned in this section, you get a little peek into how your competitors answer it. This helps you identify the content gap and create better answers.

Here’s how to do your keyword research using People Also Ask:

• Do a Google search and note down all the relevant auto-suggest keywords.
• Explore the related search terms and check the questions in the People Also Ask section.
• Repeat this process, but use a different search term until you get a proper list of keywords.

This method can be time-consuming and repetitive but is an excellent source of keywords. If you want a faster approach, you can use paid tools such as Ahrefs or Semrush. 

5. Competitor Analysis 

Competitor analysis helps you determine the competitiveness of certain keywords by deciding how your competitors rank for them.

Consider these factors while conducting competitor analysis: 

• Keywords: Identify what keywords your competitors are ranking for.
• Backlinks: Check the number of backlinks they have and where they’re using them.
• Content topics: Find what topics they’re writing for, how they’re distributing the keywords, and what you can do to stand out.

This approach not only tells you your position in the market but also highlights areas for improvement.