Niche keyword research: How to find profitable long-tail keywords for any niche

You know the saying, the riches are in the niches?

Having a niche means you can tailor your content and products to a specific target audience. So you can focus on serving the needs of that audience.

Because if you are serving everyone, you are serving no one.

Another benefit of picking a niche is less competition compared to more saturated markets. I suppose this makes it easier to succeed as a big fish in a small pond.

Having a niche is beneficial for SEO too.

It is easier to rank on search engines for niche keywords and grow your organic visibility.

For new websites and businesses, it can be very challenging to establish an online presence from zero.

An example of SEO competitiveness is when we try to target very generic keywords. Take for example, this seed keyword.

It has an incredible search volume of 110,000 monthly searches in the UK. But a keyword difficulty of 51%!

And if we look at the competition? 192M results to compete with.

It would be such an uphill battle to try and outrank authoritative websites like DIY, Amazon, Argos.

So we need to niche down if we want to get a slice of that traffic potential.

In this online world, finding your niche can make all the difference to succeed.

This year, I had the wonderful opportunity to coach a number of business owners on SEO and conducting keyword research for their niches.

We learnt a lot and I thought to use this blog post to share some insights about the best ways to find niche keywords for your business.

Niche keyword research case study

I find ecommerce websites to be great case studies to learn about niche keyword research.

There is a clear industry we are entering and a hierarchy of product categories to conduct keyword research.

Below is a snapshot of the topic research we did for a coaching client’s Shopify store that sells garden furniture in the UK.

Each product category can essentially be a niche topic. Within that particular topic, there can be dozens of related keywords to rank for.

Keyword research tools

First, we need to leverage keyword research tools that can generate keyword ideas.

Some good keyword tools are Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, Ahrefs, Keywords Everywhere.

Google keyword planner is a free tool that can generate a list of keywords that are relevant and comprehensive.

Though it is primarily used for PPC campaigns, the keyword suggestions are valid for organic search too. It is a good free tool to start with if you are just testing the waters to find keyword ideas.

Otherwise, I recommend getting an SEO tool like Semrush or Ahrefs that can help you find more valuable keyword ideas and do competitive research too.

Easy step by step guide: How to find niche keywords

Step 1: Define your niche

Before we start, clearly define your niche. Understand the specific topic or product category you will be focusing on.

The more precise your niche market, the better you can conduct your keyword research.

Step 2: Start with seed keywords

The next step is to brainstorm a list of seed keywords. These are basic search terms related to your niche that you’ll use as a starting point for research.

In this case, our list of keywords would be broad product categories.

Keyword data from Semrush

Seed keywords are also called short-tail keywords. Their distinct feature is the one or two word search term with very high search volume.

But they are also very difficult to rank for.

Pay attention to search volume, competition (KD%) and search trends.

Most people think that the best keywords are these head terms with extremely high search volume.

If you can rank in #1 position for gazebo with 110,000 monthly searches, that is a traffic value of $39,000!

That is why most people try to aim for generic seed keywords. It can bring in a lot of traffic and revenue.

But what about the chances of ranking?

Seed keywords are very very difficult to rank for. The KD% for those seed keywords are in the range of 50 – 70.

If you are not able to rank on the first page, the traffic value and potential just doesn’t matter to you.

This is where niche keywords come in!

Step 3: Expand your seed keyword list to find related keyword ideas

This is where the fun part begins! We start to actually do niche research here and expand our seed keyword list.

From the list of seed keywords, focus on one broad keyword first.

Let’s say we start with gazebo.

Explore all the related keyword ideas from that one seed term.

There are over 75,000 keyword ideas!!

And we can already spot some long-tail keywords, variations, questions that have a lower keyword difficulty. Which means less competition and ease of ranking!

See how the KD% is much lower below 30? That makes these keywords much easier to rank for.

Compared to generic short tail keywords, targeting niche specific long tail keywords can help you rank on search results faster and drive more traffic.

Now all you have to do is pick your niche keywords!

Step 4: Analyze keyword intent

Next, understand the intent behind each keyword. Are users looking for information, solutions, products, reviews, comparisons, or tutorials?

Nowadays, SEO tools can do a lot of the heavy lifting for us. For example, we can sort keywords by their intent.

Tailor your content to match the intent behind the keywords you choose.

A keyword with an informational intent like how to build... would need valuable content about building this step-by-step.

This is why Google ranks educational content like videos and blog posts in the search results. Notice how the blog posts ranking also have article rich results enabled.

Step 5: Select the best niche long-tail keywords

The final step is selecting the best long-tail keywords for your niche.

The best ones have good search volume and keyword difficulty. Like this one here:

It checks all the boxes of high search volume, low difficulty and a nice commercial intent!

Considering factors like keyword intent, search volume, competitiveness, the next thing is conversion rate.

Long-tail keywords have lower search volume, but they tend to be highly relevant and attract users with a clear intent.

These keywords can drive more targeted traffic.

Someone searching for the specific dimensions of a furniture clearly knows what they want.

And are more qualified website visitors ready to make a purchase.

Another reason why niching down and targeting more specific keywords can be very valuable for your business!

There you have it, my simple 5 step process to find niche keyword ideas.

Now, a few more bonus tips on keyword research.

SEO strategy and keyword analysis

Keywords have search volume and keyword difficulty.

• The higher the search volume, the higher the traffic potential.
• The lower the keyword difficulty, the better ease of ranking.

The right keywords can get you ranking quickly on the first page of Google search results and drive high organic traffic.

More traffic, more ad revenue.

More traffic, more potential leads and customers, again more revenue.

Search Trends

If you are in a specific industry, there will be specific keywords that rise and fall in popularity throughout the year.

This also has to do with seasonality.

If you are in a specific industry with seasonality trends, there may be more search demand for your topic at different times of the year.

For example, are there more searches for your niche topic in the summer months, holidays and during the lead up to that time? Think New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas.

Every niche will have specific keywords that rise and fall in search trends throughout the year.

Google Trends

Google Trends is a powerful tool that provides valuable insights into the popularity of specific search terms over time. It’s like having a crystal ball into what the world is searching for on Google.

Take this niche site for example, we can check the interest of specific terms over the last 5 years.

Can you find any seasonality patterns?

Year after year, there is a specific period of time when search demand for this niche topic is at its highest.

When it comes to niche keyword research, Google Trends offers a goldmine of benefits:

• Real-Time Data: Google Trends provides real-time data on how often specific keywords or phrases are being searched for. This helps you understand if interest in your niche is growing, stable, or declining. Monitoring trends over time is crucial for staying ahead of the curve.
• Seasonal Insights: If your niche experiences seasonal fluctuations, Google Trends can highlight when interest peaks and wanes throughout the year. This allows you to tailor your content and marketing efforts to align with those trends.
• Geographical Data: This feature lets you know where in the world your niche is gaining traction. It’s immensely helpful for targeting specific regions and optimizing your content to suit the preferences of those audiences.
• Related Queries: Google Trends provides a list of related queries and topics that are currently trending alongside your chosen keywords. This can spark ideas for additional content or help you discover related keywords that you might not have considered.
• Comparison Functionality: You can compare the popularity of multiple keywords, which is especially handy when you’re torn between different keyword variations. This helps you make informed decisions about which keywords to prioritize.

Target audience research

One of the best ways to do effective niche keyword research to understand how your target audience would search.

I know, I know this is so cliche but it really helps to get those brain juices flowing.

In SEO, this is about finding the exact words and phrases your target audience would use.

I like going straight to the source of information.

• asking your audience to fill out a research survey
• asking your audience on Instagram DMs
• asking your audience in Facebook groups

These are great ways to directly find out how your people ACTUALLY feel about their situation.

My favourite way of figuring out what audience is going through is participating in Facebook Groups.

I’ve joined about 6-10 different Facebook groups and they range from SEO, Entrepreneurship and Digital Marketing.

This simple method has helped me gather hundreds of useful primary data about my target audience.

Google auto-complete keyword suggestions

Google Autocomplete can also help your keyword research efforts. It is easy to use and FREE!

When you start typing a search query into Google’s search bar, you’ll notice that it automatically suggests completed search phrases based on what you’ve typed so far.

These suggestions are generated by an algorithm that takes into account popular and relevant search queries, making it a a wonderful free tool to find keyword ideas and insights.

You may be thinking, okay why do we need to use this Google search to find keyword ideas if we have sophisticated SEO tools?

I still use Google search to find keyword ideas because it is comfortable.

Compared to a huge data table of keywords and metrics, this auto-complete feature helps my keyword research process in an easy way that is not overwhelming.

Benefits of using Google search for keyword suggestions

• Keyword Expansion: Google Autocomplete provides many related keywords and long-tail variations that you might not have thought of initially. This helps you broaden your keyword list and capture a wider range of user search intent.
• User Intent Insights: The suggested queries can give you insights into what users are looking for. By understanding user intent, you can tailor your content to directly address their needs and questions.
• Question-Based Keywords: Many Autocomplete suggestions take the form of questions, which is particularly useful for creating FAQ pages, blog posts, or videos that directly answer these common queries.
• Long-Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords are often more specific and less competitive than broad keywords. Autocomplete can help you identify these longer and more specific phrases that could drive targeted traffic to your site.

Amazon keyword research

One of the best ways to find commercial keywords is to analyze Amazon’s product listings.

Needless to say, this method is most effective for e-commerce sites or businesses selling products. But this also works for informational blogs as well.

For example, if I am running a travel and lifestyle blog, I can write about products, clothes and accessories that my audience will be interested about.

Let’s take the keyword, “backpack” and search on Amazon.

(i) Product function keywords:

• lightweight backpack, ultralight packable, water resistant, travel and sports, durable backpack, lady travel backpack, travel laptop backpack, laptop outdoor backpack, camping rucksack backpack

(ii) Product-type keywords on left-side bar:

• laptop backpacks, sports fan bags, hiking daypacks, internal frame hiking backpacks, travel duffel bags

(iii) Product category keyword (topics) on left-side bar:

• Computers & Accessories
• Sports Fan Shops
• Outdoor Recreation
• Luggage & Travel Gear
• Fashion

(iv) Final tip: check out the customer reviews for best-seller products

Notice the ‘read reviews that mention’ keyword tags? Yup, that’s a great place to find keywords and potentially help you brainstorm niche ideas too!

These are the most commonly asked keywords that customers search for.

Ahrefs competitive analysis

Ahrefs is one of the best SEO tools out there and we can use it to do niche keyword research too. You can analyze any competitor domain and check their top pages and ranking keywords.

There you go! These are some effective ways to find niche topics and conduct keyword research. If you want to learn more about the keyword research process, check out these articles on search intent, long-tail keywords, semantic keywords!