This is the first in a two part series of blogging tips for wedding pros. I see too often where people have written a blog post for their wedding blog but haven’t performed the necessary keyword research to ensure that, firstly the topic provides a solution to a problem people are actually searching for, and secondly that there is a chance of ranking the post on google.

The whole point of blogging is that you want your post to be found!

So before we dive in I want to explain the importance of carrying out keyword research and exactly how to perform keyword research.  

Keyword Research: Why is it important?

The first step in writing a blog post is to undertake keyword research.

If you want your blogging efforts and results to be successful, it is essential that you research the SEO keywords that you wish to rank for.

Let’s take a look at this example. Let’s say you are a Houston wedding planner and decide to write a blog about Houston wedding venues. It would be difficult to rank for the keyphrase “wedding venues Houston”, as these are highly competitive keywords. To rank for these keywords in search results, we would have to narrow it down. Perhaps “Outdoor wedding venues Houston” is a better choice?

Blogging Tips For Wedding Pros – Free Keyword Research Tools

The first logical step would be to turn to google to figure out exactly what keywords people are using when searching for information surrounding your chosen topic.

When you type in a search term into the google search bar, for example “why you need a wedding planner”  it will bring up the box, “people also ask” so you can find out how others phrase other questions about your topic.

If you scroll to the bottom of the page, it will also provide you with related search terms and other similar searches that match your topic.  

You can also use Google Search console to find keywords people search for to bring up your site in Google. Simply login into your Google search console, head to performance, scroll down and look at the queries tab to see the keywords people are using that will show your site. You can do this for any URL on your website. This is an excellent indicator that will help you create content around those keywords!

Other interesting sites to dive more into the questions people are asking surrounding your topic are Quora, Reddit and Answer The Public.

I also really like Keywords Everywhere that you download to your browser. It provides you with metrics, other keyword suggestions and long tail keyword suggestions.

Pinterest is another great free tool for keyword research! (Of course I would say that being a Pinterest Manager 🙂 Simply type your key phrase into the search bar and note the keywords that appear below. Pay attention to the pins after you type in the keyword/key phrase. This will allow you to see what people have to say about the topic.

Blogging Tips For Wedding Pros – Paid Keyword Research Tools For More Detailed Keyword Research

To investigate further there are some paid tools you can use to discover the best keywords to use in your post that you have a chance of ranking for.

I personally use Keysearch which I like for it’s ease of use and clear and easy to understand interface.

Here are some others, most of which offer a free trail period: Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, SEMrush 

When using these tools, here’s what to look for:

• Low numbers for search volume are acceptable if you have a location-specific topic
• Keyword difficulty should not exceed 50%. The lower the better.
• A high keyword difficulty and search volume is the sweet spot.

Again, pay attention to keyword variations as well as related keyword results to find out what people are actually searching for.

Conduct competitive research

It is also a good idea to conduct competitive research on your topic. To do this, you can simply Google your search terms and examine the organic search results. Examine the content of your competitors and the backlinks to the most popular posts.

Consider what’s missing. Could you help provide a different answer? Could you put a different spin on the topic?

Bonus points for including a Youtube video, a template or other download that further helps your audience solve a problem.

Once you have a list of keywords/phrases to focus on, you can then start to write your blog post. Stay tuned for my next post, where I will explain how to formulate and optimize your blog post.

Looking for more blogging tips for wedding pro’s?

You may find these posts helpful:

HOW TO BLOG A WEDDING

WHY BLOGGING IS IMPORTANT FOR YOUR WEDDING BUSINESS

**Affiliate disclosure** Some of the links in this post may result in a small commission to me should you choose to make a purchase. This won’t cost you anything additional and I promise I only suggest products I truly believe in and use myself.