SE Ranking is a complete SEO platform offering various tools, from backlink analysis to website audits. Although not popular as Semrush and Ahrefs, it offers a lot of the same features for a lower price point.
At Webhive Digital, we switched from Ahrefs to SE Ranking towards the end of 2023 to gain more features without feeling restricted by credits and usage. As an SEO agency, one of the things we use the most is their keyword research tool.
So if you’re new to the tool, or considering making the switch, here’s how to use SE Ranking for keyword research.
How to use SE Ranking for keyword research: Step-by-step
Step 1: Create an initial keyword List
Start by brainstorming seed keywords relevant to your business. These should be broad terms related to your products, services, or industry. For example, if you run a bakery, your seed keywords might include “fresh bread”, “custom cakes”, or “pastries”.
Step 2: Search a seed keyword
Enter one of your seed keywords into SE Ranking’s keyword tool to see the data on your seed keyword and a list of related terms and valuable keyword ideas you may not have thought about.
Step 3: Review keyword ideas
When you enter your seed keyword into SE Ranking’s keyword tool, you’ll be presented with a huge list of keyword ideas. These are categorised into three main sections: Similar, Related, and Questions. Each category offers unique insights that enhance your keyword strategy.
Similar Keywords
Similar keywords are closely related to your seed keyword, often including variations with additional modifiers. SE Ranking identifies these based on semantic similarity and SERP overlap. For example, if your seed keyword is “organic coffee”, you might find similar keywords like:
- Organic coffee beans
- Organic ground coffee
- Organic fair trade coffee
These keywords are ideal for expanding your core topic coverage and finding closely related terms your audience uses. They’re handy for optimising your main product or service pages and creating closely related content clusters.
Related Keywords
Related keywords cover a broader range of terms that are topically connected to your seed keyword but not as closely aligned as Similar Keywords. SE Ranking generates these based on topical relevance, user search patterns, and content relationships. Using the “organic coffee” example, related keywords could be:
- Coffee roasters
- Coffee brewing methods
- Health benefits of organic coffee
These keywords can be used to discover new content angles, identify related products or services, and broaden your content strategy. We like to use them for expanding content plans and identifying new opportunities within a website’s niche.
Questions
The Questions section lists users’ common queries related to your seed keyword. SE Ranking pulls these from various sources, including search engine suggestions, forums, and Q&A sites. For “organic coffee”, you might see questions like:
- What makes coffee organic?
- Is organic coffee worth the extra cost?
- How is organic coffee different from regular coffee?
These questions can be used to create FAQ sections, write blog posts, and address specific user queries in your content.
A balanced keyword strategy typically incorporates keywords from all three categories. This ensures your content is thorough, addresses various user needs, and has the potential to rank for a diverse set of relevant search terms.
Step 4: Analyse keyword metrics
SE Ranking provides several useful metrics for each keyword:
- Search Volume: The average number of monthly searches for the keyword.
- Difficulty: An estimate of how challenging it would be to rank for this keyword.
- Cost Per Click (CPC): The average cost per click for this keyword in paid search campaigns.
- Search Intent: The purpose behind a user’s search query, typically categorised as informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional.
Pay close attention to these metrics, as they will help to guide you on the best keywords to pick during your selection process!
Step 5: Refine your keyword list
Use filters to narrow down your options based on your specific needs. Some common ones we use are:
- Set a minimum and maximum search volume to find keywords that will bring traffic.
- Adjust the keyword difficulty range to find terms you can realistically compete for. This depends on your industry and competitors, but typically, low difficulty with a good search volume is your best bet!
- Use the word count filter to focus on long-tail keywords if that’s part of your strategy (which it should be!)
Step 6: Organise and categorise keywords
SE Ranking allows you to create keyword lists, making it easy to organise your research. As you identify target keywords, start organising them into categories to help you plan your content strategy more effectively.
Step 7: Export your keyword list
Once you’ve finalised your keyword selection, export your list and import it to the tool you’re using to create your content strategy so you can start to assign these keywords to your content.
If you need extra guidance from some SEO pros (us, of course), you can use our free SEO checklist to help you!
SE Ranking’s Advanced Features for Keyword Research
SE Ranking provides some advanced tools for keyword research that will help speed up the process, provide deeper insights or help you create a more refined content strategy for your website.
Keyword Grouping Tool
SE Ranking’s keyword grouping automatically organises your keywords into thematic groups, helping you identify content clusters and plan your site structure more effectively – think of it as your personal keyword organiser!
Competitor Keyword Analysis
Want to know what keywords your competitors are ranking for? SE Ranking lets you spy on your competitors’ keyword strategies, giving you insights you can use to refine your approach. And if we’re all to be honest, who’s not stealing strategies from their SEO competitors?
Global Volume Analysis
SE Ranking’s global volume analysis tool provides a complete view of search volume data, not just for your target country but on a worldwide scale. Here’s what makes it particularly useful:
- Global Search Volume: See the worldwide search volume for your keywords, giving you a broader perspective on their popularity.
- Top Countries Breakdown: Easily identify the countries where your keywords are most searched, helping you target international markets more effectively.
- Localisation Opportunities: Identify keywords that perform well in specific countries, allowing you to tailor your content for different regions.
This feature is particularly valuable for businesses looking to expand internationally or for those who want to understand the global relevance of their keywords.
Making Sense of the Data
Now that you’ve got all this data, it’s time to put it to good use. The numbers may seem confusing at first, but as someone with not a single maths bone in their body, I promise that if I can get it, so can you!
Search Volume and Keyword Difficulty
Search Volume is the average number of monthly searches for a keyword, while Keyword Difficulty estimates how challenging it would be to rank for that keyword. These metrics are valuable because they help you:
- Gauge potential traffic: Higher search volumes suggest more people are interested in a topic.
- Assess competition: Keyword difficulty helps you understand how hard it is to rank on the first page.
- Estimate ROI: By combining these metrics, you can predict potential returns on your SEO efforts.
When analysing these metrics:
- High-search-volume keywords are tempting but often come with high competition. For example, “best coffee” might have 100,000 monthly searches but a difficulty score of 85.
- Look for keywords with a good balance of search volume and difficulty. These “Goldilocks” keywords—not too competitive or obscure—often provide the best return on your SEO efforts. An example is “pour over coffee techniques”, with 5,000 monthly searches and a difficulty of 45.
- When evaluating keyword difficulty, consider your website’s authority and resources. A new site may want to focus on lower-difficulty keywords, such as “single-origin coffee benefits,” which has 500 monthly searches and a difficulty of 25.
Search Intent
Understanding the intent behind a search is necessary for creating content that meets your audience’s needs. SE Ranking provides search intent information for each keyword, which can be categorised into four main types:
- Informational
- Navigational
- Commercial
- Transactional
When analysing search intent:
- Match your content to the user’s intent to improve relevance and engagement.
- Use intent data to guide your content creation strategy and prioritise keywords.
- Consider how search intent aligns with your business goals and target audience’s needs.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
While CPC is more relevant for paid advertising, it can provide insights into your overall digital marketing strategy:
- High CPC often indicates keywords with strong commercial intent and potential for conversions.
- Think about the relationship between search volume, intent, and CPC when planning a combined organic and paid strategy.
- For ads, weigh whether the search volume and intent justify the CPC, especially for keywords likely to lead to purchases.
Tips for Effective Keyword Research
Since you’ve read to the end, I’ll share some of Webhive’s top tips for making your keyword research even more effective.
Focus on User Intent
Behind every keyword is a person with a specific intent. Are they looking to buy, learn, or compare? Understanding search intent helps you create content that meets your audience’s needs.
SE Ranking’s keyword research tool gives you the search intent for each keyword, making this super easy to identify and use in your analysis.
Understanding search intent is important when doing keyword research for e-commerce. to help you distinguish between informational queries, like “how to choose running shoes”, and transactional ones, like “buy Nike running shoes”.
If you are a local business owner, focusing on search intent helps you target local intent more effectively, such as optimising for queries like “coffee shop near me” or “best local plumber”. You can learn more about this in our 6 Keyword Research Tips for Small Businesses guide.
Seasonal Trends
Some keywords have seasonal fluctuations. For example, “beach holiday” might spike in summer, while “Christmas gift ideas” peaks in winter.
SE Ranking’s historical data can help you spot these trends, allowing you to plan your content calendar strategically.
Balance Short-tail and Long-tail Keywords
A mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords often works best! Short-tail keywords can drive volume while finding long-tail keywords helps convert better. Using the word count filter when researching keywords in SE Ranking is the best way to identify both.
Become a Keyword Pro with SE Ranking
Whether you’re looking to boost organic traffic, refine your content, or gain a competitive edge, SE Ranking is a valuable tool for developing the best SEO strategy for your website without needing a huge monthly budget.
At Webhive Digital, we use keyword research tools daily to support our client’s content strategies. So, if keyword research sounds like a lot of effort, contact us about our monthly SEO services and let us do all the hard work for you.
