Guest post by Rosana Beechum

Creating a popular WordPress blog takes hard work and dedication, but this will pay off in the long run when you’re able to reach your target audience and develop a relationship with them.  One of the main ways you can attract readers to your blog, and keep them coming back for more, is to use relevant keywords. 

Finding keywords that will appeal to your target readership and answer their queries can be a challenge, which is why we’ve put together some tips to help beginners.  

Choose Hot Topics

Creating relevant, inspiring content takes a lot of thought and market knowledge. You also need to know the most popular topics that readers want to know about. Check out this list of the most searched keyword topics on Google to get some inspiration and find a topic that will entice readers to your blog. 

Use Google To Your Advantage

When you’re looking for relevant keywords, you might think that you need expensive SEO tools and an expert to help you use them, but there are many free techniques that a budding blogger can employ. One of them is to use Google to find the keywords, phrases and questions that readers are searching for. Simply type your topic, and some phrases related to it, into the Google search bar, then see what the search engine suggests. You can also use the ‘People also ask’ and ‘Searches related to’ sections to see what people are searching for in this subject area. 

Read Existing Content On Your Chosen Topic

It might sound like an obvious step, but it’s surprising how many content creators neglect to read existing content on their topic when they’re searching for keywords. You should read the top-ranking content and explore the keywords it uses frequently, how it uses subheadings and the questions it answers for readers. Once you’ve read a few pieces, you’ll begin to see patterns in the way they use keywords, which you can replicate in your own content.  

Check Out Keyword Research Tools

As well as Google, you can also use SEO keyword research tools to find out the keywords your readers want to know about. Many SEO reporting solutions, including Moz, SEMrush and AHrefs have keyword research tools. If you’re not paying to use these solutions already, then consider using free tools such as Answer The Public to find keywords that are related to your chosen topic. 

Add A WordPress Plugin To Help You Research Keywords

If you want to integrate your keyword research into your blog writing process, you can use a WordPress plugin to quickly find relevant keywords. This solution will allow you to quickly find long-tail keywords that your readers want and add them to your content. As it’s already integrated into WordPress, you can use it as part of your blog writing process easily and efficiently. 

Learn How To Use Keywords Correctly 

Once you’ve gathered your keywords together, you need to learn how to distribute them throughout your content. You want to avoid ‘keyword stuffing’; an outdated practice involving repeated use of the same keywords to achieve a good ranking in search engines. Instead, you should try to distribute your keywords naturally throughout your content, so that they are noticeable but don’t look like they’ve been forced into your writing. This will help you to ensure that your blog posts reach and appeal to your target audience. 

Finding trending keywords might seem like a laborious and time-consuming task, but it will be worth the effort when your blog is popular with readers. This list of tips isn’t exhaustive, but it should give you a good place to start in your journey to creating great content that’s relevant and engaging.