Finding Niche Keywords for SEO: A Comprehensive Guide in 3 Steps

Keywords are the foundation of any solid SEO strategy. They help search engines understand the content on your website and connect you with users searching for that content. However, not all keywords are created equal. While broad keywords can bring in a lot of traffic, they often come with high competition and may not always attract the right audience.

This is where niche keywords come into play. Niche keywords may not always attract huge traffic numbers, but they bring in the right kind of traffic – people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer. 

Using niche keywords in your SEO strategy requires a 3 step approach, so let’s break down how to find and use niche keywords to give your website a competitive edge in SERPs.

Step 1: Understanding the Importance of Niche Keywords

Niche keywords are specific, detailed phrases that zero in on a particular segment of your target audience. They go beyond broad keywords to focus on particular aspects of your products, services, or content.

For example, instead of using a keyword like “shoes,” a niche keyword would be “vegan running shoes for women”. As a vegan brand selling running shoes for women, this specificity helps you connect with potential customers who are looking for exactly what you offer.

Niche keywords usually have lower monthly search volumes compared to broader terms, but they attract a warmer target audience because people searching with niche keywords are often further along in their buyer journey. This makes them more likely to convert into customers because they know exactly what they’re looking for. 

They’re also a lot easier to target and rank for, as their keyword difficulty score tends to be lower than broad keywords.

Focusing on niche keywords also allows you to create highly targeted content that addresses the specific needs and interests of your audience. And when users find exactly what they’re searching for on your site, this sends positive ranking signals to Google about people’s user experience.

So now you’re sold on the idea of niche keywords – how do you find them? 

Step 2: How to Find Niche Keywords

Before you fire up any keyword research tools, you need to determine what niches make sense for your website and target audience. Having this direction first will dramatically speed up how long it takes you to find the best niche keywords and avoid keywords like “vegan running shoes for women” when your business sells leather boots for men.

Now you’re ready to get going, here’s how to find the best keywords for your niche to use across your whole site.

Target long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are often niche keywords, as both are extended and more specific versions of a broad keyword, also known as a short-tail keyword. As a rule of thumb, long-tail keywords typically have 4 or more words in the keyword. So, instead of using a short-tail keyword like “running shoes”, you would use a long-tail keyword like “best running shoes for flat feet”.

In Keyword Explorer, you can find long-tail keywords related to your seed keyword by filtering your results by the number of words:

Use Google’s autocomplete suggestions

You may not consider Google when looking for keyword tools, but sometimes, going straight to the source is all you need to find popular search terms related to your industry.

Start typing a short and specific keyword into Google and look at the suggested searches. These suggestions are based on popular search queries related to the keyword you entered, so you know they’re terms people are actively searching for. For example, if you enter “vegan recipes,” you will see suggestions like “vegan recipes for dinner” and “vegan recipes with leeks”. 

Assess keyword difficulty & search volume

Even though niche keyword research helps you find keywords with a lower search volume, that doesn’t always mean they will be easy to rank for. So, once you’ve found a potential keyword, review the keyword difficulty to see how competitive it is compared to the monthly search volume.

In Keyword Explorer, you can review the difficulty score for each keyword under the “KD” column and sort the list by long-tail keywords with the lowest keyword difficulty score.

This report also shows you search volume metrics for all related keyword suggestions, allowing you to quickly identify keywords with a low difficulty score that still get a decent amount of searches every month. 

Step 3: How to Use Niche Keywords

Once you’ve got a list of niche keyword ideas, it’s time to integrate them into your content.

Niche keywords work well for most types of content, from sales and landing pages to blog posts and guides, so if you’re creating new content to target the keyword, let the search intent guide you on the best approach. You should also carry out SERP analysis to give yourself a benchmark for the length and style of your content and other on-page elements to include to enhance it, like images and videos.

As a general rule of thumb, aim to include your target keyword in your page title, heading 1 and 1-2 times in the body text. Depending on the specific keyword’s search intent, competition in search results and the topic, you may need a more or less aggressive approach than this, which is why we recommend carrying out SERP analysis first!

After you have published your content, look for opportunities to internally link it from other pages on your site, including your target niche keyword in the anchor text.

Like any good marketing strategy, SEO is an ongoing process. So once you’ve finished optimising your content, add your niche keywords list to Keywords Overview so you can monitor your keyword rankings and identify potential areas for improvement. 

Conclusion

Niche keywords help you reach a specific audience, reduce competition, and improve your chances of converting visitors into customers. Understanding and targeting these keywords isn’t just about finding keywords you can rank for. It’s about finding keywords that attract your target audience at the right stage of their buyer journey. In short, it’s a total no-brainer to use these keywords for your SEO strategy!Start exploring niche keywords today with Wincher’s Keyword Explorer tool and see how they can make a difference to your website’s visibility in SERPs.