7 Keyword Research Trends For Better Search Engine Rankings

Over the years, I’ve seen keyword research evolve dramatically, and staying ahead of these keyword research trends has become important for effective SEO and content marketing. 

As search engines refine their algorithms and user behavior shifts, staying updated on emerging trends that impact keyword research is essential. 

In fact, adopting these changes can enhance online visibility, boost search rankings, and ensure we deliver content that truly resonates with our target audience.

In this guide, I’ll discuss the top 7 keyword research trends I’ve observed that you should consider for better rankings.

Let’s start by a definition of what keyword research is.

What is Keyword Research?

Keyword research involves identifying and analyzing the specific search terms and phrases people use online. 

Understanding these search queries and their keyword intent allows you to tailor content directly to your audience’s needs. 

Keyword research helps bridge the gap between what users are searching for and the content we create, ensuring that the material we produce gets seen by the right people at the right time.

Importance of Keyword Research

For me, keyword research is not just a technical SEO task. It’s about understanding my audience’s language and needs. 

When I get the keywords right, I can build content that aligns with what people are searching for, which improves search engine rankings. 

It also helps me tap into relevant traffic, which is more likely to engage with the content and convert into loyal customers, subscribers, or clients.

How to Use SEOBoost for Keyword Research

One of my favorite keyword research tools is SEOBoost. Its Topic Reports feature is easy to use and has features that streamline finding the right keywords. 

To create a Topic Report, just enter your focus keyword. You’ll get detailed insights into the top competitors, which will help you make strategic decisions. The tool also offers suggestions for related keywords and clearly shows where I can get the most ROI from my efforts.

SEOBoost’s comprehensive dashboard lets you get the data you need to optimize content for short and long-tail keywords.

Now, that you’ve understood the basics of keyword research and how SEOBoost can help, let’s look into the keyword research trends.

1. Voice Search

Voice search has taken off in recent years thanks to the growing popularity of virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. 

What’s fascinating is how voice search changes the way people query information. Instead of typing fragmented keywords like “best SEO tools,” users now ask complete, conversational questions like “What are the best SEO tools for small businesses?”

This shift toward natural language queries means you must optimize for long-tail, conversational keywords. 

You can use tools like LowFruits, or SEOBoost’s Topic Reports feature to help you identify this long-tail, question-based queries that mirror users’ language. 

LowFruits excels at identifying low-competition, long-tail keywords that align perfectly with the more conversational tone used in voice searches. 

By integrating these conversational, low-competition keywords into your content, you can optimize effectively for voice searches and increase your chances of appearing in featured snippets.

2. Increased Use of Long-Tail Keywords

I’ve noticed a significant uptick in the effectiveness of long-tail keywords. 

These longer, more specific phrases better capture user intent and tend to have less competition. 

While short-tail keywords usually have massive search volume, they’re harder to rank for. In contrast, long-tail keywords may have fewer searches but offer higher conversion rates due to their specificity.

As I mentioned above, you can use LowFruits or SEOBoost to identify long-tail keywords related to your primary search terms. This will help you target niche markets and attract the right audience: those closer to purchasing or taking action.

3. AI-Powered Keyword Research

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing keyword research and is one of the top keyword research trends for this year.

That’s because AI can process complex data sets, identify patterns, and even predict future trends in a way that would be nearly impossible to achieve manually.

With AI-powered tools like SEOBoost, you can quickly analyze vast amounts of data and gain deeper insights into keyword performance, user behavior, and search intent. 

One of the major benefits of using AI-powered tools is their ability to suggest related keywords, synonyms, and even semantic relationships that enhance content relevance. 

This helps you with search engine optimization and future-proofs your content ideas by ensuring it aligns with evolving search engine algorithms.

4. Search Intent Over Search Volume

One of the recent keyword research trends is the shift from search volume to capturing search intent.

Based on the user journey, there are 4 main types of search intent for which you should create content.

These include:

1. Informational Intent:

This is when users are searching for information or answers to specific questions. They may not be looking to buy anything; instead, they want to learn more about a topic. 

Creating cornerstone content that provides in-depth, clear, and helpful information is important for satisfying informational intent.

2. Navigational Intent:

Users with navigational intent are trying to find a specific website or page. They may already know the brand or site they want and use the search engine to navigate there. 

A typical query might be “SEOBoost login” or “AIOSEO blog.” 

To capture this traffic, ensuring your site ranks for your brand’s keywords is important. I’ll discuss this in a later section, too.

3. Transactional Intent:

Transactional intent is when a user is ready to make a purchase or take a specific action. 

They search for product or service-related keywords like “best email marketing tools.” 

For this type of search intent, having clear CTAs and product pages optimized for conversion is essential.

4. Commercial Intent:

In this case, users are researching their options before purchasing. They look for reviews, comparisons, or product or service details. 

Queries like “AIOSEO vs YoastSEO” fall under this category. 

Scannable content such as comparison guides, product reviews, or in-depth analysis can fulfill this intent.

By identifying which type of search intent you’re targeting, you can create content that directly addresses user needs, improving engagement and search engine rankings.

To cater to this, I’ve shifted my focus from search volume to search intent, and it’s made a world of difference. 

5. Understanding Entity SEO

Entity SEO refers to optimizing content based on entities, including people, places, things, or concepts that search engines recognize and understand in a structured way. 

Rather than focusing solely on keywords, Entity SEO aims to help search engines comprehend the relationships between these entities and how they connect within the content.

For example, in a blog post about Tesla, Google understands Tesla as an entity representing the company founded by Elon Musk and connects this entity to others like “electric cars,” “autonomous driving,” and “Elon Musk” himself. 

Entity SEO aims to optimize content so that search engines can better identify these relationships, thereby improving the chances of ranking higher for relevant topics.

To implement Entity SEO effectively, focus on:

• Create content that is rich in meaningful relationships between different entities.
• Use structured data like schema markup to help search engines understand the context of your content.
• Incorporate well-researched facts and authoritative references that link related entities, improving the overall topical authority of your site.

6. Use of Branded Keywords

Branded keywords are search terms that include a company’s brand name or specific product names. 

These keywords are directly associated with a particular business, making them highly valuable for boosting brand recognition, capturing targeted traffic, and establishing a stronger online presence.

Branded keywords can include:

• Company name
• Product or service names
• Branded phrases

Optimizing for branded keywords is important because people who search using these terms are typically further along in the buyer’s journey. They already know your brand and are more likely to convert. 

By ensuring that your website, product pages, and other content are well-optimized for branded keywords, you can:

• Capture high-intent traffic from users who are already familiar with your brand.
• Increase your brand’s visibility in search results, especially for product-related queries.
• Protect your brand from competitors bidding on or targeting your branded keywords in ads.

7. Priority to Keyword Clustering

Keyword clustering is an advanced SEO strategy that involves grouping related keywords together and creating content that addresses these keywords within a single page or across multiple interlinked pages. 

Instead of targeting individual keywords in isolation, keyword clustering focuses on building topical authority by organizing content around broader themes or topics.

The idea behind keyword clustering is to create optimized content for one primary keyword and various closely related keywords and phrases. 

This helps search engines recognize that your content covers the topic comprehensively, improving the chances of ranking for multiple search queries related to the same theme on SERPs.

Keyword clustering has become one of my go-to strategies for creating more in-depth, topical content. Rather than targeting individual keywords, I now group related keywords together and organize content around these clusters. 

To implement keyword clustering, I use SEOBoost’s Topic Reports feature.

It helps me strategically map out how to structure the content to address them all within one in-depth page or across multiple interconnected articles.

Final Thoughts on Keyword Research Trends

Keyword research continues to evolve, and staying updated on these keyword research trends is important for maintaining a competitive edge in SEO. 

By refining your SEO strategy towards voice search, long-tail keywords, AI-powered tools, search intent optimization, entity SEO, branded keywords, and keyword clustering, you can create content that resonates with your audience and aligns with search engine algorithms. 

With the help of SEOBoost, you can continue to create consistently better-ranking content.

So, sign up for a 14-day free trial today!

FAQs about Keyword Research Trends

1. What is a trend in keyword research?

A trend in keyword research refers to an emerging or evolving pattern, technique, or approach that influences how businesses and content creators identify, analyze, and optimize for relevant keywords. Keyword research trends evolve and change based on changing user behavior and algorithms.

2. How to find keywords trending?

To find trending keywords, trending topics and keyword search volume, you can use various tools and resources, such as SEOBoost, Google Trends, and Semrush. You can also monitor social media platforms and online communities and stay up-to-date with industry news.

3. What are the 3 main types of trends?

The three main types of trends in the context of keyword research and SEO are:

1. User behavior trends: These trends are driven by changes in how users interact with search engines, devices, and technology.
2. Technological trends: These trends are influenced by technological advancements, such as the development of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing.
3. Algorithm trends: Search engine algorithms constantly evolve to provide more relevant and accurate search results. Trends in algorithm updates, such as the increasing emphasis on search intent, entity understanding, and topical relevance, directly influence the strategies and techniques used for keyword research and content optimization.

Alina Zahid Content Writer

Alina is an SEO professional with specialized knowledge of content marketing. When she’s not busy researching and creating awesome content for SEOBoost, she can be found practicing piano, writing fiction and traveling.

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