This Is Why Performing Keyword Research Is Crucial For Food Bloggers
Keyword research is a crucial process in writing and publishing food blogs. Learn why you should always perform a thorough search before putting work into a new post with my helpful tips.
It can be so frustrating to work hard on a new recipe post and end up with just a hand full of readers. Unfortunately, the days of posting whatever you feel like are long gone. Successful content takes research before the writing can even begin.
Rather than going in blind, keyword research will tell you what readers are already searching for. Well-researched posts have the potential to reach your target audience, increase your blog traffic, and get on the first page of Google.
What is keyword research?
Keyword research all about giving your audience what they want. Through a detailed search, keyword research will provide you with a topic to write about and a list of words to include in the post. The results will help you reach your target audience and rank higher on Google.
There are 2 types of keyword research: Macro and Micro.
Macro keyword research
Macro keyword research is all about finding the subject of your post (A.K.A. the post benchmark). The ideal benchmark you’ll want to find has a high search volume and low competition.
As you can see below, “butternut squash soup” has a ton of competition. Every post on the first page is from well-known bloggers. These are all rich results, meaning they contain ratings, reviews, and images.
If you use this benchmark in your post, your recipe will have a harder time landing on the first page of a Google search or being seen by your ideal audience.
Choose a topic that’s a little less common, like “easy baked chicken”. You can see that, while there are still many rich results that pop up on Google, these food bloggers aren’t as well known. Plus, when compared with butternut squash soup on Google Trends, the search volume is lower but more accessible and consistent over time.
Micro keyword research
Performing micro keyword research is the step that comes after you’ve decided on your benchmark. Comparing competitors, performing Google searches, or using a keyword tool will give you a list of words to include in your post (known as secondary keywords). These will go into your post as organically as possible and support your benchmark or primary keyword.
If your benchmark is “easy baked chicken”, your secondary keywords will look like this:
Keyword stuffing is when you throw in as many keywords related to the recipe or post as possible. Whether it’s a poorly constructed sentence or a block of words, some people keyword stuff to try and trick Google so they’ll rank higher. Avoid it like the plague or fear the wrath of Google!
When it’s important to perform keyword research
Researching keywords at the right time will help in your overall performance and productivity. It will also help to reach your target market. Here are 2 important times to perform this important SEO research:
Before recipe development
We all want to create recipes we love, but that doesn’t mean every single recipe will perform well. Food bloggers should follow trends and holidays, and organize ideas in an editorial calendar. Use Google Trends to compare your new ideas to your top-performing posts to see if your target market is searching for your potential creation.
Perform a little research and find recipes that are beginning to tick upwards. You can always put a fun spin on the recipe, depending on your niche!
Before writing the blog post
I always perform meticulous keyword research when ghostwriting for my food blogger clients. Using high-performing secondary keywords throughout the post and covering topics that are informative to readers will create more traffic and help it be seen. Bloggers’ traffic will increase the more they are willing to help readers.
How to perform keyword research
This can be a 30 minute to 2-hour process, depending on the length of your post, the details and steps you want to include, or if your goal is to rank #1 on Google. When you’ve already decided on the subject of your post that has a high search volume and low competition, use a few tools and a spreadsheet to collect secondary keywords, competitor links, and content ideas.
Keyword research tools
I use a variety of free and paid tools when I’m researching keywords and topics to include in my clients’ posts. These are a few of my favorites:
Putting it all together
Once you have your benchmark and list of keywords, it’s finally time to write your blog post! List out some headlines to include in your post that will inform and educate the reader as much as possible. If you’re wondering how to format your food blog posts for optimal user experience, stay tuned! I have a post in the works to help you.
Has performing detailed research helped your food blog rank higher or increase its traffic? I would love to hear your thoughts or experiences in the comments below!