According to David Abrams, content marketing expert and founding partner of Search Engine Strategies, as part of a content marketing strategy, “a keyword research tool can help determine the effectiveness of keywords and how to optimize them.”

“With that in mind,” he said, “it’s also important to ensure the goal of keyword research is meeting its end goal.”

Abrams said, “It’s no easy task, but it’s worth it. It provides a marketing objective, displays the importance of each keyword, and results in a list of potential strategies to support that content strategy.”

Abrams noted that keyword research is not in its own universe, so he recommended that many of his clients turn to a tool such as the Microsoft Research WonderWash keyword tool, which is free of charge and accepts keywords from common online searches.

His description of how keyword research differs from a “purer form of SEO”:

“SEO is defined by industry as ‘the science of relevance to search engines,’ and the keyword as ‘the presence of any external link to a website.’ However, keyword research is a far more mature science and uses a multi-step process that is best described as ‘conversion planning,’ explained Abrams.

“The process of keyword research also includes:

*Identifying the impact a search term has on the written content

*The relevance of the term in the search results

*How to place and optimize the term in the content

*The taxonomy of the keyword phrase that makes up the text

*How to make the content semantic by incorporating internal terms

“As a writer, your goal should be to tell the best story your market will care about – while accurately representing your company and the values you espouse. Your content must accurately describe your organization and what it stands for, while explaining how you successfully optimize your website for the majority of search queries.”

As a result, Abrams noted, “Keyword research helps marketers understand how the content they create can create the right awareness and connect with the intended audience.”

So, does this mean that “Keyword Research is a waste of time?” Abrams replied that he believes keyword research is “a key element of SEO and content marketing, and time is money.”

“When pursuing keyword research, you must make sure the end goal of the research is to achieve your marketing objectives,” he said. “Also, keyword research should start with exploring the end goal and not the topic or the keywords as keyword research is a science, not art.

“Ask yourself, if the goal is serving my customers, then how should I best serve them using the content I create? This exercise will help you come up with the best way to serve your customers, and that’s ultimately the goal of marketing – to provide your customers with the best possible experience.”