Keyword research is the engine oil behind a successful SEO campaign. The search allows you to understand your audience’s intent and estimate their purchasing pattern by their search queries. But how can you conduct your keyword research?
In this post, we’ll explore the keyword fundamentals and a simplified guide on how to identify keywords for your SEO strategy.
Understanding Keyword Fundamentals
Keyword research is an essential strategy for a successful marketing strategy. It’s an important component of a brand’s content strategy and visibility. The two common factors to consider include:
- Types of keywords
- Key metrics to consider
Types of Keywords
The types of keywords you choose can shape your SEO campaign. Let’s explore the common keywords to consider.
- Seed Keywords: They’re generic and short phrases or words that resonate with your business. They have high competition and high search volumes. Think about your business’s core aspect, your products or services.
- Commercial Keywords: Customers use commercial keywords when they’re searching for brands, services, or products. The intent is usually to make a purchase.
- Navigational Keywords: These are search terms users use to research specific web pages or websites. The phrases include details about a page or the name of a brand or company.
- Long Tail Keywords: The multi-word phrases are usually more than three words. They usually have lower competitive levels and search volumes than seed keywords.
Key Metrics to Consider
Now that you have different types of keywords, what are key metrics to consider? Google originally developed keyword metrics to measure the value of a keyword. Metrics help you assess whether your keywords are worth pursuing.
Here are metrics to consider.
- Search Volumes: Search volumes have remained the most used metric for keyword research. According to a Backlinko study, ranking on SERPs can generate about 39% CTR. This means a keyword with a volume of 100,000 can easily generate 39,000 clicks per month.
- Google Trends: Google trends are dynamic, meaning they change often. Ensure you compare data from the keyword’s popularity and volume. The trend is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100. 100 is the ultimate popularity with a 0 score, meaning there’s not enough data for the phrase.
Step-by-Step Keyword Research Process
The Google search algorithm uses over 150 factors for ranking websites. You need to make your website stand out from the crowd by researching to find the best keyword. Finding high-quality keywords will shoot your website up on search engines.
Initial Brainstorming
The first step is brainstorming through broad topics that relate to your business. Create a spreadsheet with buckets of keywords you’d want to rank. Narrow your list to about 5 to 10 topics and imagine yourself as a consumer.
Identify phrases users might use in the search bar to locate products or services. For an eco-friendly website, you can list terms like:
- Essential oil diffuser
- Best water purifiers
Tools and Resources
Undoubtedly, there’s no shortage of resources and tools you can use for keyword research. The best tools will streamline your workflow, making the keyword research process easy.
Free research tools include:
Advanced Keyword Research Strategies
If you insert a few seed keyword phrases into your content, it might boost website traffic. However, it won’t earn you the golden ticket to rank #1 on Google and other search engines.
Thus, you need to tap into what your competitors still need to tap.
- Find Uncommon but relevant keywords: Find 5 partial competitors who fulfill the same pain points as your business. Your best bet is to focus on the top 20 URLs. Check the pages that bring organic traffic, analyze the content, and check how they have optimized their pages.
- Use Google Search Console: The performance report on Google Search Console provides a review of the ranking keywords on your website.
Evaluating and Prioritizing Keywords
From your keyword spreadsheet, evaluate and prioritize keywords that will rank. You should consider factors like relevance, monthly search volumes, and competitor analysis.
Common Keyword Research Mistakes to Avoid
- Ignoring search intent: Ignoring user search intent can lead to low conversion rates. For example, if your website is optimized for Relocation but doesn’t give details about moving costs, users might leave your site.
- Focusing only on volume: Although search volume is important, it shouldn’t be the only point to focus on. Consider relevance, too.
- Neglecting long-tail opportunities: You can also compose long-tail keywords to remain competitive in your niche.
- Overlooking local variations: You should include local modifiers like neighborhood and city.
- Not considering seasonal trends: Google trends are dynamic, and you should move with speed lest your website doesn’t rank.
- Ignoring competitor analysis: Competitor analysis helps you identify opportunities, plan your content, and improve SEO.
Implementing Your Keyword Strategy
Your keyword strategy will generate traffic by reaching relevant searchers. A successful tactic uses audience insights to target campaigns. It starts by understanding the user’s intent and identifying the best keywords and content format.
Conclusion
Once you’ve implemented these steps, you’ll have enough insights for a great SEO strategy. Whether you’re running a small business or a content-focused blog, conducting keyword research will kick-start your marketing and content activities. Although keyword research is time-consuming, it pays off in the long run.