Keyword Research
Keyword research is a fundamental part in the SEO process. When performing keyword research you are trying to identify popular words or phrases that users are putting into the search engine. You are also figuring out the different variations of how people are searching.
Performing research on keywords helps give marketers and SEO's a better understanding on what keywords to use on their website. In this blog we will talk about five steps that you can do to start researching keywords on your own to better optimize your website for keywords.
Step 1: Write a List of Topic Relevant to your Business
First things first, come up with at least 5-10 topics that you think is important to your business. For example, if you are a blogger, your topics would mostly pertain to the topics of your blogs. Ask yourself, what type of topic do you think your target audience is searching for in order for your business to be found.
After you find some search words you can look them up on a program that can show you the monthly search volume of each of them. This allows you to see how important these topics are to your audience.
Step 2: Fill in those topic buckets with keywords.
Now we have to figure out what keywords can fall into the topics you picked. For instance, you’re a blog, and one of your topics is about, SEO. Brainstorm some keyword phrases that are related to this topic, which may include:
- What is SEO marketing
- Types of SEO
- SEO tools
- Search engine marketing
- SEO tutorial
- SEO marketing strategy
Once you have a final list, it’s time to figure out which keywords are most likely to rank well. It’s important to repeat this process because optimizing your website once isn’t going to get you the traffic that you want. If it makes it easier, you can ask your customers what terms they used to search for you online.
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If you cannot think of any more keywords, some people search for a topic or word and then look at the related search results. Also, after searching, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and it will show you suggestions that are related to what you input.
You can then research those suggested terms and look at their suggested terms. Keywords can always spark inspiration for other keywords and phrases.
Step 4: Use Short-tail and Long-Tail Keywords
The difference between short-tail and long-tail keywords is that short-tail is one to three words, and long-tail is four or more. Short-tail keywords are usually more generic (searched more) and generate more site traffic. It is important to have a balance between these two because even though you can generate a lot of traffic through short-tail keywords only, long-tail can give you extra traffic that you didn’t even know that you could get.
Long-tail words are more desirable because if someone is looking for that specific topic, they are probably going to be more interested in your content. The words “how to create a blog” would satisfy the searcher way better than the word “blogging” will. Long-tail words are specific, so it makes it easier to tell what people are actually searching for, which is called searchers intent.
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A lot of people say to follow your competitors lead, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. Therefore, just because a keyword may be important to your competitor, doesn’t mean that they apply to you or your content.
However, if your competitors are ranking better for the same search words, that means that you need to do some work to improve yours.
You can find the keywords you need for your site by researching it. Keyword research is an important factor in its success. It takes time and determination, but it will be worth it in the long run.
You cannot use keywords that aren’t relevant to your webpage’s content. Unique keywords should be used on your page so that the people clicking on your site know that they are getting what they searched for.
Provide correct title tags and body content so that people don’t think that your site is clickbait. Your content should be compelling because that is what people value.
Make sure to optimize your keywords every month, then every few months. Remember, your end goal is to create a list of keywords that help provide traffic but to also help make your progress bigger.
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