Keyword research is dead. This is one thing you would hear over and over from many online marketers. But is there any truth in this statement? Instead of taking their word blindly, it’s best to understand what keywords are all about. The core function of Google is to provide the most relevant results depending on the keywords entered by users. As long as Google relies on search queries, there is no reason to stop optimising for the right keywords for SEO. But keyword research has come a long way over the years, this website will help you choose the right keyword for your company. And if you want to do it right by yourself, then be sure to use the following tips.
1) Identify Your Audience
One of the most overlooked aspects of keyword research is knowing your audience. Before you can target what keywords to use in your content, it’s crucial that you have a thorough understanding of your target audience. This is where market research proves immensely useful. The idea is to get into the minds of your respective visitors. Understanding what kinds of topics they consider important can help you narrow down on the exact keywords that have the best chances of drawing them to your site.
2) Focus on Longtail Keyword Phrases
You would often hear SEO experts rave of about longtail keywords — and for a good reason. In general, these longtail keywords are easier to rank for compared to shorter keywords that could be too vague. For example, the keyword “dogs” could be difficult to decipher, as you couldn’t tell the exact information the user is looking for. Compare this to “dog training” and you can instantly tell what information the user needs. Being more specific about the keywords you target allows you to create the appropriate content while giving you a better shot at ranking since longtail phrases often have lower competition.
3) Use Keyword Variations
If you have used keyword research tools in the past, then you know that most of them provide a list of keyword variations. These variations can be helpful when you are writing your content. Instead of repeating your target keyword again and again, you can apply keyword variations to make your content more compelling to read. This is one of the easiest ways to avoid keyword stuffing.
4) Look for Areas of Opportunity
It’s always beneficial to look for opportunities to target new keywords and create new content. If you’re on a budget, you can rely on the Google AdWords keyword tool. While this tool is specifically designed for pay per click campaigns, you can leverage its power for organic search as well. This keyword research tool gives you information regarding search volume and competition for the keywords you want to target. Remember that the competition label in this particular tool only relates to paid search campaigns. However, you can still use it to have an idea about the popularity of certain keywords.
5) Allow Keywords to Generate Content
Are you the kind of online marketer who creates content and then goes back to include your target keywords? While this could work, you might be better off doing the opposite. Try creating a list of your target keywords along with their keyword variations before you start creating your content. Through this, you can identify more opportunities for fresh content ideas. You might even be able to save a whole lot of time since you know that your target keywords are incorporated in your content as you write.
6) Expand on Existing Content
As you craft more blog posts, you may come across more content ideas through the keywords you include. Again, this goes back to putting yourself in the shoes of your target audience. If you know that a certain topic will prove useful to them, then take the time to do some keyword research and figure out an effective approach to write a new post. What’s more, this opens opportunities for internal linking as you can point your old pages to your new blog posts for instant traffic and engagement.
7) Use Traffic Analytics
Analysing traffic can also be a useful method for finding the best SEO keywords. By looking at your traffic reports, you can identify the kind of keywords that generate the most traffic for your website. From there, you can try to find similar keywords and create more high-quality content to give you more opportunities to generate targeted visitors. At the same time, you can look at your lowest traffic keywords and find ways to optimise your content so that they wouldn’t go to waste.
By following these 7 keyword research tips, you should be able to find the right keywords for SEO and start crafting more valuable content. Over time, you’ll find that keyword research is for from dead, and that it still plays a crucial role in your overall SEO strategy.
Unnati Vaidya
Unnati Vaidya is a freelancer Content Writer and SEO generalist. She is an enthusiastic reader of Novels and a big fan of watching Sci-fi movies and seasons!