If you've ever tried to find methods to improve your website's performance, increase traffic, or rank higher in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), you've probably heard of Keyword Research. But why do people keep harping on about it continuously? Keywords are used every time someone searches the web. Keyword research is the most important component of any digital marketing planning. It should be one of the first steps any business takes in its digital marketing implementation. Like flour in a baking recipe, your digital marketing strategy will fall flat without keyword research.
What are keywords?
Keywords are an essential part of any business's topic. A keyword is used every time people search for a phrase. It could be as basic as a 'tennis match' or the 'best cafes in town.' They are the signs used by browsers to identify possible valuable content to serve in search results. They do so by aligning the keywords in the search results with the search terms identified in your web pages.
Short Tail Keywords
Short tail keywords cover a wider range of topics than niche search terms. For example, 'running shoes,' 'best mountain vacations,' or 'dark chocolate online.'
Long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords are not as common as keywords because they are more specific. For example ‘SEO optimization' is a keyword but ‘How to do SEO optimization?’ is one of the long tail keywords examples. Long-tail keywords are more specific. They have fewer searches and higher conversions. So, they are easy to rank. But to qualify as a long-tail keyword, it doesn’t necessarily have to have a few searches, nor does it solely have to depend on the length of the keywords. Many keywords are five words long that get around thousands of searches per month.
Keyword Research
Keyword research allows you to know and understand what your target audience is looking for on search engines. Keyword research is the method of determining which keywords apply to your business. It also helps to check how you rank or could rank for these keyword phrases on Google search results.
There are multiple reasons why keyword research should be emphasized in a digital marketing strategy. Here are some of the most significant reasons:
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Understanding your keywords involves understanding your brand and business. What do you have to offer? What are your products? If you don't already know, specifying your business-specific keywords can help you figure out who you are.
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Keyword research can tell you important things like where you rank for keywords, which search terms are simpler to rank for, and which keywords your competitors rank for.
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Keyword research can reveal what customers are searching for rather than what you believe they are looking for.
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Search results can only rank your website if they understand what your company does. By targeting keywords on various pages of your website, Google will be able to rank you for those keywords.
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Choosing search terms to use in blogs and outreach can help bring traffic to your website.
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Search engines will recognize your website's scope and rank your business if you target specific keywords on different pages on your website. It also makes things simpler for the search engine to select the most important pages of your site to perform in the SERP. Hence, resulting in a better customer experience and a higher conversion rate.
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Keyword research can also help you compete more effectively. It uncovers which search terms your competing companies are ranking for and how you perform in their comparison. This can also bring to light chances to take a different approach and try new keywords that you may not have considered before.
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Keywords can help clarify to your viewers what your company offers. It also tells which target group you want to help, and how you differ from your industry rivals.
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Ranking for targeted keywords can assist people in determining what you can do to assist them, as well as your Unique Selling Points (USPs)
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Your content strategy must consist of engaging content for your concentrated target market. It must give them the information they're looking for at the correct time, in a way that is aligned with their place in the buyer's journey. As a content creator, you must create a set of useful articles and content bits using high-volume keywords.
Any digital marketing strategy should begin with keyword research, but it should be a continuous thing. You should check your search terms regularly to see how you rank in comparison to your industry rivals.
Create content and pages focused on the search terms you noticed during your keyword research. This, when combined with other SEO techniques, can help you rank and get people to find your website.
Now that you know the importance of keyword research in digital marketing, let’s learn how to choose the right keywords.
Examine Search Intent
Search intent informs what search terms to choose based on what your target audience is searching for. They are classified into three types:
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Navigational – the user wishes to access another website.
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Informative – researching a particular topic
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Commercial – a strong desire to buy the product or service
To select the best keywords for the maximum results, you must think like your customer.
'Buy low-cost toasters' queries are very different from 'toaster broken' queries. The first is a commercial keyword, and the second is informational.
Ideally, you should provide information in all three aspects to complete your call-to-action (CTA). Your keywords will direct traffic to specific web pages focused on those search terms.
In the case of information-based searches, you should offer some original content related to that keyword.
Blog articles are appropriate for this type of search because they can include many relevant keywords. You must, of course, link that article to your product pages or sign-up forms.
Advertising or transitional intentions are the simplest way to concentrate on, but they are often the most competitive. As a result, hiring a Seo firm to write your copy can help Search engines match your keywords when scurrying through your website.
Understand Different Types of Keywords
Before you begin researching search terms on keyword research tools, consider the three different types.
- Title Keywords
- Body keywords
- Long-Tail Keywords
Title keywords are one or two words long and produce a slew of search engine results. Consider the phrase "birthday messages," which Google matches with a total of 1.17 billion pages.
Body keywords are typically two to three words long. Google searches for 'best friend birthday cards' now yield 3 million results.
Long Tail keywords are usually four words or more in length. They generate targeted results, and the majority of people have managed to learn to use them when scouring the internet.
As you might expect, ranking well for title keywords is extremely difficult. However, focusing on the long-tail keywords is both simpler and more effective.
Keyword Research Tools
Knowing where to start your keyword research is one of the best tips for selecting the right keywords. Google's Keyword Planner and Rankwatch are keyword research tools for determining which key phrases work and which do not. Google's Keyword Planner is available through the Google Ads platform. However, do not create a PPC ad. Simply set up an account and use the planner to enter a keyword.
The first thing to look for is advertisements. In Google, these are labeled with the "Ad" or "Sponsored" tags. Google would always prioritize paid ads over other results, so it's worth evaluating the ad scene before committing to producing a large piece of content.
The second thing to look at is the websites that are naturally appearing on Google's first page for your specific word. Is the page controlled by companies with massive marketing finances? If that's the case, it's unlikely that your very first blog post will be the first result.
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Finally, take a look at the outcomes. Can the content be written or presented better? In other words, can you produce content that the ordinary searcher will find more useful than the information that is presently at the top of the search results? Weak content is more often brief, poorly structured, and devoid of crucial facts. You can be at the top of search results by exceeding the competition's ability to meet the requirements of the searcher.
The results indicate the number of people who googled for those keywords over time. It also displays relevant phrases and traffic volume for those phrases. You can incorporate the keywords that work well into your advertisement campaign. This list can help you collaborate related keywords for use in your SEO campaign.
Connect to the Landing Page
You must optimize your landing pages to link to your specific keywords or they will not function properly.
Because landing pages demonstrate relevant content, you must optimize them to correspond with your targeted keywords. Your keywords should be included in the page title, headers, and alt image tags. Everything about those headers should be related to the specific keywords for which you want to rank.
When selecting keywords, keep your homepage in mind – not only will Google rank your page higher, but an optimized homepage will serve as the preliminary step for a sale or good lead.
Finding Seed Keyword Suggestions
To begin, you must collect a set of 'seed' keywords that will serve as the basis for the following steps. These keywords do not have to be precise, but rather broad terms that you believe your consumers will be looking for. Your seed keywords will not essentially be the terms you target; they are simply a point where you can begin to work from. As the name implies, 'seed' terms are to grow from.
For example, if you sell books to elementary school kids, your seed keywords could be:
- Textbooks for school
- Textbooks for education
- Learning materials books
- Textbooks for study
If you are going to target more than one audience, conduct separate research because it is probable that each audience will be searching for your goods and services for separate purposes, using distinct search terms.
Evaluate the Competition
Another good way to find the appropriate keywords is to look at the websites of your competing companies. Rankwatch and other keyword research tools can help you analyze traffic on any website, including your competitors'. Use it to figure out where they stand in the SERPs. Then, use what you've learned from their rankings to help shape your strategy.
Assessing your competing companies' progress on specific keywords will allow you to identify possible gaps in the market to fill, or it may provide you with the opportunities to better understand what the industry is offering more appealingly.
If you haven't thought about who your competitors are, you can do a search using your seed keywords to find out what comes up. When you start optimizing your site with keyword-targeted information, you'll be able to see who you'll be contending against in search engine result pages. Remember that unless you research, you won't know who your primary competitors are. Keep in mind online competitors may differ from offline competitors.
You can also hire an SEO firm to conduct this keyword research for them. They not only receive those findings, but the SEO agency also does the necessary work for them.
Keywords and Related Media
It takes a special skill to incorporate keywords into your content with proper sentence formation and grammar. Nonetheless, it appears that many websites stuff keywords into their information and hope for the best results. Google actively seeks out spam-filled pages and either remove or ranks them exceptionally low.
Make a Buyer's Journey Strategy
Consider the classic path that a prospective buyer takes from learning about your good or service to making their first buy. Most people will not buy the stuff the first time they get to know about your website, especially if you sell high-priced items. Instead, they may go through several stages, such as awareness, consideration, and decision. This is referred to as the buyer's journey in marketing terms.
When a potential customer realizes they have a problem, they are said to be aware. Potential clients in the awareness stage may not even know what to call their difficulties; they are simply aware that it exists. For example, an office worker may experience back pain at work but may not have diagnosed the cause.
During the consideration stage, the prospective buyer begins to identify and research feasible solutions to their problem. To return to our troubled office worker, he or she may visit a doctor for back pain and find that it's a sitting posture problem.
The decision stage is the last step. This is the point at which a potential client chooses a solution from a long list of options. As marketers, we keep hoping that the consumer will choose our product over one of our competing companies' products! Our office worker may decide to purchase a gel as well as an ergonomic chair. They'll also have to decide which company's product to buy and where to buy from.
When creating content, keep your target reader and their stage in the customer lifecycle in mind. A manufacturer of ergonomic chairs may decide to write a blog post about sitting postures for potential buyers in the awareness stage. That blog post could conclude by inviting viewers to sign up for a newsletter. The blog can include promotional discounts directed at those in the decision-making process.
Final thoughts
Once you have a variety of important, specific search terms after you've verified who your viewers are, compiled seed keywords, evaluated your competitors, and enter them into your preferred keyword research tool. It's now time to sort through your findings. Keep the keywords that apply to your business and the key phrases that you want to specifically target in your content.
Copy the findings to an excel spreadsheet and start highlighting keywords you want to rank for, as well as headings for probable blog content that can be used to optimize your content marketing strategy. You'll notice negative keyword terms that you do not want to rank for; in this case, identify them and keep them away.
Learn about the importance of negative keywords and how to integrate them into your PPC marketing strategy to improve return on investment (Return On Ad Spend).
You're now ready to begin dedicating specific keywords to existing website pages. You can also improve the content on new pages where you believe you are lacking content. Developing your content around these search terms and dedicating pages to keyword-related content gives your information a strong key phrase. Thus, increasing the probability of its website ranking. Fresh, concentrated, and scheduled content can broaden your reach. It can also drive more traffic to the website, which is why keyword research is critical. Learn more about how to generate quality content ideas to rebalance your content. Recognize more opportunities to provide required information to your readership.