How to find the right keywords for your SEO

August 30, 2022
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Keyword research is important for two reasons. First, it helps the right people find your website. Second, it improves your website’s search engine ranking. If you do it right, you won’t have to spend money on pay-per-click advertisements.
Choosing poor keywords, on the other hand, will result in your website being lost. Worse yet, if they don’t correspond to the consumer’s goal, they can harm your ranking.
After reading this post, you will be able to utilize keyword research to generate traffic to your website or blog.

Why is keyword research so essential?

The keywords on your website provide Google and other search engines with information about what services or products your business offers. This increases the likelihood that your website will appear in search engine results when potential consumers are searching for goods or services provided by your business.
You can use the correct terms in your articles, blog postings, or product descriptions to help you rank in search engine results and drive visitors and new leads to your website for months or even years after they’ve been published. When you organically rank for a keyword that is relevant to your page, you will see increased traffic numbers that outperform paid searches or ads.

The intent behind a keyword

Although at its core, keyword research is finding the terms that best describe your content to help you rank for searches, there’s more to it than just matching words and phrases.
It’s essential to see things from your target customer’s perspective. The language you use to search for your products or services online might not be the same terms that shoppers type in.
The keywords you’re targeting might not be as useful as you think – people could be searching for something else entirely, or may not be ready to buy what you’re selling.
You should think about the buyer’s intent behind certain terms and whether your material satisfies it while doing keyword research
There are four primary forms of search intent:

  • Educational: searchers want to learn something about a topic or a product
  • Navigational: they’re searching for a certain brand or website.
  • Transactional: the customers are close to making their final decision and compare various products.
  • Commercial: they are ready to purchase.

When your website content corresponds to the consumer’s purpose, they stay on your site longer. This allows you to rank higher in search engines and develop connections with customers.

The user’s intent is captured through specific trigger phrases.

Each of the four primary types of user intent is associated with certain kinds of keyword searches. Choosing the proper trigger phrases to include will allow you to reach out to individuals who are searching for the sort of information you provide.

Educational

Those who are seeking information will want answers to such questions as “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “why,” and “how.” Other examples of informational searches are “signs of depression in men,” “best recipe for spaghetti bolognese,” or “history of London underground.”

Navigational

The name of the organization or request for key information about them is frequently included in navigational searches: “Barclays login” or “Corsica Studios opening hours”.

Transactional

Transactional search trigger terms include “reviews,” “compare,” “best,” and “vs.” These consumers are close to making a purchase and are looking at their alternatives to determine which product or service is the best fit for them.

Commercial

People who are ready to make a purchase use commercial searches. These include well-known brands, specific items like “iphone 13 pro max price london” or “ledger wallet keychain”; product types, such as “maternity bridal dress,” “frying pans with lids”; and terms like “buy,” “shipping”, “join”, “subscribe”.
If you are peddling a good or service, it is beneficial to use commercial search keywords. These should be included in the title, meta description, and throughout the body of your webpage. This will help your page appear as a top result for searches where people have buying intent.

How to discover the most popular keywords for your topic

Make a list of key concepts that are important to your company.

In the first stage, you should make a spreadsheet with broad categories for your keywords. These could represent product classes. If you already blog on a frequent basis, you may already be well-versed in several subjects.
Keep it brief and basic, with no more than 10 points on the list. Consider yourself to be a potential client looking for your company’s goods or services.

Brainstorm a list of phrases related to each topic that your customers might use.

For each of your general categories, brainstorm which terms or phrases your target customer is likely to use to find information, products, or services.
Look through your organic search traffic bucket to identify keywords that visitors use to get to your website if you already have data from website analytics software like Google Analytics or HubSpot’s Sources report.
This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of keywords, but rather a platform to generate new data points for your research.
Create a list under each major category and include it in your spreadsheet. If you’re looking for ideas, don’t be afraid to ask your co-workers or employees, especially those who interact with customers regularly. They might have some great insights and suggestions.

Search for related search phrases

Adding to your keyword list does not have to be boring. There are many creative ways to do it.

  • If you type a keyword phrase into the Google search engine and scroll to the bottom of the results page, you’ll see related terms in bold.
  • For a deeper analysis, click on one of the related searches and look at the list of options Google provides at the bottom.
  • AnswerThePublic is a website that gives you free access to three searches a day. With each search, you will receive a chart of related phrases people have looked up in regard to your topic.
  • You may also use Google’s Keyword Planner or one of the paid tools to investigate other comparable terms that people employ.

Check how strong your keywords are

This stage is simple: just use a keyword planning tool, such as Keyword Planner or a paid keyword research or SEO software. Some of the most well-known are Ahrefs, Semrush, Wordtracker, and Ubersuggest.
You can start using Wordtracker and Ubersuggest for free. When you’re analyzing your keywords, here’s what to look for:

  • What is the precise search term? Make sure your keyword phrase is accurate, as people typically use the same terms to find your business.
  • Is there a lot of interest in this topic? There’s no sense in trying to build an SEO plan around a term that hasn’t produced any results. Look for the most popular search terms.
  • The paid tools can help you understand how much competition there is for both paid ads and organic search. The key to success is finding a happy medium between search volume and organic competition.
  • Check for any terms you may have neglected that have a lot of search traffic and little organic competition.

Determine how you rank against your competitors.

If you’re competing against big-brand products that have already taken up the first page of Google for many of your keyword phrases, you’ll need to modify your approach to search for less competitive long-tail keywords.
Examine the search engine results page (SERP) for your most common keywords. If your list is heavy on big brand names that have more power and market share than yours does now, go back and add more long-tail keywords instead.
The only time you shouldn’t follow this strategy is if your competition isn’t publishing quality content. If your content is top-notch and you know it, then there’s a chance you could rank above someone else in searches–even if they have more money to spend on marketing.

Confirm that your keywords match search intent

When someone types a question into Google, they are looking for an answer. Your job is to provide that answer.
It is important to understand your customers’ desires by putting your keyword into the search engine. What do ranking pages for that term offer?
If a buyer is looking for information and you try to sell to them, you may receive a click, but they will bounce quickly, which will harm your ranking. If a shopper is eager to purchase, they will be content with a product page.
Make a note in your spreadsheet about each keyword phrase’s buyer intent, or establish a practice for you or your team to check keyword intention before producing content using that term.

Keyword research is the basis of your SEO approach

Although keywords are necessary for search engines and customers to find your content, they’re only one part of a winning SEO strategy.
Creating comprehensive blog posts and pages focusing on your desired keyword phrases will promote a higher ranking. With each post, surpass your competition. Give more value, a more thorough response, and make it more readable than your rivals.
Furthermore, be sure to focus on the organization and on-page SEO details of each article. By making your page easy to scan and mobile-friendly, you will optimise the reader experience.
Even though it may take some time, organic SEO is definitely a worthwhile process for your business. You might find that you rank quickly for certain terms or phrases, but in general, it will be a gradual increase in the SERPs. Perseverance and consistency are key when conducting keyword research – don’t give up, and the rewards will come!

Kamil

Kamil Krystman is an SEO expert with 13 years of experience. In 2013, he founded Alfamedio LTD, a company that specializes in search engine optimization and digital marketing services for small businesses.

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