How do you know which keywords to target? What tools should you use? How do you determine what your top targets should be? What’s the best way to utilize these strategies? And so much more! In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about keyword research, from the basics to the strategies used by the pros and how you can apply it all. Let’s dive in!
Introduction
The goal of keyword research is to find and analyze search terms that people enter into search engines to use that data for a specific purpose, often for search engine optimization (SEO) or general marketing. While it can be frustrating at times, there are strategies you can use in your keyword research that will help you make better decisions about what keywords you should include in your content. With smart keyword research strategies, keyword research can be more manageable, lead to new opportunities, and help save time.
Here are some tips for making it work better for you.
Pro Tip #1: Study top-ranking pages:
If you’re trying to learn about certain keywords and not just for keyword planning purposes, try analyzing top-ranking pages so that you have accurate and thorough information. How does one do that? Through Moz’s keyword tool! For example, type in Google chocolate chip cookies recipe and click on any result from Yahoo!, from Bing, from AOL – those will give you tons of juicy information on how they optimized their page title or meta description to achieve such high rankings. Just look at how many Google searches were done globally over 2015-2017! It's worth checking out! This keyword gets 26K searches per month. By looking at these examples of successful pages, you might pick up tips and tricks for optimizing your keywords for great success.
Smart Keyword Research Strategies Pro tip #2:
Use Analytics tools More specifically, KW tools like GA provide tons of info on every single query entered into search engines by users. Use these tools to discover popular queries around which most traffic revolves around as well as keywords that are entered only once or twice but generate lots of traffic already so far in 2017. Focus mostly on current trending topics because that's where huge traffic potential lies; meaning the major opportunity for success if developed properly through customized keyword research analysis.
Keyword Research Types
There are 3 basic types of keyword research you need to do as a marketer. Below I will walk you through each type and share with you what they’re used for, how to get started, and most importantly, how we use them here at Backlinko. You’ll also notice there is overlap between these 3 types of keyword research – that’s OK. It’s expected. However, you must keep your goals in mind so that your keyword research stays on track! What does all of that mean? Let me explain...
1) Expanded Broad Match Type keyword research:
This one should come as no surprise because it’s exactly what it sounds like... expanded broad match type keyword research. The purpose of keyword expansion or finding synonyms or related keywords is to find more opportunities where you can show up higher in search results... especially if those terms are being searched for regularly by large numbers of people (known as search volume). It can be tricky figuring out which keywords to expand when doing keyword research but thankfully tools like Grepwords make that process much easier.
2) Exact Phrase Match Type keyword research:
Finding keywords with an exact phrase match is necessary when optimizing your site content around specific keyphrases/keywords.
For example, if you’re building a website focused on helping customers find white hat SEO companies, it wouldn’t hurt to include exact phrases such as white hat SEO company or white hat SEO agency. If someone searches for those terms, not only would you want to rank for them but hopefully offer value such as useful resources or links back to an informational page about just that topic. As you can imagine from my example above, exact phrase matching keyword research is invaluable when writing articles based on specific keywords/keyphrases. That brings us to our third type of keyword research...
3) Single Word Match Type keyword research:
Ah, single word match keyword research... my favorite. Why? Because sometimes you don’t need long-tail keywords or even short tail keywords (descriptive adjectives followed by a noun). Sometimes you simply need top-level keywords – aka single words that describe topics you want to rank for. So why wait any longer? Let's jump into some different smart keyword research strategies using simple tools such as Ubersuggest and Google AdWords Keyword Planner Tool!
How to do keyword research
First, do smart keyword research. Start by looking at data from Google Keyword Planner and doing some quick research with tools like SEMrush, Ubersuggest, and Google Trends for multiple combinations of keywords you want to rank for. Then find low-competition terms that are relatively easier to rank for in search engines.
For example, if you’re selling running shoes online, instead of targeting keywords such as running shoes or best running shoes consider searching for running sneakers under $100 or buying running shoes on sale. These are examples of low-competition, highly specific keywords that have higher click-through rates (CTR) than high-competition general keywords.
Another great source of keyword ideas is YouTube auto-complete results: Just type keywords into YouTube’s search bar hit enter and then take a look at your suggestions. You can use these ideas to get an understanding of people's interests so you can cater content around their needs. Once you've identified your target keywords, start building out content around them.
And don't forget: Regular updates will help your page stay fresh in Google's index.
Also, remember that there is no right way to do keyword research – just make sure it's being done! The better job you do finding good target keywords and creating useful content around those words, the more likely they'll be found when someone searches for them. Looking forward to seeing what new posts come out of Moz readers using keyword research analysis!
10 Best practices
1. The value of long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords are phrases, not single words.
2. Avoid using general keywords: Using general keywords for your business can get you banned from search engines or even worse, make it easy for competitors to outrank you with much better information on a specific subject matter.
3. Think like a customer: It's tempting to try and rank in searches with your company name but unless you're a huge brand like Coca-Cola, that's unlikely to work unless there is no other information available on your specific area of expertise (which is rare).
4. Be consistent across your website and everywhere else: If you don't have lots of content already online about a particular topic, start writing!
5. Don't assume all keywords will bring traffic: You'll need to do keyword research before deciding if anyone keyword will bring enough traffic for what you want to accomplish.
6. Use spreadsheet software to track keywords:
7. Search engine optimization isn't everything: What good is driving tons of new people to your site if they bounce off immediately because your site sucks?
8. Track social media followers/friendships: Not everyone who follows you online will turn into customers, but having more eyes on your product and website means more leads which means more sales.
9. Guest blogging works: If you're trying to build authority over time for very targeted keywords so those visitors are likely to be interested in what you have to say, guest blogging has been proven over time as an effective strategy.
10. Make them type more than two words: How many times have you searched for something and seen only two-word results when there were answers contained in longer results? Travel might mean visiting France vs taking a trip via bus/plane. Even though both are valid usage of travel, Google typically likes to show only things with more keywords involved.
Conclusion
There are a few smart keyword research strategies you can employ that will help ensure your success. No matter which strategy you decide to use, remember that keywords aren’t everything and only a part of a successful SEO strategy—but they’re certainly important. So, if you can prioritize those keywords you have researched into a long-term SEO strategy and find ways to get them onto your site, in front of users on social media and other sites, and in conversations with potential customers then you’ll be well on your way. A strong keyword strategy is an excellent place to start when it comes to search engine optimization—and that puts it high on my list of SEO tips for beginners!
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Reference:
www.digifour.blogspot.com