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The simplest strategy for gaining visibility on Google is to cover keywords with content that matches the search intent systematically. To do this properly, thorough keyword research is essential. This article provides all the very basics of keyword research.
As the online world is continuously filled with an increasing number of websites, it is important to get some tricks and tips that would further advance your search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy and get your website ranking high on various search engine result pages (SERP’s); hence the need for keyword research. This article best explains the basics of keyword research and how to use it to get maximum traffic to your website.
WHAT DOES KEYWORD RESEARCH ENTAIL?
Keyword Research is all about maximising traffic. It is a technique that involves getting the right keywords and phrases that online users input on search engines in order to get what they’re looking for, and ultimately, land on your site. Keyword Research entails a lot of processes but the results are always outstanding. Furthermore, thorough research will help with brand strategy as well as generate traffic because the more visibility your site gets by using the right keywords used, the more clicks that will provide an avenue for your website to be ranked high in the search engines.
The Importance Of Keyword Research
The need to make adequate research on the best keywords to use is far more profitable than allowing your site to operate on sheer luck. Keyword research is important because it ensures that whatever you are delivering — either content, product or services — gets to the right eyes and is easily accessible. That’s why conducting keywords research mainly revolves around connecting you to your niche and audience.
However, gone are the days when keyword research was centered solely on getting just the perfect keywords that will result in high volume clicks — just as important is your content. What do you have to offer? Will searchers find what they’re looking for on your site? Will they leave feeling satisfied or will they move along to make further searches? These questions will solidify if your keyword research will be rewarding, or not of help to anyone.
Hence, it’s easy to say that the importance of keyword research constantly revolves around what you can offer to bring resolutions to whatever searchers are looking for.
Once you have been able to get into the right frame of mind to particularly suit your potential audience, only then can the keywords be of benefit to both you and those in need of your content.
5 KEYWORD RESEARCH TIPS
1. Identify & Build Your Framework
You have to be able to identify what you want others to search you out for. The first tip you need to consider when making fruitful keyword research is identifying what you want people to come to your site for — what exactly do you want to deliver to your audience from your website? Once you have resolved all these questions in your head, the next thing to do is to make a list of topics that would relate to your website, and select the one you intend to deliver at the moment. After selecting a topic, you can now proceed to the next stage of keyword research.
2. Use Keywords Suggested on Google
The use of suggested keywords on Google is one fundamental way to make quality keyword research. Although many doubt its viability, it works wonders. For example, if you have a website centered on health care, and you have created a list of possible topics your website content will focus on, and you further decide to deliver a topic on daily health care tips, one way to find out the best keywords that will thrive well in a search engine, is to type those keywords into the search engine itself. A search engine like Google, while inputting your keywords, will display a number of other search options. It is, without a doubt, that those phrases that appear as you are typing are indeed being searched for and hence, are thriving well. This should serve as a guiding tool for the right keywords you will eventually use.
Additionally, listed at the bottom of the search results page are a ton of other related keywords — this will also guide you in what will perform best.
There are other options for making keyword research without using tools such as YouTube and Wikipedia suggestions. With these, you can test the waters by inputting your idea on a selected topic and seeing how the keywords and related topics are thriving. Another marvelous idea is with the help of platforms such as Buzzsumo, AnswerThePublic, as well as online forums. You can such platforms as a guide to find out the most commonly asked questions on topics relating to your site, to know what people are in need of or searching for.
3. Use Keyword Research Tools
As much as keyword research without tools is fun and interesting, keyword tools make the work much easier with the added advantages of amazing features. Keyword Research Tools such as SEMRush give suitable keyword options that are thriving, how competitive they are, the number of search rate per month on given keywords, and a lot of other features that will enable you to select the right choice of keywords. However, note that keyword tools will not blatantly select the suitable keyword phrase for you to use, so know that when using such tools you have to put a lot of factors into consideration (which will be further discussed in the conclusion section) that will help you determine the best keywords suitable for you. These factors will also affect your decision on which tools you would prefer to use, in order to get maximum satisfaction.
4. Blend Your Keyword Phrases Always Have To
The word blend here doesn’t solely rely on the grammatical arrangement of your words, but as relating to keyword research, relies on the competitive range those keywords will offer. For a broader explanation, in keyword research, keyword phrases can be classified into three major parts — head terms, body phrases, and long-tail phrases. A head term is usually just one word, which summarises a search topic. They are always highly competitive as they offer a general overview of a search topic. Body terms have more than one word and give a more distinct overview of what the topic is talking about. Lastly, a long-tail phrase is the most precise keyword phrase with three or more keywords involved.
Take, for example, a search topic on fruits. A keyword search with just the word apple is a head term keyword, while the phrase red apples is a body phrase, and then making red apple juice is a long-tail keyword phrase. It is important for your selection of keywords to have a blend of each of them so as to attract the most suitable niche of audience to your site. Head term phrases are usually more competitive as compared to long-tail phrases, but on the other hand, when keywords phrases get too generic, it may most likely result in dissatisfied audiences. That being said, it is best to make your topic suit what exactly your content is offering, narrowing down to what you intend to deliver.
5. Understand Keyword Competition
For new websites, it is very important to know that the keyword you’re aiming at does not necessarily need high competition rates. Why is this so? — Because a whole lot of other bigger sites will also be gunning for those keywords and you don’t want your site to get lost in the 5th page or more of the search engine. You have to pick keywords with lower competition rates so the possibility of getting ranked number one is not entirely out of reach.
Another factor to consider when thinking about keyword competition is the authority that the sites on the first page possess. Peradventure you want to go forward with a certain keyword, typing that keyword into the search engine will reveal whether or not there are major authority sites on the first page having content on the keyword, or whether there are snippets given by the search engine that already provide the answer to what searchers would be looking for. This will determine if searchers will still go ahead to click on your site despite it making the top pages, or not. This serves as a guide on whether it is wise to go ahead with certain keywords.
CONCLUSION
There are a lot of factors involved in picking the right keywords to develop traffic and to determine the type of keyword research tools you would prefer to use. As seen from the tips given, and more that would be briefly explained, all go hand in hand in selecting suitable keywords for your site.
From keyword competition, we have been able to observe that even the highest competing keywords may not necessarily be favourable in most cases, and in other cases, could surprisingly be very positive. Also, the search volume of the keywords, as positive as they may appear, can also vary in the traffic it would bring. You have to consider if the specific keyword trend is growing or slowly fading away. This will determine whether to embark on a keyword journey or to leave it and move to the next option. Many keyword research tools offer the benefits of giving intel on dying or fast pacing keywords.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the keywords you decide to use in order to drive traffic to your site don’t always have to correlate precisely with what your site is offering as a whole. You can decide to create similar interests that people of your niche of audience may want to know about, which would also relate to what your site has to offer, and will later lead them to your original theme.
There are many tricks and tips out there but for the basics, these tips are guaranteed to give you all the keyword research rewards for your efforts as a beginner in keyword research. We hope you found this article of tremendous help, and we can’t wait to see you generating the amount of traffic you desire to your website.
