SEO: Keyword Research
Keywords are the foundation of SEO. If no one is searching for the topic of your content, you won’t get any traffic from Google to your website, no matter how hard you try. Read here to learn what keyword research is, what keywords are, and how to conduct keyword research.
What are keywords?
Keywords are the words and terms people use to find something on Google. The search term for finding an online marketing agency might be: [online marketing agency]. But it’s also possible that people search using the following term: [online marketing agency Amsterdam], because they’re looking for a partner in the local area.
It is therefore important to understand what your target audience is searching for and how your services align with that. When it comes to SEO, it’s all about the words and terms that determine what your content is about. To reach your target audience, it’s important to select the right keywords. There is a fine line between the keywords that reach your target audience and the keywords that lead the wrong audience to your website.
Suppose you have an online store where you sell soccer cleats for kids. In this case, you won’t reach the right target audience with the keyword [soccer cleats], since you don’t want people searching for [men’s soccer cleats] to end up on your website. That is why well-executed keyword research is so crucial; to reach the right target audience.
What is keyword research?
Keyword research is the first step toward an effective SEA and SEO strategy, as well as the proper structure of your website. During this process, you try to understand and discover what customers type in when they are looking for your products. It’s mainly about analyzing, comparing, and prioritizing the best keywords for your website. The goal of keyword research is to find search terms you can use to optimize your website and generate more traffic.
How to Conduct Keyword Research
You start keyword research with a brainstorming session. Try to put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What would you type in if you wanted to view or buy your product? To begin with, you need a solid understanding of your industry and which tools to use to get the most out of them. Below, we’ll go through the steps of keyword research one by one.
1. Brainstorm the ‘seed’ keywords
“Seed” keywords are the foundation of your research process: they define your niche and will help you identify competitors. It’s probably not worth optimizing your pages for these keywords, but you do use them as “seeds” for the next steps of your research. An example is an online store that sells coffee machines. Examples of seed keywords would include coffee, cappuccino, and espresso. Once you have a few broad ideas related to your website, you can move on to the next step.
2. Map out your competitors’ keywords
Looking at the search terms your competitors use to drive traffic to their website is usually the best way to start keyword research. First, you begin by identifying your competitors.
The list of seed keywords comes in handy at this stage. Search for seed keywords in Google and see which companies appear on the first page. Once you’ve found a few websites that match your own, you can copy the links into various tools to find out which keywords they’re using.
3. Use tools
It’s good to look at your competitors, but there are many keywords your competitors aren’t targeting yet. You can find these keywords using tools like Google Keyword Planner or Neil Patel’s Uber Suggest. When you enter your seed keywords, you’ll also see related keywords.
4. Study your niche
Everything we’ve covered so far is enough to generate an almost unlimited number of keyword ideas. While this is good, you’re also limited to your seed keywords, which means you’ll undoubtedly miss out on important terms.
You can solve this problem by studying your niche. A good starting point is to check out forums and groups in your industry. This way, you’ll find problems and topics that your potential customers are struggling with, but that none of your competitors are addressing. You can then enter those terms into a tool to find the search volume.
5. Consolidate all your relevant keywords
Export the keywords from the tool and combine them into an Excel document. Then sort the columns containing relevant information: keyword, search volume, and difficulty level.
6. Select keywords for your page or text
From the extensive list of keywords, you can now choose the most relevant ones to write content about. Each page must contain at least one primary keyword and a few secondary keywords.
7. Get started writing content!
Now that you’ve gathered all the data, you can get started on your SEO content. Use the keyword research as a guide, but be careful not to use too many keywords. Google increasingly values over-optimized texts less and less, so this is not recommended.
The Importance of Keyword Research
The only way to determine which search terms will have the greatest impact on your search engine optimization is through keyword research. It is also essential when setting up a search engine marketing campaign. Without this research, it is difficult to track where you are making progress or why you are not making progress.
Applications of keyword research
Keyword research offers many benefits and can also be specifically used for:
SEO
The goal of SEO is to attract as much organic traffic as possible to your website or page. Content that incorporates keywords can lead to tremendous success. The key is to keep adding new content that targets both high- and low-competition keywords. If you’ve done your research well and chosen the best terms, traffic to your website can skyrocket in a short amount of time.
SEA
The added value of keyword research in SEA search engine advertising lies in the selection of search terms based on search intent and the customer journey. With the right selection in a Google Ads campaign, you can spend your budget on the keywords that deliver the best results.
Clients often ask us: “How much budget should I set aside for SEA?” If you conduct thorough keyword research, you’ll immediately gain insight into the potential costs at the campaign or ad group level; see example:
Website structure
Keyword research is an effective way to determine what the most important categories and subcategories of your website should be. Ideally, you should only place (sub)categories with high search volume prominently in your menu structure, followed by the most promising subcategories.
Would you like to have keyword research conducted, improve your SEO techniques, or create high-quality SEO copy? Then contact Digital Wizards to see what we can do for your SEO!
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