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Marina Lippincott
Understanding the keywords to use in your website content is just as important as ensuring that your webpage shows up in search results. Effective keyword research will let you know your target market and the medium they are using to search for your products and services. It provides search data that tells you what exactly people are searching for, the number of people searching for it, and the arrangement they want the search information in.
You must understand the goal and customers of your business before you can use search engine optimization to grow it. Most times, keyword research is overlooked, but it is important to note that your website ranking and what your audience wants is entirely different. For a successful campaign, you should focus on your audience and make use of keyword data to improve those insights.
In this article, we will discuss the strategic tools needed for keyword research and learn strategies which will help you build strong web content.
What Terms People Are Searching For?
You must research the terms your audiences use to search for a product or service you provide – this is an essential step in the process of keyword research. You might have keywords that you want to rank for your services, your website addresses, or your products – you can start your keyword research with these. All you have to do is input them into a keyword research tool to find like keywords as well as the average monthly search volume. The average monthly search volume helps you to determine the most popular keyword variation.
Since search volume will differ for different keywords, it is crucial to target high search volume keywords as well as low volume keywords. The latter are less competitive, and a combination of both can be beneficial to your website. Also, you should note that website pages rank for keywords, not the entire site, which is why you have to differentiate the pages of your website by improving each with different strategic keywords.
Finding the Keyword Search Volume
To get a high ranking with a given keyword or phrase has a high search volume, you have to put it more work typically. This happens when, for example, SERP features such as carousels and snippets clog the results page for keywords. Big brands take the top 10 result spot for high volume keywords, so it’ll be challenging to rank using the same keywords if you are just starting.
On the other hand, if you go for really low volume keywords, you might not draw any audience to your site. It is most beneficial to focus on highly specific low volume keywords – which are referred to as long-tail keywords.
Long-Tail Keywords
Dealing with high search volume keywords is excellent, but these popular terms make only a small percentage of all web searches. With these keywords, you are at the risk of drawing visitors with goals that don’t match the webpage content. The less popular terms should not be underestimates as long-tail keywords are known to have a better conversion. This is because searchers are deliberate and specific when searching. For example, someone searching for ‘bags’ probably just wants to browse different bags buy someone inputting ‘blue women’s handbag with the strap’ perhaps has the intention of buying it right away.
Using Search Volume to Plan
You can use the search volumes for relevant search terms to plan by observing your competitors and finding out how searches might vary by location or season. The first step to take after compiling keywords is to prioritize high-volume keywords that your competitors don’t rank for — you can also prioritize the ones they are ranked on. The former allows you to be a step ahead of your competitors while the latter will enable you to compete for keywords.
Seasonal trends are essential when setting up a content strategy as it helps you know the keywords that spike at certain periods. You can target a specific location by narrowing your keyword research to the location — this will make your web content more significant to your target audience.
What Is the Searcher’s Intent?
Google displays search results based on the intent of the searcher, and every search query has one. There are different search types, but we’ll discuss the major query intent categories.
- Informational queries: Here, the searcher needs information like the name of a movie or the length of a stadium.
- Directional Queries: Here the searcher wants to navigate to a page on the internet
- Transactional queries: Here, the searcher wants to do something on the internet like to buy an album.
- Commercial Queries: Here, the searcher wants to match products to find the best.
- Local Searches: Here, the searcher wants to find something local like the closest hospital or bakery.
To get a better read on the intent of the searcher, survey the SERP setting for the keyword you want to target. Looking at SERPs lets you know the content your audience wants.
How to Determine Keyword Value
Some tools will let you know the value a keyword will add to your website, and they are highlighted below.
- Google Keyword Planner: This is a standard tool used for keyword research. The downside of this tool is that it limits search volume data by combining keyword into huge search volume range lots.
- Google Trends: This tool helps in finding fluctuations of keywords that occur seasonally.
- Google Correlate: This tool is the reverse of Google Trends as it allows you to see queries with similar frequency pattern to your keyword.
- SpyFu Keyword Research Tool: This keyword research tool provides competitive keyword data.
- AnswerThePublic: This tool is free, it sources for common queries around a specific keyword. It can also be used combined with Keywords Everywhere, to use search volume to concentrate on ATP’s suggestions.
To Wrap It Up
Most people often skip the keyword research process and this usually affects their website growth. Understanding what your target audience is searching for and the volume at which they are searching for it is an excellent step to optimizing your website. A properly done keyword research will provide you with this information.
Tech-savvy and innovative, Marina is a full-stack developer with a passion for crafting seamless digital experiences. From intuitive front-end designs to rock-solid back-end solutions, she brings ideas to life with code. A problem-solver at heart, she thrives on challenges and is always exploring the latest tech trends to stay ahead of the curve. When she's not coding, you'll find her brainstorming the next big thing or mentoring others to unlock their tech potential.
