Keyword research can make or break SEO content. Choosing the wrong keywords, or ones that don’t relate to each other, can cause your website’s search engine rank to fall. Search engines are programmed to show their readers content which is relevant, and choosing keywords is a large part of ensuring that your content is shown to the right readers.
1. Know Your Niche
Knowing everything there is to know about your niche will help you to target the right keywords. Check out the blogs or webpages of competitors and find out which words they have chosen to target. This doesn’t mean you need to steal their ideas, but what it does mean is that you have a great starting point. The big players in terms of Google rank are the sites using the right keywords, so learning from the best in your niche is a good way to start your SEO plan.
2. Google Suggest Is Your Friend
Whether you want to type the start of a phrase and find the suggested ending, or to use an underscore in the middle of a phrase to get suggestions, typing keywords into Google is a simple but effective strategy. People searching for ‘custom photo calendars’ often include the phrases ‘wall’, ‘business’, and ‘desk’. If you have an online calendar store, Google Suggest has given you a great point to work from.
3. Use Common Sense
Despite the fact that people who are searching for ‘bulk hand sanitizer’ may also search for ‘kitchen equipment’, don’t use both the keywords unless you have content which is relevant to both. You want content which relates to the purpose of your site, and your search engine ranking will drop if readers can’t find what they’re looking for. Think about whether you would be happy with finding your website after searching for the keyword, and this will ensure that nothing illogical or plain irrelevant slips through.
4. Find the Long Tail Keywords
In terms of marketing for an online store or company landing page, long tail keywords are gold. Instead of focusing on a generalist keyword such as ‘fashion’ or ‘clothing’, get specific. Know the latest trends in your niche and optimize for them. If you know that Ralph Lauren has released a new line of perfume which is about to become popular, get content focused around the ‘buy Ralph Lauren [x] perfume’ instead of ‘buy perfume’. Being specific with these keywords allows you to ensure your content is relevant and valuable to readers.
5. Choose Achievable Keywords
Let’s say you’re an online fashion store. Your company is not as established as the big players, so you’re going to have a tough time ranking for keywords such as ‘clothing’, ‘fashion’, or ‘online store’. These keywords have a high difficulty level and it would take years of SEO content to get anywhere close to the top 10. By focusing on ‘celebrity fashion store’ instead of a general keyword, you can improve your rank. Just like choosing long tail keywords, choosing a specific market to focus on will make it easier to rank for keywords.
To Sum Up…
By setting realistic goals for your keyword based content plan, the SEO strategy of your online blog or store will improve. Keywords are an essential focus for all websites, and following the above advice can expand the reach of your site and draw in viewers. Search engines can only show readers what they search for, so ensuring that the words on your page match searches is all-powerful in terms of SEO.
