Why Do Keyword Research?
Before we go into how to find keywords for your blog.
You need to understand why doing the research is so vital.
First of all, keyword research helps you learn which keywords are the best to target.
It also helps you understand:
- What topics people care about.
- What people are searching for.
- What topics are trending.
Not doing keyword research could mean you gain no rankings for any keyword. As a consequence, you don’t get any traffic.
What Matters With Keyword Research?
1. Relevance & Search Intent
Your content needs to fulfill the needs of the searcher. Essentially, is your content the best source available? Competitor research helps here. By looking at your competitors, you can analyze what they’re doing right, but also what they’re still missing.
2. Authority Difficulty
The more authority you have, the more Google will rank your website. You can improve your authority in different ways:
- Provide more helpful content to improve topical authority.
- Promote your content on social media to earn social signals.
- Work on building relevant and high-quality backlinks.
3. Search Volume
If nobody is searching for your specific keyword, you likely won’t get any traffic from it, even if you’re ranking in the #1 position. Keep these factors in mind:
- Relevance 👈
- Authority Difficulty 👈
- Search Volume 👈
Doing Keyword Research
When starting out, it’s good to focus on long-tail keywords.
What Are Long-Tail Keywords?
For example, instead of focusing on “running shoes,” long-tail keywords are more specific, like “best running shoes for flat feet.”
Why Focus on Long-Tail Keywords?
- Long-tail keywords often have less competition, making it easier for new sites to rank.
- They are more specific, so they tend to attract visitors who are closer to making a decision or purchase.
- They help attract a more targeted audience, leading to better engagement and lower bounce rates.
How to Find Keywords to Target
Here are three ways to find keywords to target:
- Use tools for finding keywords.
- Check competitors for keywords that you’re missing.
- Use search suggestions.
1. Use Tools for Finding New Keywords
Use these tools to find new keywords:
2. Check Competitors for Keywords You’re Missing
Identify topics your competitors have covered that you haven’t. Use tools like:
If you have no idea who your competitors are, first check your own domain. Then go to the competitor section to see what keywords your competitors are ranking for. This is where you can outperform them by providing more value.
Improving and Adding Content
1. Improving Pages That Are Already Ranking
- Open Google Search Console and look at pages that are already ranking in positions 5-20+.
- Check if your page has the main keyword in:
- H1
- One of the H2s
- Introduction of the page
- Meta description of the page
- Create a Key Takeaway section at the top summarizing crucial points.
- Place internal links from more relevant pages back to the page you want to optimize.
- Look at the content of the top 10 results in Google. This is the content that Google favors for that specific keyword. See what similarities there are across these pages and what you might be missing. Often, the top results answer the query in a better way or with more details.
- Bonus tip to increase your rankings: Build high-quality and relevant backlinks to the page you want to optimize.
2. Improving Pages That Are Not Ranking
- Make sure you are serving the right search intent.
- Informational Intent: They have a question or need to know something.
- Navigational Intent: They know the site they want to visit.
- Transactional Intent: They are looking to buy a product or service.
- Commercial Intent: They want to compare products, get a better understanding, or read reviews before deciding to buy.
To make sure you’re giving people what they want when they search:
- Look at the Search Terms: Understand the words they’re using. What do they want to know or do?
- Think About Their Goal: Are they trying to learn something, go to a specific site, buy something, or compare options?
- Give Them What They Need: Provide the right information or direct them to the right place. If they want to learn, give a clear answer. If they want to buy, show them products.
- Use Extra Clues: Pay attention to any extra hints, like their location if they’re searching for nearby services.
- Make it Easy and Fast: Ensure your content is easy to find, loads quickly, and answers their query well.
- Optimize your content with tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, or Hemingway Editor.
Use this ChatGPT prompt, for example:
For this content:
Trim unnecessary content. Make sure each sentence serves a clear purpose.
Content:
3. Using Tools to Improve Content
Use tools like:
Or these browser extensions:
By following these steps, you can effectively conduct keyword research and optimize your content for better search engine rankings and increased traffic.
That’s all for today!
Have a good one!
Matt
seoperate.com