Any SEO campaign, however large or small, relies on keywords as the framework that the rest of the campaign is built around. Building backlinks, technical SEO, on-page optimisation, content strategy and any other crucial element of SEO is completely without aim if it is not based around well-executed keyword research and strategy.
Put simply, you need to know what the people who you want to visit your site will be typing into Google.
Once you have your final list of target keywords, then it will shape how you create all of the content you create, and how you structure your website, so it is crucial that you get the keyword research part correct.
Creating A Keyword Target List
There are many ways to research keywords, and many tools to help. However, the first step is to put yourself in the shoes of the ideal visitor to your site and ask:
If I was looking for my site, what would I type into Google?
Once you have noted down a few phrases, just Google them! Google has helpful elements within their search page that can give you more ideas. Both the “People Also Ask” and “Related Searches” areas on Google are valuable resources to find more ideas for keywords, and there will always be things on there that you had not thought of.
Make sure you note down all of the keyword ideas you found in a document somewhere, as you can then keep track of all of the ideas.
Competitor Research
Once you have your initial list of keywords, you can then find out who your competitors are. You can Google your target keywords, and see what other sites are ranking for the terms, and you may already have some idea of competitor sites you want to emulate.
Once you have a list of competitor sites, you can use them to understand what exactly Google is looking for when deciding what to rank on for your target terms.
There are tools out there such as Ahrefs and SEMrush which can be very useful. They can be expensive however, although some may have trial periods. With these, you can analyse the keywords that your competitor sites rank for.
If you don’t have access to any of these tools, then you can still get keyword ideas from looking at the sites. Look especially at the page titles, the H tag titles on the pages, and any relevant key phrases within the text on important pages such as the homepage.
Once you have done your competitor analysis, you should have a big list of target keywords. So now is the time to analyse the search intent of these search terms.
What Is Search Intent?
Not all traffic is created equal. There is no point in having tens of thousands of people coming to your site via Google each month if these users are not looking for what you are selling. To resolve this, you need to assess the search intent of each keyword that you are looking to target.
Every time someone does a Google search, they are looking to achieve something, whether finding out information, solve a problem, or find a product that is right for their needs. The key to search intent is working out what Google user intended with a Google search, and then finding the keywords that match what your site offers.
For example, if you are creating a site that review products and want to get users to a particular review, so they can be then sent to an affiliate link to buy that product, you can do keyword research around that product to see what people are Googling.
During this process you may find that there are high search volumes on keywords such as
- [Insert Product Name] login
- [Insert Product Name] address
- [Insert Product Name] contact number
So, should you add these keywords into your strategy and optimise your site for the keywords? No!
This is because these keywords will almost all be from people who are already owners or customers of the product, and are simply trying to get information. Therefore the search intent is incorrect.
Rather, you should be looking for Google searchers who are not yet using the product, but are clearly interested in it, such as:
- [Insert Product Name] review
- Is [Insert Product Name] safe
- Is [Insert Product Name] good
- Best [Insert Product Type]
These keywords will drive far more profitable traffic to your site, as they are prospective customers.
Narrow Your Focus:
If your website is in a competitive space, then you can find that there are many very short, high volume, very broad keywords that could fit with your site. However, it is not usually the best strategy to target these.
Firstly, these keywords will be ultra-competitive, and generally the first page of Google will be filled with very large brands within your industry. These will often be very hard to compete with, especially in the short term. However, all is not lost, as there are thousands of lower volume, but less competitive, keywords out there that you will be able to rank for. These are often referred to as long tail keywords.
Long Tail Keywords
As discussed, short, specific keywords, such as “black shoes”, or “coffee shop” are incredibly broad, and ultra competitive. Not only will they be nearly impossible to rank for, but they also will be unlikely to correctly target the users that will be interested in your product or service.
Long tail keywords allow you to narrow down to enable you to find the visitors you want. For example, rather than ‘black shoes’, you may target “Italian mens back leather shoes”, which would get you a far more targeted potential customer.
Go through your keyword list and find the long tail keywords that you think will fit your needs best.
Your Final Keyword Target List
Once you have completed all of the above steps, you should have an actionable list of keywords that will allow you to build your entire subsequent SEO activities around. Over time, you will add to and change the list, as you find new opportunities and have new ideas, as there are always new search terms out there.
If it all sounds intimidating, at Hooley we can do this entire process for you, so get in touch!