The Foundation of Successful SEO Strategy:
Keyword research is still the backbone of SEO strategy in an evolving digital marketing environment. Regardless of whether you are creating a new site; revising existing site content; or making decisions about what type of content to include in your content calendar, identifying the best possible keywords for your site will have a major impact on how well your site ranks on page one vs. how far down into search results your site is listed.
What is Keyword Research?
Keyword research refers to the act of finding out which exact words people use in searches on the Internet for information, products or services. Keyword research has become much more than a guess at what your potential customers may be searching for. Keyword research takes into account the search volume (how many times something is searched), competitive level (how many other sites are competing for the same thing) and the user's intentions, along with how relevant the keyword is to your company’s goals.
In essence, keyword research is essentially the plan for your content development strategy. Architects don’t build buildings without an initial design plan, so why would you create content for your users without knowing exactly what they’re currently searching for?
Why Keyword Research Matters?
Keyword research is a very important part of the search engine optimization (SEO) process; because search engines such as Google, process billions of searches daily, each search being an individual searching for something specific; therefore, when you identify and properly target the correct keywords; you are putting your content into the path of potential customers/clients/readers that are currently looking for your content.
Keyword research is effective when it informs how to meet the needs of consumers by identifying where there are potential content gaps and opportunities for creating content based on real consumer interest, as opposed to creating content simply because you believe that is what the consumer wants to find. The alignment of consumer intent with your own content is directly related to driving both organic traffic and conversion.
Understanding Search Intent
It is necessary to have knowledge of the purpose (search intent) for a search query before using search engine tools and techniques. The purpose of a search query will most likely fall into one of four categories: informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional.
Searches with informational intent occur when a user is searching for information or seeking to find answers to their questions. Users who are searching with informational intent may use search queries that start with words like "how to", "what is", or "guide to".
Navigational intent occurs when a user is searching for a particular website or page.
Users who are searching with commercial intent are doing research on products or services they wish to buy; therefore, users who are searching with commercial intent have made the first step in their purchasing decision.
Users who are searching with transactional intent have reached the final stage of their purchasing process; therefore, users who are searching with transactional intent are ready to complete their desired action (e.g., make a purchase or sign-up for a service).
Knowing the intent behind your keywords will help you develop content that will satisfy the needs of your users and improve your ability to rank and convert your visitors.
Essential Keyword Research Tools
Manual research is valuable but using specialized tools to do research dramatically speeds up the research process and identifies opportunities that may have gone unnoticed using only a manual research approach. Google Keyword Planner remains one of the most commonly used, free resources, with access to Google's search volume data as well as keyword suggestions, and while it is mostly marketed toward advertisers, it has many uses for organic SEO research.
The Keyword Research Process
Systematically performing keyword research is effective. Start by creating seed keywords for your business, products or articles based on what you do. Seed keywords should be large enough to encompass your entire business, yet small enough to still be relevant to the types of things you offer. As an example, if you own a local Italian restaurant, some possible seed keywords would be “Italian restaurants”, “pizza delivery” and “catering services.”
Next, use the same research tools to identify other words, phrases, long-tail versions of your seed keywords, as well as common questions asked when searching for these items. A long-tail version of a keyword is a longer version of a phrase. The benefits of using long-tail versions of keywords include lower competition from other websites, as well as higher conversion rates since users who are looking at long-tail versions of keywords generally have a clear idea of what they want. Using a long-tail version of a keyword such as “Gluten-Free Pizza Delivery In Downtown Detroit,” rather than simply “Pizza Delivery,” provides you with an opportunity to attract users with a very clear idea of what they want, and therefore increases the likelihood of attracting users who will convert (e.g., make a purchase).
Lastly, compare your research data to determine the effectiveness of each of your keywords by reviewing their Search Volume, Keyword Difficulty and Cost-Per-Click data. While high Search Volumes typically indicate that there are many users interested in a particular topic, high Search Volumes also typically result in a high level of competition for those topics. The difficulty score for a particular keyword is a good indicator of how difficult it will be to achieve a Top Position for that keyword. In some cases, you will see that targeting multiple low Search Volume Keywords that are less competitive will generate more traffic than trying to obtain a Top Position for a single high Search Volume Keyword.
Finally, evaluate the current results page for your target keywords to determine the type of content that is currently ranking for those keywords. If you are targeting an informational keyword, but all of the results are product pages, you may need to consider either changing your strategy to target a different set of keywords that fit your content type, or you may need to develop a content strategy that targets the keywords that produce the desired type of results.
Organizing Your Keyword Strategy
You have now identified your possible keywords and grouped them according to their subject matter and purpose. Grouping the keywords will help you develop an effective content strategy and prevent you from developing competing web pages which would create the opportunity of "keyword cannibalization".
Organize your keywords in a way that you assign primary keywords and secondary keywords to appropriate web pages. For example, your home page is likely to be optimized for your most important brand and category keywords; however, each of your service or product pages may contain different, more descriptive terms (i.e., secondary keywords). Blog articles are often used to optimize long-tail keywords and information search type inquiries that serve your primary pages and draw users who are at the beginning of their buying cycle.
Common Keyword Research Mistakes to Avoid
Newer agencies are prone to the tendency of only pursuing high volume keywords without taking into account their competition level and/or relevance. Using "insurance" as an example when you run a smaller, local agency will be difficult to compete with large corporations that have big SEO budgets. It would be better to focus on keywords where you realistically can rank, such as "Pontiac MI car insurance quotes."
A second common mistake is to ignore user intent. Just because a keyword has high search volume does not mean it is right for your company. For example, if you sell products, but use only information-based keywords (i.e., you provide advice and guidance), you will get visitors that are looking for free advice and may not be ready to buy. On the other hand, by not using long tail keywords, you miss out on highly qualified traffic of people that know exactly what they want.
Finally, another problem is failing to continuously conduct updates to your keyword research. Search trends evolve; there are always new competitors entering the marketplace; and your business evolves. At least do your keyword research quarterly at minimum to keep up to date with current market conditions and identify new opportunities.
Measuring Keyword Performance
Tracking the performance of the keywords you have identified in your keyword strategy is a critical step. The Google Search Console will help you track which keywords are creating impressions and/or clicks on your website. In addition to providing information about your average position for each query, it can also assist in identifying keywords that you may be currently ranking on Page Two or Three. Keywords that you are currently ranking in positions 2-3 could be good candidates to consider as part of an optimization effort.
In addition to helping you understand what keywords are driving traffic to your website (using the Google Search Console), the Google Analytics can provide you with information about visitor behavior after those visitors arrive at your website. For example, do visitors who click on your website through a specific keyword immediately leave (bounce) or are they interacting with your content? Additionally, are visitors who come to your website through a specific keyword converting to lead(s) or customer(s)? Understanding this behavioral data will allow you to refine your keyword targeting over time by directing more of your marketing resources toward keywords that attract qualified traffic.
Conclusion
Keyword research is both science and art which provides a solid base for SEO success. Keyword research gives you insight into what your target audience searches for; it helps you analyze the competition; and by choosing strategic keywords based on your business objectives, you produce relevant content to attract the right users to the site at the right time. The investment made in researching all keywords thoroughly generates results of higher organic rankings, higher qualified traffic and improved conversion rate. Keyword research is a continuous process, and not a single shot. With each new piece of data collected and refinement of your strategy, the success of your SEO continues to grow and establish your website as a significant source of information within your industry.