Part of SEO basics is keywords. In fact keyword research is at the ground zero of building an amazing and successful SEO strategy. The strength of your website and content will greatly depend on how well you leverage these small and mighty indicators. Here are five research tips to get you well on your way.
1. Brainstorm Keywords
Any of the Best Link Building Agencies will sit down with their clients and brainstorm a long list of words that are associated with the brand or business. For a food related business some of the potential keywords could include restaurant, food critic, cookbook, cuisine, fine dining and food near me. It’s important that the keywords you brainstorm are related to your business, so that the search engines will find your content to be relevant enough to rank high enough that potential customers will find you.
2. Use Google and YouTube Suggestions
One of the best things you can do when researching keywords is to start typing in Google and YouTube’s search bars. The goal is to allow them to predict what it is you’re looking for. You can take your cues from them. Those suggested search terms are the most frequently searched terms and therefore great keywords that will get your website or ads noticed. Another way to use Google as a keyword tool is to search a word or phrase, then scroll down to the bottom of the page to see related search suggestions. These are popular search queries that can be used in your SEO strategy.
3. Analyze Multiple Metrics
As you choose your keywords, it’s a good idea to use more than one metric as an indicator of a top notch keyword. Look beyond search volume and also assess metrics like click through rate and the keyword difficulty. Some keywords are difficult to rank, so new sites and those with low authority would do better to steer away from them. Organic click through rates will show how likely people are to click on a search result for the keyword.
4. Use Research Tools
There are lots of keyword research tools available. They’re designed to make your keyword research easy and effective. Google Keyword Planner is a very popular tool and it is very accurate to Google’s search engine. It’s good to use a research tool that searches multiple platforms so that you can make more effective selections.
5. Know What’s Trending
Keeping your keywords on trend can be very beneficial. Trending topics can be exploited to get you more clicks and traffic. Pop culture and breaking news are two big research helpers. Making use of Google Trends can help you see which way a trend is going.
Keep in mind that it’s important to use keywords, but you don’t want to be too heavy handed with any one search term. Overdoing it is a signal to search engines that the content isn’t the type of relevant and quality content they want to suggest to their users. A big part of SEO is user experience. So keep that in mind as you research the best keywords for your business.
