Finding top keywords that fit with you field or niche is one of the most important aspects of SEO (search engine optimization). Without knowing the actual keywords and phrases that your potential customers are looking for, how on earth are you going to optimize your website so it includes them? In this article, we are going to explore why keywords are important when it comes to SEO, and how to find for yourself the keywords that will be most beneficial to your business.
Why search for keywords?
You may be thinking, “Hey, it can’t be that hard to come up with keywords”, and spit out a list of five or six off the bat. After all, you know what your product or business is all about better than anyone. However, compiling a list of obvious keywords is not where you should stop. There are numerous long-tail keywords or phrases that you may not actually think about off the top of your head, because you’re not necessarily thinking about how a potential customer would phrase them. By compiling these keywords, you will now have an entire list of words and phrases to integrate into your content creation, and ultimately receive considerably more traffic.
How to search for keywords
Content Refined understands how important keyword research is when it comes to SEO optimization, which is why we offer it in our end-to-end Content Creation packages. We understand that you may not have it in your digital marketing budget to hire a team to search for keywords for you, which is why we’re going to give you some helpful tips on searching for them yourself.
1. Topic buckets
When it comes to your business, you need think about what general topics are both important and relevant, and come up with a list of them. Don’t just go for the obvious – really think about what your target audience might search for, and what you most want your business to be known for. So, take a company like Content Refined for example. What topics may someone search for whose goal would be to end up at a digital marketing agency? When you think about it that way, you could say that some of our topic buckets are:
- SEO optimization
- Blogging
- Digital marketing
- Social media marketing
- Keyword research
- Marketing analytics
- Inbound marketing
- White hat marketing
- Marketing management
Now, you want to think about relevant words and phrases that relate to each of these topic buckets. Maybe these relevant keywords and phrases have less search volume numbers per month, but they may be more likely to rank for in a search engine. Obviously, this will result in you coming up with many dozens of keywords, but we’re not going to use all of them. This is simply an exercise in exploring as many avenues as possible to come up with a list of the best possible keywords in the end.
2. Related search terms
Google is fantastic for providing everything you might need when it comes to keyword research, and there are a few methods you can try that require ridiculously little effort. One method is by simply typing in one of your keywords or phrases that you’ve come up with, and see what related terms come up. Easy, right? Suggested words or phrases not only pop up when you’re in the process of typing in your search term, but you will see a list of related search phrases if you just scroll to the bottom of your page. So, if you think about it, Google is directly spoon feeding some helpful keywords to you, that could help you in your SEO optimization. Thanks, Google!
3. Check Google Analytics
You may be using Google to keep track of your analytics already, or you might be using another website service or program that does the same (and if you’re not tracking analytics at all, we need to have a little talk). However, you can check right on Google Analytics which search terms your website is already being found for, and work directly off of that. While yes, this won’t automatically provide new keywords, it will provide a list of search terms that you should be optimizing on, as well as giving you helpful keywords to search for when it comes to related search terms.
4. See how your competitors are ranking
Yes, while it’s true that you don’t need to be doing everything your competitors are doing (kind of if they jumped off a bridge, would you do it too scenario), but it would clearly be helpful to find out what popular keywords your competitors are being found for, and how they are ranking. While this may seem sneaky, it’s a perfectly valid way of searching for keywords that will benefit your business, and there are even marketing tools that will allow you to do so with the click of a button. SEMrush is a fantastic tool that allows you to input either a keyword, domain, or URL, and see how it’s ranking, along with a long list of further statistics and benefits to your business.
Which keywords do you use?
Now that you have a potentially very long list of keywords related to your business, which ones should you actually use? Not to worry, there are free, online programs that can help with that too. Woohoo! Both Google AdWords Keyword Planner and Google Trends will be able to help you narrow down this list, and find which ones will generate the most traffic. Keyword Planner will show you how much traffic and volume that a keyword or phrase is generating, while Google Trends will tell you which keywords you should be investing in now, and if they are projected to grow in the future. What more do you need?
When it comes to digital marketing and the internet’s ability to direct anyone towards your website so it’s actually seen, keyword research is incredibly important. If you are not confident in doing this yourself or simply do not have the time, Content Refined can help. However, if you’re in a position where you are wanting and willing to do this research for yourself, we hope we have given you some great ideas on how to find the best possible keywords to help your business grow.
