Google algorithm updates is something that marketering professional are always keeping an eye on because they change every so often. Out of all of the search engine optimization elements that are known today, keyword research is the only thing that remains pretty consistent.
What is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is a process in which you use keywords to find actual terms that people enter into search engines. The knowledge on these keywords can help content strategist and marketing strategist develop ways on how to improve their website search engine visibility.
Below are tips that can help you narrow down your target list of terms, and develop a strategy that will help you get found on revelent keywords. Read on to learn tips on how to do keyword research.
- Write down all topics you know are relevant to your business
First, think about all the topics that you might want to rank for in terms of generic buckets. You need to come up with 5 to 10 important topics and then use those topics to come up with specific keywords later on.
For regular bloggers, these are topics that are frequently written that will make your audience want to read your blog. Other good choices are those that come up more often in sales conversations. Try to become your customers and think what topics you would search for if you were in their shoes.
- Fill your topics with appropriate keywords
So you already have the topics you want to write about. Now, your goal is to identify some keywords that fall into those topics. These are terms or phrases that you think are important to rank for in search engine pages or based on what people use when searching for specific terms.
So for example, if your topic is about marketing automation, these are some phrases you might consider:
- What is marketing automation?
- How to use marketing automation software
- Marketing automation tools
- How to tell if I need marketing automation software
- Lead nurturing
- Email marketing automation
- Top automation tools
Another important task to do is to determine what keywords your website is already ranking for. This could be done through analytics software such as Google Analytics. You can find it in site’s traffic sources, and from there, identify which keywords people use to arrive at your site.
- Search for more related terms
Thinking on your own can drain you. You can find help by simply searching a terms on Google. You’ll notice that there are some suggestions related to your original input that you might want to consider. This is an excellent way to come up with more terms or phrases to help your website rank higher on search engines.
- Use long-tail keywords
Head terms are keywords that are shorter and more generic. Depending on who you talk to, head terms are generally from 1-3 words. Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, are keywords containing three or more terms. A strategic mix of head terms and long-tail keywords optimizing delivers a keyword strategy that is well-balanced with respect to long-term goals and short-term wins.
