Did you know that 46 percent of product searches begin on Google? If your content doesn’t rank high there, it’s high time to rethink your SEO strategy.
Right now, your best bet is to focus on keyword research. The idea is to find out what your target audience is looking for and market to them. If you find the best SEO keywords, they’ll guide your entire content strategy.
There are many ways to do keyword research, but they all have some key steps in common. For example, here are five things you should always do.
1. Define Your Goal
Every plan should being with defining an end goal. In keyword research, that translates to specifying your brand’s mission. Do you have a sales target or are you looking to increase the number of subscribers?
Defining a goal provides a direction for your marketing strategy. Once you start finding keywords, you’ll align them to your goals. An end goal can also define the purpose of your SEO content.
2. Research Your Niche
Before you start looking into SEO tips and tricks, you need to dive deep into your niche. That can give you some out-of-the-box ideas and help you find new angles to your content strategy.
The best way to study your niche is to get to know your existing customers. Figure out which terms they use to describe your brand or services. Find your niche’s online communities and scan them for common pain points.
3. Come Up With Relevant Topics
Based on your industry and goals, create a list of topics that you want to rank on Google. For instance, let’s say you specialize in men’s care. Some of your key topics may include:
pattern baldness
men’s facial wash
antiperspirant deodorant
These topics must be relevant to your brand and related to your buyer personas. Think about what your target audience is most interested in and work from there.
4. Create Seed Keywords
Once you have your topic categories, you can start creating keywords related to them. We call these seed keywords or focus keywords. They define your niche and provide the foundation of your keyword research.
Tools such as Google Keyword Planner can get you started with creating seed keywords. Of course, you can also leave this task to the pros. Read more on why hiring an SEO company will save you a lot of effort.
5. Analyze Search Intent
One of the main benefits of SEO is that it lets you know why people look up certain keywords. Most of the time, they’re either researching a topic, looking for another web page, or want to buy something.
Successful websites will offer content on all three of these areas. For best results, though, your keywords should target different pages based on your customers’ search intent.
Pick the Best SEO Keywords the First Time
Choosing the best SEO keywords will have a big impact on your rankings. That said, this is a time-consuming, strenuous task. By following the above tips, you can make sure you’ll get it right the first time! Want to know more about how to do keyword research? Keep reading our SEO-related content!
