Keyword research is the process of finding words and phrases that the audience you are targeting, will likely search for. It’s about being where your target audience is searching, and delivering the information they are looking for. Keyword research can be used for SEO, Blogging and digital advertising and will help you deliver more appropriate content.
By researching keywords that are trending and performing well in your industry, you have the potential to find a successful niche. Whether it be paid advertising, online marketing, blogging or Search Engine Optimisation, keyword research is the most important step in ensuring the content you create is relevant and has the opportunity to be successful.
Understanding what words and phrases are going to help your website rank is the most fool proof way to direct the right traffic to your website. I emphasise the phrase ‘right traffic’ as being an important aspect of keyword research.
The relevance of keyword research is the idea that people will find your page as a result of it being exactly what they are looking for. Identifying who you’re targeting and being the answer to their questions will help you define what keywords are worth optimising.
If the keywords you have chosen to optimise are not relevant to your target audience, the wrong traffic will end up on your website which can lead to a high bounce rate and low levels of engagement.
There are a lot of tools available for you to research and plan keywords. Many of these tools also allow you to track keywords so you can see how your ranking changes as you begin to optimise and focus on improving your keyword research.
Some tools include, but are certainly not limited to
In your research you may come across the phrase ‘Long-tail keywords’. These are generally questions or sentences as opposed to one or two word search terms. As opposed to searching ‘Gold Coast Restaurants’, a long-tail keyword may be ‘Best Italian restaurants on the Gold Coast’. Long-tail keywords are more specific and have already been narrowed down to what the user is looking for. They make up approximately 70% of all searches so can be a good opportunity to optimise for some businesses.
General search terms or keywords can be absolutely any word or phrase, but there is still need for specificity. If I use the above example for an italian restaurant on the gold coast, a search for ‘Italian restaurants’ will bring up millions of results. Although Google will likely show results relative to your location, there will be interstate restaurants ranking higher than many Gold Coast ones. By specifying ‘Gold Coast Italian restaurant’ your website will be more likely to rank and more specific to what the user is looking for.
* Note the difference in result volume.
If you need a hand with your keyword research or would like to improve your SEO and digital advertising, we’re always available to have a chat. Give us a call today, we’d love to hear from you.
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