How Well Do You Know Keywords? Six Tips for Finding The Best Ones
Whether you’re running an online store or a blog page, you must attract visitors to your website to make a profit. The most reliable and ethical way of getting traffic is SEO. And when you peep into the heart of the SEO, all you see are keywords. You might have heard the term ‘keywords’ many a time. But what is a keyword exactly? And how can you choose the best one for your website? Well, below is all the information you may need to get up-close with keywords.
What are keywords?
Keyword refers to any term or phrase that people enter on the search engine. In return, they see a result page with a list of different websites. SEO professionals and website owners use keywords to optimize their website. And they intend to rank higher on the search engine result page (SERP).
In simple words, keywords are –
- Words and phrases people use for searching
- Words and phrases that represent the topics you write about
You can say that the keywords used by people and website owners are the same. Keywords are merely bridging the gap between your target consumers and your content. Keywords help people find your website.
You must have also heard the term ‘keyword research.’ It refers to the method of finding terms people are entering into search engines. So you can use those same terms on your web pages, marketing campaigns, and content.
Qualities of a keyword
The keyword’s fundamental qualities are search volume, competition, price, word count, and intent. Below is a brief explanation of all the qualities that comprise a keyword.
- Search volume of a keyword
Search volume refers to the number of times a keyword gets searched on Google. This factor helps you determine the popularity of a certain keyword. And you can also estimate how much potential web traffic you can get attract by using that keyword. - Competitiveness of a keyword
The keyword may be highly popular, and you might think you can get more leads by ranking for it. But, keep in mind that numerous other websites are already ranking for that same keyword. This competitiveness of the keyword helps you manage your SEO campaigns. - Price (cost per click) of a keyword
In the advertising world, every keyword comes with a price tag called cost per click (CPC). Advertisers may use popular keywords in their ads. When users search with the same keyword, they’ll come across the ad. And for every single click by users, the advertiser pays a certain amount. Price is a crucial factor when you’re planning an ad campaign. - Word count of a keyword
Word count is nothing but the number of words in a phrase. For instance, ‘SEO’ has a word count of one word. And ‘how to rank on the first page of Google has a word count of seven. Just so you know, 50% of the search queries have four or more words. - The intent of a keyword
The intent of a keyword tells you about the intention of the searcher. Typically, there are three types of intent among internet users. They are transactional, navigational and informational intent.
Why should you care about keywords?
The keyword is, without a doubt, an integral part of the SEO. It’s one of the top-ranking factors for Google to rank your content in search results. Google analyses the keywords you’ve used on your website to understand your content. So when a user enters a query matching your content, Google will show your website in the top results.
The top five organic results on the search engine results page (SERP) get over 67.6% of all clicks. Note that pages two and three attract a mere 5.59% of clicks. So, now you must know it. If you want your website to get more clicks, you must rank on the first page of the search engine. And keywords indeed help you rank higher in SERPs.
Below are some practical tips for you to find the best keywords.
Six tips for choosing the best keywords
1 – Determine your goals
First, you should spend some time figuring out your SEO goals. Most people out there use SEO to get more web traffic to their website. More traffic eventually translates into more sales and revenues. So, please have a clear SEO goal in mind before choosing keywords. You should ask yourself questions like how relevant your audience should be? Do you want people to buy your products? Or are you merely seeking brand awareness?
2 – Think like your customer
You must identify your target audience before you pick out your keywords. You need to think from your customer’s point of view as you prepare your initial keywords list. Again, you should be asking yourself the right questions. For instance, what will I type in Google’s search bar if I wanted a certain product or a service? You may speak to your known ones to get an idea about how they type queries. Talking to your existing customers can help too.
3 – Check what your competitors are doing
List down all your competitors and visit their websites. Your aim should be studying the keywords they have used to rank in SERP. You can read their content and check meta tags. It will give you a clear picture of the keywords they’re using to rank. You can take inspiration from keywords your competitors are using. It can also help you widen your list of keywords.
4 – Know the game of long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords can attract high-converting traffic to your website. It has the power to increase the revenue of your business significantly. Long-tails keywords consist of more than three words or phrases. Note that these keywords have relatively low search volume. But since these keywords are more particular, they attract more relevant traffic. You should find out long-tail keywords that describe your product or service the best.
5 – Leverage keyword research tools
You might be running an advertising campaign using Google Ads. In such a case, you can use Google’s keyword tool to research the most relevant keywords. There are other tools in the market that help you with keyword research. SEMrush is another popular tool used by a vast number of SEO professionals. When you use these tools, you get valuable insights about keyword trends, volume, competition, and many more.
6 – Keep track of your results
Once you have chosen some keywords, it’s essential to keep a watch on them. You also need to monitor how those keywords are constantly performing. Your competitors might be using trending keywords, followed by a set of new keywords. You should also utilize all your keywords to their maximum capacity. You can include them in your blogs, social media posts, content on your website, and meta tags, etc. The more relevant keywords you use in your content, your audience is more likely to find you.
All things considered
Keywords refer to the terms used by internet users while looking for a certain product, services, or information. As a business owner/ website owner, you must optimize your website for the right keywords. It will help you get massive organic traffic to your website. You can follow the six tips above to find the best keyword for your website.
