Keyword Research identifies search queries that people enter into search engines to make an attempt to find out what to rank for in a popular keyword. The Keyword is a word or a phrase which when typed in the browser of the search engines returns specific information. Develop and understand the scope of keywords to put up a seed list. Explore sources of distinct keywords. Analyze keywords based on a mix of customer intent, trending keywords, use of negative keywords, etc to find what works? Formulate keyword strategies for optimizing websites for continuous flow of traffic. Concepts relating to the keyword are keyword frequency, keyword weight, keyword proximity, keyword prominence, and keyword density. A keyword phrase consists of two or more words often used by advertisers in SEO, or by users who visit search engines to find information related to that particular phrase.
The focus should be on the body and long-tail keywords. For information on Search Engine Optimization, click on SEO-Fundamentals to read more.
Keyword Research~ The Head, Body, and Tail
Keywords [fig 1.0] are divided into 3 main categories. They are head, body and the long tail.
Head Keywords
Head Keywords are single-word keywords (general) with large amounts of search volume but don’t convert very well. High competition and almost impossible to rank.
Example: towel
Body Keywords
Body keywords are two or three-word phrases that get good search volume. More specific and converts better than head keywords but can still be very competitive.
Example: yarn-dyed towel
Long Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are 3 or more word that is very specific and highly targeted. Less Competition, Low search volumes, and more likely to convert. It takes a short time to rank.
Example: yarn-dyed jacquard towel
To view, a list of short, middle, and long-tail keywords click on towel-industry-list. “Keywords Everywhere” < https://keywordseverywhere.com/ > tool had been used to compile this list which is a free browser add-on for Chrome and Firefox. This tool provides for free- search volume, CPC, and competition data of keywords.
Intent
The most important attribute of any keyword is the intent behind it.
Keywords with transactional intent apply for businesses selling a product or service. Commercial intent keywords are only applicable to transactional (a search carried out to buy) and have high intent.
On the other hand, low intent keywords are those that can be considered either navigational (a search carried out to find a particular website) or informational (search carried out to answer questions).
Word Stemming
Keyword stemming is the addition of a prefix, suffix, or pluralization in a particular keyword for a website. Word Stemming refers to this newly converted keyword.
How to do Keyword Research?
- List your business topic.
- Place your keywords in the subject topics.
- Conduct research of ‘search terms’ for the bucket keywords.
- Combine a ‘mix’ of body and long-tail keywords.
- Search for competitor rankings for these keywords.
- Use Google Keyword Planner < https://ads.google.com/intl/en_in/home/tools/keyword-planner/ > to downsize the list of keywords.
Use the Ahrefs < https://ahrefs.com/ > tool to do your keyword research.
Finding Keywords
Use the keywordtool.io < https://keywordtool.io/ > and word-stream-tool < https://www.wordstream.com/keywords > to find keywords.
Seed Keywords
Seed keywords are the foundation keywords that describe a product or a service. In other words, any keyword that culminates in more keywords is a seed keyword. They are not specific but generic 1-2 words used in categories. A seed keyword can attract more phrases used by prospective customers. A modified word when added to a seed keyword forms a long tail keyword. Use seed-keyword-tool < https://www.seedkeywords.com/ > to build your keyword list.
LSI Keywords
LSI Keywords (Latent Semantic Indexing) are keywords that correlate to the target topic of your page. The relevancy of content increases by incorporating more LSI keywords about the target topic. They are not just synonyms but include words that frequently occur when writing about a certain topic. eg Tiger can represent both a brand or an
Keyword Research: Using Keywords
Keywords relevant to website content
The keyword meta tag is used in the <head> section, but search engines do not give importance to it while indexing web pages. Group keywords and remove non-performing negative keywords from your keyword research list. Use keyword-rich content in your landing pages, blog content, etc. Convert group keywords to Ad groups and run your PPC campaigns.
Keywords as search queries in search engines.
If you search for “shirts”, you may enter the keyword “green shirts”. The search engine will return relevant content with respect to your search term. You can become more specific by entering the keywords “green shirts for men” and get more accurate search results.
- shirts- Volume: 27,100/mo | CPC: $1.15 | Competition: 1
- green shirts- Volume: 4,400/mo | CPC: $0.66 | Competition: 1
- green shirts for men- Volume: 313/mo | CPC: $0.95 | Competition: 1
Keyword Research and SEO
To optimize your website, select appropriate middle and long-tail keywords. Place it in the content of the home page, product page, about page, customer care & contact page, blog post, etc
Keyword Frequency
Keyword frequency refers to the number of times a keyword becomes visible on a single w
Weight
Weight is an estimate of keyword importance to the web page. The keyword weight increases, if the keyword is included in headings or a title of the page.
Proximity
Keyword Proximity refers to how near keywords are to each other within the content of the body text. The more close the two keywords are to each other, the more weight the phrase gets.
Prominence
Keyword prominence is the prominence of your keywords within key elements of your web page. Main keywords are best placed in tags such as-
- <meta name=”keywords”, <meta name =”description”,
- <h1, h2, h3….,
- image files
- alt tags
- link tags – <a href=”jobs.sapcanvas.com”>Keyword Research<a/>
- body content
- URL address
- comment tags
Keyword Density
SEO experts suggest optimum keyword density should be about 1-3%. eg: in a 2000 word blog page where the keyword – “keyword research” appears 20 times, the keyword density is (20/2000)*100 or 1%. Alternatively, you can use the Live Keyword Analysis tool < https://speedppc.com/ > to find out the keyword density.
Keyword Research and SEO will ensure users find your website when searching online.
- Search Results for Strengths and Weaknesses: Conduct a SWOT analysis for your website. Evaluate your site on a keyword and at the page level.
- Optimizes your websites for ranking factors such as UX, HTTPS, backlinks, Rich Content with anchor link text, Relevancy, Site Speed, Social Media, Mobile First pages, CTR, structured data, Rankbrain, etc
- Site Content < https://www.semrush.com/features/content-audit/ >
- Backlinks <https://ahrefs.com/backlink-checker >
- Site Maps < https://www.xml-sitemaps.com/ >
- SEO Review < https://www.woorank.com/ >
- tracemyip.org to remove repeated keywords
- searchvolume.io to find search volume of keywords
- longtailpro.com to find less competitive keywords
- semrush.com to find keywords used by your competitor that attract users to their websites.
- SERPs to find the ranking of a keyword.
- Google Analytics to measure & track results.
Sales Funnels and Keyword Research
The sales funnel is a process starting from the user contact (top) of creating awareness of a product or a service and journeying through the stages of generating leads, prospecting, and making a sale (bottom).
- Awareness (brand) > Marketing Activities via blog websites, social media, paid ads, etc.
- Leads (create) > squeeze page/ opt-in offers for an ebook, product videos, datasheets, webinars, white papers, newsletters, free trials, sales training, etc
- Prospects (target group)> target content to prospects via autoresponders or a drip campaign
- Sales (sale of a product or service)> payment system, shopping cart, reviews & referrals, customer sales service, etc.
Incorporate long tail and short tail keyword phrases to target your bottom-of-funnel prospects. Examine the keyword volume for each keyword phrase, cost-per-click (CPC) and the competitiveness of the keyword.
A high CPC shows that the keyword is a bid to advertisers and point that this keyword can be targeted to your visitors who have reached to the bottom-of-funnel in the buyer journey.
Next, select bottom-of-funnel keywords from what you have. Add to it any additional generation by the tool based on high search volume and CPC, but a low to moderate competition.
Match the keywords obtained from your keyword research for the right content to result in a conversion.
You have engaged with your prospects through your blog posts. But you need to extend further with educational materials. It can be through workshops, demos, specifications, white papers, free trial offers etc. This would convince users to eventually buy the product or service that you are offering.
Keyword Research: Modifiers
A modifier is a word when combined with your seed keyword creates long-tail keywords. For a more detailed list click on keyword-research-modifiers-list. To choose the right keyword:
- Use keyword research tools.
- Have your customer’s mind to find what words they use in search engine browsers to find relevant pages of your website.
- Study competitor keywords and find out what keywords they use to pull more traffic.
- Use long-tail keywords
- Analyze results
Mapping
Keyword mapping allocates relevant keywords to different pages of a website that are identified through a complete keyword research selection process. It forms the basis of on-page SEO that enables the search engine to determine the page relevancy to what users search.
Uses of Keyword Research
Keyword research is used in the design and re-design of websites, in headers, while creating content and profile, file names, image & video titles.