Keyword research is one of the most important SEO practices to employ in your marketing strategy. While you can use several tools and techniques to find the right keywords, the process is still much more challenging than it sounds. No matter what your objectives are, keyword research is essential in SEO and content optimization. You may not realize it, but your chosen keywords greatly impact your strategy’s results.
Content quality is naturally also important in marketing, but before your content can reach users, you must first find the most common keyword searches they are making. However, doing this is much harder done than said. Over the years, Google has made changes in its guidelines and algorithms, affecting the type of keywords you must choose. In fact, search behavior is constantly evolving, so it is crucial that you always review your keywords to see if they are still relevant.
How can you then choose the right keywords for your SEO strategy? Check out some of these techniques to optimise your content:
Consider Search Intent
When Google launched BERT in 2018, search intent became one of the biggest changes that marketers had to make in SEO. The update helped the search engine determine the context behind searches to provide more accurate answers to user queries. As such, it is now more important than ever to understand what exactly your target audience is looking for when they make keyword searches. Understanding their search intent can help you tailor your content in a way that answers their questions and addresses their needs.
Analyse Competitors
Keyword research is about finding the right words and phrases for your content and understanding what your competitors are doing. Analyze what keywords they are targeting to get some ideas on what you may include in your list or determine the intensity of competition for specific words. The more a keyword is used, the harder it will be to rank since you have to stand out, so this is something worth considering in your selection.
Map Out the Customer Journey
The customer journey is essentially the journey that your target audience takes to convert into a paying customer. Mapping this out will help you understand each step they go through before they perform your desired action, whether to purchase a product or sign up for a newsletter. Try to think about your target buyer and what phase of the journey they are in when searching.
For example, buyers in the awareness stage realize they have a problem but do not have all the details about it yet. If a user in this stage is looking for a plumber to check their pipes, they may search for something like “plumber near me” on Google. In this case, knowing that your customer is in the awareness stage is useful since it gives you insights into potential keyword searches.
Use Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are often misunderstood to be less effective since they reach a smaller audience. However, their specificity makes them useful for creating more targeted traffic to ensure that you reach users who are most likely to become your customers. Similarly, long-tail keywords are often less competitive, so you have a higher chance to rank while using them. They are particularly beneficial today since voice searches are growing in volume, and users tend to ask full questions when using voice commands.
