There is a lot of fuss over SEO resulting from the competition to rank top on search engines following the launch of numerous websites online every day. Appearing on the first page of search engines alone is responsible for up to 30% of the traffic you get on your website, which makes serpbook.com a very resourceful site for all the concerns of a website’s performance on search engines.
In SEO, it is the little things that matter, informing the importance of keyword research for your ranking and indexing. There is more to keyword research than merely identifying popular keywords to use for your site, and this article will shed light on five powerful keyword research tips you must implement for a boost in your SERP.
Identify niche topics for your keyword research
Keyword research might be an everyday go-to strategy for identifying new topic areas to explore, but relying on this technique might limit your scope and coverage as to matters of content development.
As much as the process of keyword research will spill over terrific keywords, it is unlikely that you can come up with new keyword ideas. Instead, identify niche topics within your industry and use them to shape the direction of your keyword research and refine the kind of results you get.
The niche topic better allows you to stick to your brand essence and communicate messages that sell your brand as close to the audience needs as possible. Find out where your target audience hangs out, for example, through Reddit and forums on social platforms to identify top niche topic ideas.
Opt for long-tail keywords
You may come across various keywords that are specific to your course and the topic you are writing on. However, the use of long-tail keywords, which consist of 4 or more word phrases, is a trend that has gained traction for its effectiveness in passing across the intended message.
Identifying which words people have typed in on a search engine is not enough. To be efficient and appropriately respond to the needs for the searches, you should use long-tail keywords as they better capture the intent of the audience. Typically, the longer the keywords you choose, the lesser competition there is. Most people’s search queries are 1-4 words long.
A great example is using ‘keyword research tips in 2018’ as your keyword, rather than ‘keywords,’ this way you can correctly respond to the concerns of the audience by sharing about keyword research tips they can use.
Use keyword research tools
As much of an expert, you might deem yourself to be, you cannot cover all keyword research needs on your own. With a little help from keyword tools available online, you can achieve better results.
If you are working without a budget, look for free keyword research tools you can use Google’s AdWords Keyword Planner and Google trends to identify popular keyword terms and phrases searched on Google engine. For the Google Keyword Planner, for instance, you can locate keywords customized to your needs for specific locations and also platforms, say, Amazon or YouTube.
Competitor keywords
Competitor research is also an essential part of SEO, which can help you with the keyword research process. Identifying the keywords that your competitors are already ranking for gives you a better chance of competing for the same audience.
With tools like the Rank Tracker, you can swiftly input your competitor’s URLs and figure out their keyword strategy, gathering invaluable insights you can incorporate on your website for higher rankings.
Keyword grouping
Keyword grouping is about giving structure to your keywords by organizing them in different categories. Different SEO strategies employ diverse metrics for keyword grouping, but there are common ones that can guide you through your research process.
Semantics – this keyword segmentation allows you to determine semantically and contextually related keywords, for a more straightforward interpretation of a keyword or phrase.
Keyword competition – highly competitive keywords are gold. Segment your keywords by separating them according to the Keyword Efficiency Index (KEI), which you can easily determine with the Rank Tracker tool, among others.
Keyword research is a fundamental SEO practice that, when done right, can yield amazing results for your ranking on search engines. However, keyword research and SEO at large must be a deliberate continuous effort because a high ranking for one website means a lower ranking for another.
