Nowadays a good website means not only a great web design, effective marketing strategies and a good conversion rate, but also profitable keywords that increase your chances to get high rankings in search engines. While some websites are stuffed with keywords, other sites get too little.
Keyword stuffing and too little keywords can both harm a website that can be one of the main obstacles not to be highly ranked in search engines, like Google, Bing and Yahoo. As you know, websites with low positions can’t get enough potential clients.
If you often create content on a website, good keyword research will be the first thing you should think through search engine optimization. It is important to search for profitable and relevant keywords to your website. But, you think how to find these keywords? With the tricks and secrets from experienced marketers, we will help you get profitable traffic.
#1. Focus on Long-Tail Keywords
Some people may think that choosing highly competitive keywords is a good guarantee to rank for on search engines. If you work with these “vanity” competitive keywords, you will have low chances to rank highly. You just spend a lot of time and money to gain that battle. SEO experts say that it is quite difficult to rank for on Google. Instead of that, you should focus on long-tail keywords that are quite easier to rank for. It can be one of the possible ways to save your energy and time while converting keywords on search engines.
Long-tail keywords include 3-5 keywords. People often search for the long-key phrases that can make them closer to their target or the purchase. Even if overall search volume is low, these phrases can attract target audience and can be easier to rank for. One of the best tools you should try to search for good keywords is Google Keyword Tool.
#2. Avoid Broad Keywords
It can be seductive to use broad keywords that can drive thousands of visitors per month and generate much traffic. Broad keywords are known as shot-tail keywords. As above-mentioned, these keywords are hard to rank on Google. The broader the keywords, the more unlikely your site will be buried on pages 6 or 30.
Your keywords should look quite natural. Make sure that spelling can be of importance. The keyword phrase “ping pong table” can be considered the preferred term, but many people used to search for “ping-pong table”. You probably don’t want to use the wrong spelling, some people can think you can’t spell correctly.
#3. Don’t go too far
When you find the best keywords, you should allocate them on your website in a right way, but don’t overdo them. All your keywords should look natural in your content. People don’t like t0 read a promotional script, because it can make people bounce a site and get penalties from search engines.
Keep in mind that it is important to know that Google ranks not the overall website, but the individual web pages. Try to focus on keywords for each individual pages that you are going to get high rank in search engines.
Majority of people worry about keyword concentration on the pages. If you make sure that keywords naturally work with your content and sound quite informative and useful for visitors, the keyword density about 4% should not be a big obstacle to rank well.
#4. Analyze a wealth of keyword traffic data.
To reach your goal, it is vital to analyze your initial keywords in order to look at the options that these keywords can give you. Try to avoid multiple keyword phrases on your website, especially that ranks well on search engines.
You may think that the keyword phrases “buy shoes” and “buy shoes online” can support one single page. Sometimes it is hard to rank highly both keyword phrases to the top positions. You should get a new web page that will focus on one of these keyword phrases to be highly ranked.
Before choosing the best keywords, you should analyze a possible traffic that keywords can drive your website. Don’t worry if some keywords are searched not much. They will still give you much value. Even if your keyword can give only 30 searches per month, but that 30 can’t rank well, as nobody gave enough efforts to rank well with serious SEO strategies. This keyword can make you be in the top of 5 in Google and will still provide visitors. It can ok if the keywords are relevant to your service or products. Therefore, you don’t need thousands of visitors to get promising outlooks.
#5. Refine your Keyword Phrases with Google Keyword Planner
As you have already known, many keyword suggestion tools will offer keyword ideas that are quite similar to your initial keywords. Using the tab “Keyword ideas” will help you get the search queries of your target audience and use the suggested keywords to search for your website.
Even if you have a good brainstorm list, this keyword suggestion tool as Google Keyword Planner can refine and build your list. Don’t try to set up any limitations at this point. Just think about different options that your customers can ask for your services, content and products in search engines.
#6. Search for Keywords to Describe Your Content
Before creating a content or a landing page, you should look at keyword suggestions and figure out keywords that are relevant to your content or service. Don’t try to deceive your visitors and compose articles with right keywords that describe the idea of your content.
If you specify keyword phrases that are related to your niche, but don’t describe the topic on your website, you should better create a new page with keywords that describes a new content. When you write a content, you should first think to yourself, what users are searching for, when they search these queries.
#7. Use Location-Based Keywords
If you have a local business with or without physical address, it would be great to pay attention to using local keywords. Location-based keywords will help you stand out from the crowd and show up you in Google Maps. That will both give you good chances to sell products or service and will make you higher in local search results.
That’s quite easy to search for local keywords. Just filter your search results by location. Usually many keyword tools filter automatically results by country, state and zip code. It will be perfect to add your business to Google Places.
#8. Check out What Works with Analytics
If you worry about getting traffic to your websites, analytics data can be a good option to check the best keywords that can work for you. Pay attention to the variations of keyword phrases that help refresh your tactics.
For an instance, you can take 2-3 main websites that produce the best content in search of good ideas and keywords to make your own content. You can use different tools like SemRush to look at keywords that attract much traffic for the website. Choose the best ones and use these variants to write an interesting content that will bring you high rankings in search engines.
#9. Analyze Your Competitors
When you put search queries that suggest products identical to your keywords, I will bet you are in the right place. Now you should look at the websites that compete with search terms you use. Figure out top 10 competitors and analyze what they are doing, what keywords, titles, descriptions and content they use to bear rivals in the search engines.
When you stick into this area to get a success, you will always tell to yourself: make it or break it. Sometimes you should slacken and let your competitors spot number one in search engines. I would recommend you to focus on different keyword phrases to rank high. You can be in spot 1 for a keyword and don’t have much searchers per month, than being number 10 for this keyword with enough monthly searchers.
#10. Avoid ambiguity
When you choose keyword phrases, make sure you use a right meaning for keywords. Sometimes keywords can mislead users and make them bounce a website. If you check returned results and see nothing with your content, you’ve probably used keywords with ambiguous meaning.
For instance, when people search the phrase “how to download Youtube videos”, they want to find a tutorial or ways to download videos. Instead of that, they get possible online media conversion application, which helps you to convert and download YouTube URLs. That will not only disappoint users, but makes them never come back your website. That means you won’t get enough traffic and squandered time on on-page optimization.
Being number one, it doesn’t mean you are doing well. If you are not in the right area, you will get a minimal number of CTR. Keep in mind that people find exactly what they are looking for.
#11. Don’t use unpopular terms
If you take unpopular search terms, you will muddle away your efforts and time. The phrase “quadraphonic blue jay” is not only popular, but too long to search for. Even if you get rankings #1 on these keywords, nobody won’t search for it. Therefore, you won’t get traffic on a website, no matter how you rank well.
Try to avoid lesser-used keywords, as it doesn’t get much value to your business. If you sell or offer some unknown products, you can use some online tools that will tell you relevant and popular keyword phrases for your business. You can check out with SE Ranking and Google Adwords.
#12. Practice Latent Semantic Indexing
The main secret to find the best keywords is to use latent semantic indexing plus to your target keywords, known as LSI. Google ranks websites on a variety of search terms and target keywords that are linked together, in place of single terms.
If you include your main keywords on a website, there will be a possibility that Google may estimate your page as over-optimized and get penalties. It doesn’t mean you should avoid them. As a follow-on, you can use latent semantic indexing with your keywords that will improve your website rankings.
LSI is one of the effective ways to rank well for keywords. If your page talks about smartphones, search engines will expect to view some related keywords like brands, models and etc. The more semantic keywords search engines see, the more chances they admit your website as respected and relevant.
You can find these keywords in Google Keyword Tool that checks with the “Broad Match” box. You will get a list of search terms with possible variants and word endings. You can also surf these keywords in Google before to see relevant results.
#13. Keep acceptable keywords for natural and paid search
Majority of web optimizers use quite a lot paid search to get much traffic. This source of keyword research is different and requires enough attention to SEO and content marketing. It will assure that your expectations on cost are cogent and give the best chances to make your campaign successful. The stronger your list of keywords, the less chances you will be worn-out by the big bag CPL wolf.
If you make a list of good keywords that provides a good number of search volume and a reasonable cost per click, you will reach the goals of your marketing campaigns. If you have decided to buy the way to reach the top of the paid results, you should consider a SEO strategy. No matter how rankings are high, you can focus on conversions and ROI goals and make your keyword phrases effective both for natural and paid search.
#14. Support Your Link Strategy
In order to boost your rankings in search engines, you should find not only related keywords, but also support your internal linking strategy. Make sure that you create keywords that can link in the anchor text on your other inner pages in order to improve your search engine rankings.
Try to include in content your target keywords near the link. If you mention the keyword phrase “lower back pain” on some pages, you can include it as an anchor on your website to give more details about possible ways to lower your back pain.
#15. Search for Keywords in Social Media
Keyword research in social media channels is quite different than you do in search engines. You should get that users in social media and in search engines have slightly different language. Users in search are looking for answers to their questions, while users in social networks want to talk, share their ideas, news, tips and get new friends.
In order to find suitable keywords, you can use social networking tools to search for keywords that will crowd out your content in everyday conversations. My favorite tools are Monitter and Topsy that help you search for keywords in Twitter. In Google+ you can use the search box at the top of Google + screen and find everything you need. If you want to search on Facebook, you can also use the search box at the top of the FB page. Make sure that you click on “Public Posts” to look at public talks about interested topic.
#16. Use or Not Use Keywords in Your Domain Name
As you have already known, in 2012 Google would take drastic measures in towards to websites with low quality exact match domains. It is obvious why Google wants to take measures against websites with nasty domains like searchengineoptimizationtips.com. However, the websites with exact match domains can get certain benefits and the domain name can boost your influence in search engines.
#17. Pay Attention to Search Trends
If you care of your SEO strategies and website rankings, you should keep an eye on search trends. That will help you find inspiring keywords that fit in global or local search. You can make an additional keyword research and add more good keywords in your brainstorming list.
#18. Monitor and optimize your results
If you have done on-page optimization, it is high time to analyze and track your efforts and tactics to reach the target goal. Make sure to analyze your website in a multipronged approach. Try to comply with this 80/20 rule. 80% of website traffic is delivered by 20% of your keywords.
You will get the most traffic from general and specific keywords and less amount of traffic from branded and long-tail keywords. It is only 20% that will bring target users to your website and will boost your conversion rates.
Try to mix your SEO strategies and activities to figure out the best keywords that will drive more traffic to your website.
#19. Use the language of your users
It is no wonder that many webmasters pay much attention to different keyword suggestion tools that will show up the most profitable and best keywords. Moreover, that is fine and true. This is the core method of keyword research that will be never changed.
Try to follow the Google news and updates. Try to get and use the language of your users to find out the best keywords. Knowing the real intent of your customers will drive the most targeted traffic.
#20. Check Google suggestions in the section “Searched related to”
When you start a keyword research for calls-to-action, post ideas and products, you can look at the Google’s related search that can make your keyword researching process fast.
You can find related results at the bottom of your Google search results. Most of people forget about this section to make a complex keyword research.
#21. Pinpoint attention upon special needs
Majority of webmasters don’t focus on many special needs to attract more customers. When you write a content, make sure that you use descriptive keyword modifiers that will help you promote your website and help people get what they are looking for.
Users love to look through the websites with large fonts and graphics. Try to highlight such modifiers as size, shape or color in search. When you start writing a new content or landing page, notice that, you take into account all of these tips.
#22. Evaluate Your Keyword Phrases
As soon as you find the best keywords, you should focus on the most important thing to evaluate and analyze them. Make sure how much your new keywords generate the most traffic, which keywords are the most performing and ineffective and which search trends are good and bad.
Keyword research is a time-consuming and considerable process. Even if you find a right way, keyword research won’t be so difficult as you may think. You just need to do that in the right way. I hope these tips will encourage you to optimize your website and blog content in a proper way.
Author: Irina Weber
www.dailyseoblog.com
