For many webmasters and search engine marketers, keyword selection is all about choosing relevant keywords that have low competition and decent search demand. The truth is that selecting the right keywords to optimize your website is definitely more than that.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind and I hope this article helps inspire you to identify profitable keywords for your online business.
1. Decent search demand
Yes, most people are right on this. This should be the first consideration before you start to optimize your website for any keyword. You need to make sure that people are already searching for what you are going to optimize for. Don’t waste time on keywords that have low search volume. It’s like opening a huge shopping center in the middle of the desert. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that there will be small buyers.
2. Assess the level of competition
The fundamental concept of this is that if you want to fight someone, make sure you pick one that you “think” you can beat. Can you imagine fighting and winning a mixed martial arts heavyweight champion? If not, you better know the rules, learn to be smart and how to pick the right fight or you will lose every single one.
3. Keyword Research vs. Keyword Buying
To keep things simple, keywords can be broadly categorized under Research or Buy.
This represents the intent of the searchers when they enter that specific keyword into the search engine. For example, someone intending to buy a gaming laptop online would go through a purchase funnel like this. Initially, it would search using keywords like “gaming laptop brands”, “recommended gaming laptops”, after which, when it finishes researching and is ready to buy in about 1 week, it will search using keywords like “gaming”. laptop lowest price”, “buy xxx model gaming laptop online”.
It’s common sense, and you’ve probably been through the same process. Surprisingly, this is the part that 90% of SEO marketers don’t know about. The money is in the list of buying keywords. If you want to be successful, you need to optimize your website for buying keywords. Consider keywords like review, buy, order, discount, color, and deals.
4. Searches Are Unique – Stop Using That Keyword Research Tool For Today
Do you know that approximately 25% of searches on Google each day are new or have not been searched in the last 30 days? Also, 90% of webmasters use the same keyword research tools and get the same list of keywords. That is, many people will try to rank for the same keywords. It’s time to put your knowledge of your industry to use. Are your potential customers using any jargon or terms for a particular item?
A quick tip for finding unique keywords would be to check the search log on your website. This would tell you exactly what your target audience is looking for.
5. Long Tail Keywords – Don’t Forget Them
Google has reported that approximately 54% of their search queries are longer than 3 words. On top of that, according to Hitwise data, long-tail keywords that fall outside of the top 10,000 keywords were reported to account for 70% of search traffic.
It’s important to note that while long-tail keyword phrases tend to drive a lower volume of traffic, when done correctly, the combined traffic can add up and make a difference. In my personal experience, these searches also tend to be of better quality because they tend to be more specific.
In conclusion
Choosing and selecting the right set of keywords to optimize for is more than just running your keywords through keyword research tools. It also requires you to use common sense and knowledge of your industry. If you can keep the above five points in mind, your chances of success will surely be higher than the average SEO marketers who rely solely on keyword research tools.
