Searcher Satisfaction - Guide to SEO, Part 3

While Google keeps us on our toes with all the algorithm updates that keep coming out, one thing remains the same for incoming marketers who want to add their websites to search: keyword research.

Of course, the need to research keywords does not change. How to do it really doesn’t work.

What is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing search terms by people who enter search engines with the intention of using that data for a specific purpose, usually to do search engine optimization (SEO) or general marketing. Keyword research can reveal the questions you can point to, the popularity of these questions, the difficulty of their position, and more.

Keyword research provides valuable insights into questions your target audience searches on Google. Understanding what you can get into these real search terms can help inform your content strategy and your larger marketing strategy. However, keywords themselves may not be as important to SEO as you might think.

We are increasingly hearing about how much SEO has changed over the last 10 years, and how insignificant keywords for us have become our ability to rank well what people do every day.

 And to some extent, this is true; using keywords that match exactly a personal search is no longer the most important quality item in the eyes of SEO experts. Instead, it is the purpose of that keyword, and whether the content clip resolves that goal or not (we will talk more about the purpose in a minute).

But that does not mean that keyword research is an outdated process. Let me explain:

Keyword research tells you which topics people care about and if you think you are using the right SEO tool, how popular those topics are among your audience. The username here is topics - by researching keywords that get the highest search volume per month, you can see and edit your content in the topics you want to create content for. After that, you can use these headings to specify which keywords you want and targeted.

By researching keywords by their popularity, search volume, and general purpose, you can answer the questions most people in your audience want answers to.

How to Search Keywords for Your SEO Strategy

I will set out a keyword research process that you can follow to help you come up with a list of keywords that you should be targeting. That way, you will be able to develop and implement a strong keyword strategy that helps you find the search terms you care about.

Step 1: Make a list of important, relevant topics based on what you know about your business.

To begin this process, think about the topics you want to measure in terms of standard buckets. You will come up with about 5-10 topic buckets that you think are important for your business, and then use those title buckets to help you come up with some key words over time.

If you are a regular blogger, these are probably the topics you blog about most of the time. Or maybe it’s the topics that come up most in sales conversations. Put yourself in the shoes of your consumer personas - what types of topics might target your target audience that you would like your business to be found in? If you were a company like HubSpot, for example - you sell marketing software (which probably has some amazing SEO tools ... but I'm throwing it down), you might have standard topic buckets like:

"incoming marketing" (21K)

• "blogging" (19K)

• "email marketing" (30K)

• "leading generation" (17K)

"SEO" (214K)

"Social Media Marketing" (71K)

"Marketing analytics" (6.2K)

"Automatic marketing" (8.5K)

See those numbers in parentheses to the right of each keyword? That is their monthly search volume. This data allows you to measure how important these topics are to your audience, and how many different subtitles you may need to create content to be successful with that keyword. To learn more about these topics, we move on to step 2 ...

Step 2: Fill in the title buckets with keywords.

Now that you have a few buckets of topics you want to focus on, it's time to find some key words that fall into those buckets. These are keyword phrases that you think are important to rank in the SERPs (search engine results pages) because your targeted customer is likely to perform a search for those specific terms.

For example, if I had taken that bucket for the last article for an income-generating software company - "commercial consumer" - I would have discussed keyword phrases that I think people would type related to that topic. That may include:

• automated marketing tools

• How to use marketing software

• what is the use of marketing?

• How can you say I need automated sales software

• lead feeding

• Changing emails

• Advanced automation tools

 And so on and so forth. The point of this step is not to come up with your own list of keyword phrases. You just want to get rid of brainstorming phrases that you think your customers might be using to search for content related to that particular bucket. We'll narrow down the lists over time in the process so you don't have anything too uncontrollable.

While many keywords are hidden by Google on a daily basis, one clever way to come up with keyword ideas is to find out which keywords your website is already available for. To do this, you will need analytics software such as Google Analytics or HubSpot's Source report, which is available through the Traffic Analytics tool. Scroll down your website sources, and filter your organic search bucket to find the keywords people use to reach your site.

Repeat this activity with as many buckets of articles you have. And remember, if you have trouble figuring out the right search terms, you can always go to their customer service counterparts - those in Sales or Service - and ask them what types of policies their customers and clients use, or general questions they have. That is usually a good idea for great keyword research.

Step 3: Understand How Objective Affects Keyword Research and Appropriate Analysis.

As I said in a previous article, user intent is now one of the most important factors in your ability to rank well in search engines such as Google. Today, it is far more important that your web page addresses the problem that the researcher intended to solve rather than simply managing the search engine keyword. So, how does this affect the keyword research you do?

It is easy to take keywords by face value, and unfortunately, keywords can have many different meanings underground. Because the purpose of the search is very important at the level of your position, you need to be careful how you translate keywords.

Suppose, for example, you were researching the keyword "how to start a blog" with an article you want to create. "Blog" can refer to the blog's post or the website itself, and what search purpose behind that keyword will influence the direction of your article. Does the searcher want to learn how to start an individual post? Or want to know how they can actually launch a website for blogging purposes? If your content strategy only targets people who are interested in the latest, you will need to be sure of the purpose of the keyword before committing to it.

To determine which user’s target is in which keyword, it is a good idea to simply enter this keyword in the search engine yourself, and see which results are visible. Make sure the Google content type is closely related to what you intend to do for the keyword.

Step 4: Search terms related to the search.

This is a creative step that you may have already considered when doing keyword research. If not, it's a good way to fill in the blanks.

If you're having trouble figuring out how many keywords people might want in a particular topic, look for related search terms that appear when you enter a keyword on Google. If you type your phrase and scroll down to Google results, you'll see some search suggestions related to your actual entry. These keywords can generate ideas for other keywords you may want to consider.

 

Want a bonus? Type some of those related search terms and look for their related search terms.

Step 5: Use key research tools to your advantage.

Keyword research and SEO tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Ubersuggest can help you come up with other keyword ideas based on the same keywords and game keywords based on the ideas you have made so far. These exercises can give you some options you may not have thought of.

How to Find and Choose Keywords for Your Website

Once you have an idea of ​​the keywords you want to organize, now is the time to refine your list based on the best of your strategy. Here's what:

Step 1. Understand three key factors in choosing good keywords.

Before you can choose keywords and expect your content to be balanced, you need to lock in keywords for three things:

1. Qualification

Google rides content accordingly. That’s where the idea of ​​a search purpose comes in. Your content will be rated by keyword only if it meets the requirements of the searchers. Additionally, your content should be the best resource out there for the query. After all, why would Google put your content higher if it offered less value than other content available on the web?

2. Authority

Google will provide additional weight to sources it deems authoritative. That means you have to do everything you can to be an authoritative source by enriching your site with useful content, information and promoting that content to get social signals and backlinks. If you are not seen as an authority in space, or if the SERPs of keywords are loaded with heavy resources that you cannot compete with (like Forbes or the Mayo Clinic), you have a lower chance of ranking unless your content is prominent.

3. Volume

You may end up being listed on the front page with a certain keyword, but if no one has ever wanted it, it will not lead to a slope that will help you. Kind of like setting up a store in a ghost town.

Volume is measured by MSV (monthly search volume), which means the number of times a keyword search is performed per month for all audiences.

Step 2: Look for a combination of keywords and long tail words in each bucket.

If you do not know the difference between keywords and long-tail keywords, let me explain. Keywords are usually short and common key phrases - just one to three words in length, depending on who you are talking to. Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, are large keyword phrases usually consisting of three or more words.

It is important to check that you have a combination of headwords and long-tail terms because it will give you a keyword strategy that is well-matched with long-term goals and short-term victories. That is because head lice are often searched for, making them more frequent (not always, but more often) and more difficult to measure long-tail targets. Consider: Regardless of search volume or difficulty, what are some of the keywords that you find difficult to put into words?

1.how to write a good blog post

2. blogging

If you answered # 2, you are absolutely right. But do not be discouraged. While keywords often boast a high search volume (meaning high traffic capacity), frankly, the traffic you will get from the word "how to write a good blog post" is often highly desirable.

Why?

Because someone who is looking for something specific may not be searching for a more relevant search for your product or service (you think you are in a blogging space) than someone who is looking for something specific. And because long-tailed keywords tend to be more specific, it is often easier to tell what those who are looking for those keywords really are. Someone searching for the keyword "blogging," on the other hand, can search for all the reasons not related to your business.

So check your list of keywords to make sure you have a healthy mix of keywords and long-tail keywords. You certainly want to win fast that the long-tail keywords will give you, but you should also try to get the hardest words out of your head over time.

Step 3: See how competitors are ranked with these keywords.

Just because a competitor does something doesn't mean he needs it. The same goes for keywords. Just because a keyword is important to your competitor does not mean that it is important to you. However, understanding what keywords your competitors are trying to classify is a great way to help you give your list of keywords another test.

If your competitor is ranked with certain keywords in your list, then, it really makes sense to work on improving your ranks. However, do not ignore the seemingly insignificant ones of your rivals. This would be a good opportunity for you to have a market share in key terms, too.

Understanding the balance of terms that can be very difficult due to competition, compared to those real words, will help you maintain the same balance allowed by the combination of long tails and head words. Remember, the goal is to keep a list of keywords that provide instant winnings but also to help you progress to bigger and more challenging SEO goals.

How do you find out which competitors' keywords are at your level, you ask? In addition to searching for keywords in an incognito browser and seeing what your competitors are up to, Ahrefs lets you run great free reports that show the top domain keywords you enter. This is a quick way to get an idea of ​​the types of goals your characters are listed for.

Step 4: Use Google's Keyword Planner to cut your list of keywords.

Now that you've got the right combination of keywords, it's time to narrow down your list to specific details. You have a lot of tools to do this, but let me share some of my favorite ways.

I would like to use the Google Keyword Planner integration (you will need to set up an ad account)