How to Choose the Right Keywords for SEO?
Choosing the “right” keywords for SEO can be a daunting task at times. We know you want to rank for the most competitive of keywords right from the start, right? Well, let’s not rush ahead here too much. We still have to lay down the groundwork for a lot of our success within the realm of SEO. This also includes choosing the right keywords and avoiding the wrong keywords. In this post, we’ll go over how to tackle both subjects and what you can do to best position your website above your competitors over time with proper keyword research techniques and tips.
First Off, Let’s Go Over: “What is a Keyword?”
A keyword is simply an identifier for search engines to query with a command request. It could be something as simple as a search query of “tacos Austin, Texas”, or something as elaborate as “Where is the best breakfast taco in Austin, Texas?”. The former is a short-tail keyword, the latter is a long-tail keyword or keyphrase. Typically, short-tail keywords are much more difficult to rank due in large part to their broad nature of search parameters. Long-tail keywords are typically easier to rank for due to their specificity and more defined search parameters.
Focus on the True Potential of Your Keywords
Whichever keywords or keyphrases you choose to target, you’ll want to select keywords which pertain to problem solving for your potential clients or customers. Problem solving is key in any business, yet it’s especially important when you consider the positive impact your business could have on your customer or client base. The true potential of your targeted keywords is virtually limitless when the correct practices are applied. Ranking for just a handful of high-quality, user-focused keywords could bring life-changing revenue to your business in some cases and have the potential to help your business grow rapidly over time.
Creating Content Which Aligns with Your Brand, Your Goals, & User Search Intent
Crafting content which aligns with your brand, your goals as a business, and your users’ search intent can be tricky sometimes, yet you’ll always want to focus on these three aspects to ensure you’re utilizing SEO to its full capacity. Content is king, and content without these three factors your content could just be “average” content. We don’t want that, right? Right!
Realizing the Full Business Potential of Your Keywords
There’s a difference between realizing the potential of a good keyword, and realizing the full business potential of a good keyword. The former is when you’re casually creating a blog post surrounding a certain keyword or keyphrase. The latter is when you truly maximize the potential of a keyword or keyphrase and squeeze every last ounce of SEO power out of it. We can help with the latter, no problem!
Choose Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords First for Easy Wins
Every content plan needs a starting point. Just as when one trains for a marathon, they don’t jump into running 26 miles per day to train. The same goes with SEO efforts and keyword selection. You’ll want to choose a keyword which has low KD (keyword difficulty) and decent to high monthly search volume (100 – 500 searches per month). This way, you’re able to have quick, easy wins right off the bat and not be shooting for the stars, where you’re hoping for a “Hail Mary” success story. Stick to the basics at first, and you’ll eventually be able to build up towards a loftier goal of targeting higher KD search terms with equally higher monthly search volume.
Do the Keyword Research, Everything Else Will Follow Suit
As long as you do the keyword research correctly from the beginning, everything else will follow suit with our content production plans. Creating content, just to simply create content, while great for the purists out there, will ultimately not move the needle in the right direction fast enough. If you want to incorporate SEO into your repertoire of digital marketing tools, you’ll need to approach it strategically. Choosing the right keywords for SEO is the first step in this process. Feel free to contact us using the form below if you’d like to begin discussing how we can help your business grow with excellent keyword research and SEO efforts!