SEO keywords are the keyphrases or keywords added to online content to improve its search engine rankings. These keywords are usually discovered during the keyword research process and picked based on three factors:
- Commercial intent
- Competition
- Search volume
SEO keyword research is important in optimizing content as keywords are used by people searching in search engines. Keywords can help a website rank higher using these terms in content. Ranking higher in Search Engine Result Pages drives more traffic to a website. Thus, finding keywords people search for is the number one step of any SEO campaign.
SEO is impossible without these keywords. But, when you have the right keywords, you should start working on the essential SEO tasks.
The nature of keyword research
Keyword research is constantly fast in changing the search landscape. The process is finding and analyzing the search terms people are searching in search engines. Keyword research uncovers the following:
- queries to target
- the popularity of these questions
- ranking difficulty and more
How important keyword research is?
Keyword research helps in your SEO plan. It identifies the questions that the target audience searches on Google. Also, it can determine who the competitors are and where specific areas you can rank for. Understanding the search terms informs your content strategy, including the larger marketing strategy.
People are using keywords to find solutions when performing research online. So, if the content gets in front of the audience, you start gaining more traffic. Thus, you must target those searchers with content featuring those keywords.
Advantages of keyword research
Performing a keyword research has a lot of benefits, including:
- Marketing trend insight. Effective keyword research provides insights into the current marketing trends. It also helps focus your content on the relevant topics and the keywords the audience looks for.
- Traffic growth. Identifying the best-fitting keywords for the content you have published has the higher you will rank in the search engine results.
Elements of Keyword Research
The three main elements when conducting keyword research are:
- Relevance. Google will rank your content for relevance, which is a concept of search intent that comes into the image. The content ranks for the keyword if it meets the needs of the searches. The content must be the best resource for the question. Google would not rank the content as highly if it never provided a better value than the competitors.
When starting an SEO business that specializes in small businesses, you may presume that SEO tips would be the most relevant key.
- Authority. Google provides more weight to sources deemed authoritative. Your website can become an authoritative source by enhancing the site with informative and helpful content. The content earns backlinks and social signals. You can’t compete when your website is not seen as authoritative or if the keyword’s SERPs are loaded with heavy sources. Also, it has a lower chance of ranking.
- Volume. You may rank on the first page, but if nobody searches for it, you will not see any traffic. You can measure the volume of keyword research by monthly search volume. It means the number of times the keyword is searched monthly across all audiences.