Hungry for spaghetti and meatballs? If you type “Italian restaurant near me” into your browser, dinner is just a click away. Whether your business serves up pasta or provides consulting services, you need to know which keywords customers are using when they look for your site. Using the right keywords for your posts and pages is important if you want to be found online. In other words, the right keywords will improve your search engine optimization (SEO). So, how do you know what the best keywords are? Read on to learn more!
Why should you optimize for search engines?
Building a website is not just about making it attractive for visitors. You must also make sure visitors can find your site. Research shows that less than 1 percent of searchers using Google venture past the first page and more than half never scroll down past the first three results on page one. So, what should you do? Optimize your posts and pages for search engines!
There are multiple ways to optimize your website, but it all boils down to creating quality content for your audience and making sure they have a great experience while browsing your site. Improve your site speed, have a well-structured website, and write high-quality content that your audience wants to read. And make sure you use the right keywords.
Conduct keyword research
Long-tail keywords
As we mentioned before, you need to know which keywords your customers use when they look for you. That’s why you should always conduct keyword research before choosing keywords. You can increase your chance of ranking higher by using long-tail keywords. These consist of more than one word, and are often less searched for than very obvious and popular keywords. However, less popular also means less competition. Which in turn means a better chance of ranking high.
For example, someone may type in “veterinarians”. This could mean they’re looking for a new pet doctor. We don’t know for sure. However, a person who types in “veterinarians in Boston who treat feline diabetes” is actually looking for a specific solution to their problem and likely needs a vet soon. If you aim for long-tail keywords, your chances of connecting with searchers who are ready to take action are much higher.
Helpful tools
If you’re having trouble coming up with long-tail keywords, we recommend you use one of the following tools to help you out:
1. Google Adwords Keyword Planner
Google Adwords Keyword Planner is a great tool if you want to find new and related keywords. However, you should ignore the search volume data! This data is only useful for keywords that you’re actually going to spend money on to advertise. Be aware that you do need to sign up for an AdWords account. However, you aren’t required to invest in any paid advertising.
Tip: If this is your first time using Google Adwords Keyword Planner, read Razor Social’s Ultimate Guide to Keyword Planner. The author explains how to access the data you need to test keywords and narrow down your research field to boost your competitive advantage.
2. Google Trends
Relevant content is timely, helpful, and interesting. When you’re looking for blog topics and informational tidbits to keep your followers up to date , Google Trends is a great place to start. Select from categories like business, health, tech, entertainment, and sports to find the best keywords for your business or industry.
What’s more, Google Trends allows you to compare traffic for different keywords. You can even see the difference between keywords depending on geographical regions.
3. SEMrush Keyword Research Tool
SEMrush has a useful overview tool that allows you to keep an eye on metrics for any keyword in their database. It shows the search volume, the search intent, different variants and even in what questions the keyword appears! You can also get inspiration from real ads based on your target keywords. In conclusion: SEMrush Keyword Research Tool will give you valuable insights to help you optimize your website and find keywords to write content about.
4. KeywordTool.io
KeywordTool.io can generate more than 750 long-tail keyword suggestions for every search term. Plus, you can specify the Google domain name and language preferences so the suggestions are relevant to your business and audience. You don’t even have to create an account!
Understanding keyword intent
Now that you’ve found a few great (long-tail) keywords, it’s time to look at the search intent for each keyword. What does that mean?
Simply put, whenever someone enters something into a search engine, they’re searching for something. This could be informational, navigational (wanting access to a specific website), transactional (wanting to buy right now), or commercial (researching before buying). For example, commercial keywords could be “discount”, “coupon”, and “buy now”. And phrases like “how to”, “best ways to”, and “I want to” are probably used by people who are looking for information.
It’s good to know what intent people usually have when they use the keyword you want to target. Why? Because it allows you to perfectly align your content with your audience’s intent. If they want information, you should focus on writing informational content. Your audience will be happy, and probably more likely to return to your site!
Keep evaluating
You’ve conducted keyword research and written amazing content that matches the search intent of your audience. What’s next? We recommend you wait a little while before you check your rankings. This way, you get a more accurate result when you look at how your post or pages in Google Search Console.
Want to know more?
Choosing the best keywords takes practice. So don’t worry if you don’t get it right straight away! As long as you remember to always conduct keyword research and write quality content for your audience, you’re already doing great. However, if you’d like additional help improving your site’s SEO, don’t hesitate to contact us.
