When dealing with SEO one of the most critical factors will be finding keywords that represent your business. So, how does one go about this important step? As business owners, it’s logical to just think of words you would type to find your business. This is a misconception. The same word you think represents your business won’t always match a stranger’s. This can be true if someone is not familiar with your industry. Many people will come up with keywords only to get upset if they don’t see results. Below are some tips and tricks to get the results you desire.
Brainstorm
A good way to begin is to brainstorm some keywords that relate to your business. This will ensure that you have a template going forward. You don’t necessarily have to use what you come up with but it’s a great starting point.
Research for Finding Keywords
Once you’ve compiled your keywords, you can start your research. However this does not entail going to google and typing in keywords to see results. Keep in mind this will only show you results based on your search history and location. Don’t expect to see the same thing that someone completely different will see. The problem you’ll run into with this type of research is the lack of information. There are three different factors to take into consideration when choosing a keyword. Go to Google Keyword Planner and check the following:
- Search Volume: Search volume shows how many people search for a keyword. You’ll want to find keywords with a high search volume and a low rate of search competition. However, finding long-tail keywords that appeal to your target audience with low competition can also be an effective strategy.
- Keyword Difficulty: Keyword difficulty is an assessment of how hard it is to compete for that keyword. If it’s too competitive, you will most likely not rank for it. It can be difficult for a small business to compete with some of the more prominent corporations when it comes to SEO; finding keywords that are less challenging but just as useful is ideal.
- Search Results: When researching your keyword and looking at its top ten results, are the businesses comparable? Do they offer similar products and services? If not, then consider a different search topic. The other consideration here when looking at the actual search results is if you think you can compete with the competition that ranks higher. If the top ten spots are filled with companies who are spending hundreds of thousands on SEO every year, the chance of ranking high is severely diminished.
When coming up with a keyword, ask these 3 things. Are people searching for it, is it accessible, and is it pertinent? Another question you’ll want to ask yourself is, “Does your keyword check all these boxes”? If not, that’s when research comes in, and you’ll need the proper tools to get the job done.
Keyword Research Tools
When trying to do your SEO, many people aren’t willing to spend extra money on the right tools. But just like any job, you can’t use nails without a hammer. Here are some popular tools you can get to make sure you are getting the results you desire. Some notable ones to consider can be found below.
- Semrush- This is an all-in-one tool suite for improving online visibility and discovering marketing insights. With a free account, you can still use many tools, but you will be limited in your ability to pull the complete data and use other tools.
- Google Trends- is an online tool that helps users visualize and discover trends in people’s search behavior within Google Search, Google News, Google Images, Google Shopping, and YouTube. It is a handy tool for reviewing the success of a company’s SEO strategy.
- Yoast- The Yoast SEO plugin makes meeting the highest technical SEO standards easy for your site. It also gives you the tools to bring your content to the highest SEO and overall readability standards.
- Ahrefs Keyword Generator– com is a well-known toolset for backlinks and SEO analysis. This Site Audit tool will analyze your website for common SEO issues & monitor your SEO health over time. It will keep you notified of new & lost backlinks, web mentions, and keyword rankings.
What to do when each tool gives you different results.
Unfortunately, this is bound to happen. Every tool has its algorithm that creates results for you. None of them are without flaws and you will get different results. Some advice is to review the results you get from the various tools and evaluate the keywords you want to use based on the information from all of them. They usually won’t be incredibly different. But if one says that the keyword will be difficult, and another says it’ll be easy, then maybe you need to look at a third to make an informed decision.
