In order to attract more visitors, we need to learn how to find the terms and phrases (called keywords) that users are using to search on the web. We must understand how to find keywords, and decide which keywords to target with SEO. If you want to make money, to find profitable keywords is the key. Keyword research is one of the most important parts of SEO, and the key to succeed in online business.
Before you register a domain or start optimizing your website for the search engines, you must first know which keywords you want to target. For beginners, it is recommended to choose 3 to 4 keywords for your website to rank well for. These keywords can be either general or specific, depending on what your products or services your website offers. With the target keywords in your mind, try to tweak your website to rank in the top search results page on Google for each of them since if your website ranks well in Google, your site will rank well on the other search engines.
Types of Keywords
General keywords (short tail keywords)
A lot of people use a general keyword when they search on the web, therefore a general keyword usually has a high search volume. General keywords are relatively short and are not very specific (e.g. “dog” or “cat”). To rank well for these keywords is difficult. However, if your site can rank well for a general keyword, your site will be receiving a great amount of traffic. General keywords are very competitive to rank well for, however, they are valuable for bringing traffic to your site. Some industries are not so competitive compared with others, and so do the general keywords in the industries.
Specific keywords (medium tail and long tail keywords)
A specific keyword contains adjectives or words that make the search very targeted. The people doing these types of searches know exactly what they are searching for (e.g. “organic dog food”). These keywords are relative longer than general keywords, depending on the word length, they are called medium tail or long tail keywords. Compared to general keywords, medium tail and long tail keywords are much less competitive and are easier to rank for on search engines. The downside is that they receive much less volume of searches. However, since these keywords are highly targeted, they have much better conversion rate.
Unique keywords
These are the words that are specific to your business such as the brand names of your products and/or services. They are the easiest ranking keywords to get traffic. When you release a new product or service with a unique name, remember to use the name as a keyword to optimize your website. Otherwise, your competitors can pick up the slack and take over the top rankings for these terms. If you have a popular brand or product, make sure that you have optimized for these freebie keywords.
In addition, we must understand that users can use some random terms or phrases when they search, so some of the “keywords” are impossible to predict. A combined use of general (short tail) and specific (medium and long tail) keywords in your content, and write your content naturally will ensure that your content gets ranked on search engines and attracts more visitors.
Keyword Research Tools
There are free and paid keyword research tools that can help you find about keyword demand and decide which keywords to target and how competitive they are.
The following are some of them.
- Google Adwords’ Keyword Estimator
- Google Insights for Search
- Google Trends (Keyword Demand Prediction)
- Wordtracker’s Free Basic Keyword Research
Researching keywords for your website is integral to your online marketing strategies, because keywords bring valuable search traffic to your site. Using keyword research tools are must for you to find out and decide which keyword your website to target.
However, there is uncertainty in all keyword research tools due to Search Engine Companies such as Google do not release their actual search data, and searchers use random words or phrases to search as well. It is recommended to use as many different keyword research sources as you can. Even with multiple keyword research tools, you still should take the research data as a recommendation, rather than a fact. Helpful keyword research tools will give you a general idea of which keywords you should target when making and optimizing your websites.
Related posts:
- Niche Keyword Research: How To Brainstorm Keywords
- Niche Keyword Research: The Most Critical Part for Building a Niche Website
- Search Engine Optimization for Beginners
- Search Engine Ranking Factors in 2011
- How to Submit Website to Search Engines
I a have wording for years trying to figure out how to use keyword properly in my articles but after reading this I am now certainly have an idea what to start doing.