No SEO process is complete without keyword research, be it in DIY SEO or a professional SEO agency in the Philippines. Keyword research is a crucial part of any SEO strategy as it helps you understand the language of your target audience when searching online. Identifying profitable keywords for your business is a must, and with the right keyword research practices, your business can reach more effectively.
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What is ‘Keyword Research’ Exactly?
Keyword research is simply the process and activity of determining the most valuable keywords or search terms for specific optimization use. Keyword research will lay the foundation and serve as direction for your SEO strategy, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns, content development, and even copywriting.
Understand that keywords exactly consist of a single word or several words. For example, “shoes” can be a keyword, but it is also true for “affordable shoes in marikina.”
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How to Find the Best Keyword for Your Business?
The process of keyword research for your SEO strategy or content marketing campaign is a meticulous one and requires analyzing of obtained data (keywords or search phrases). Here is the process of finding the best keywords to maximize your online presence and connect with your target audience better:
Analyze Your Business Niche & End Goals
Study and learn the topics of your business niche. As an entrepreneur, you need to ask yourself:
- What is the nature of your business?
- What products or services do you offer?
- Who are your target customers, and what are their online search behaviors?
By answering these questions, you gain a clear understanding of your niche to help you identify the most profitable keywords for SEO and content strategy. It can also help you find angles and creative ideas for your marketing effort.
Additionally, you need to identify and define your end goal. Are you trying to increase your website traffic, and generate more leads? Or maybe sell a product or service, improve brand awareness, or something else? Your end goals will significantly influence your strategy and planning direction. Your target keywords should align with your established end goals, providing a benchmark for keyword performance and success in reaching your objectives.
Know the Different Types of Search Intent
There are four main types of user intent:
- Informational (the user wants to find information)
- Navigational (the user wants to go to a specific website)
- Transactional (the user wants to buy something or use a service)
- Commercial investigation (the user wants to compare products or services before making a purchase decision)
By considering user intent in your keyword research, you can predict what your audience is looking for and provide them with the answer or solution. In return, it will attract users at each stage of the customer journey. Furthermore, aligning your keywords with these search intents can increase your content and website’s relevancy and boost conversion rates.
Create a List of Keywords
After understanding your business niche and the different types of search intent, it’s time to create a list of potential keywords. First, start by brainstorming topics related to your niche. For example, if you are running a bakery store, your topics might include something like “vegan cakes,” “dairy-free desserts,” “birthday cakes,” and so on.
From these topics, you can create or generate more specific keywords that your target audience might use to find your business. For example, for an online bakery store that provides delivery services in Manila, you can use “cake delivery in manila” or “cake delivery services manila.”
To make it easier, you can use online tools, like Google’s Keyword Planner, which is ideal for beginners and starters in keyword research and is free to use. You can read here for Google’s official guide to using the Keyword Planner. On the other hand, you can also opt for trials, such as Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool, which provides more advanced and comprehensive keyword research for better results.
Know & Identify Search Volume
Search volume is crucial after creating your list of potential keywords. Search volume is a metric that refers to the average number of times a keyword is entered and searched in a search engine, like Google, in a given time frame. The higher the search volume, the more often users search for a keyword, which indicates a keyword “popularity” among your target audience. Low search volume means fewer search queries on search engines, resulting in less search traffic.
For example, the keyword “shoes online” may have a higher search volume than “affordable shoes online with delivery.” However, low search volume may not always be negative, and this is where one can make strategies for finding the best keywords.
Analyze the Competition
While higher search volume might be appealing, it’s vital to know that popular keywords also entail high competition. Keyword competition is something we must understand.
Keyword competition refers to the measure of difficulty for a keyword to rank due to a number of factors, such as:
Search Volume
High search volume keywords tend to have higher competition as more websites try to rank for them.
Commercial Value
Keywords with high commercial value (i.e., those with high potential to convert searchers into customers) often have high competition.
Number of Advertisers
The number of advertisers bidding for a keyword in paid search can also affect its competitiveness in organic search.
Trending Topics
Keywords related to trending topics or current events can suddenly become highly competitive.
Relevance
The more relevant a keyword is to a company’s products or services, the higher the competition, as more businesses in the same industry will try to rank for it.
Seasonality
Some keywords may become more competitive at different times of the year, such as during holiday seasons or other peak times for a particular industry.
You can manually check your competition by searching your potential keywords in a browser window. Doing this will show you which websites were at the top for these keywords. You can also use Google Keyword Planner, Keyword Magic Tool, and other SEO tools to provide a decent competition metric and data insights.
A well-rounded keyword strategy often includes a mix of high and low-competition keywords. High-competition keywords might be challenging to rank for. However, they can drive a high volume of traffic. On the other hand, keywords with lesser competition might have lower search volume, but they can be a great way to start ranking and attracting traffic to your site, and users there have more actionable search intent.
Identify Long-Tail Keywords
Given the high amount of competition for popular keywords, one of the most easily overlooked yet highly effective strategies is to focus on long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are phrases that are typically longer, with at least more than three words longer. They are more specific than short ones (which tends to result in a broader niche and audience). But long-tail keywords allow you to target more niche audiences and often have lower competition. It increases your chances of attracting users with a clear intent to purchase and increasing conversion, leading to quality traffic.
For example, instead of targeting a highly competitive keyword like ” online shoes,” you could focus on a long-tail keyword like “online athlete shoes delivery in quezon city”. While the latter may have a lower search volume, it also likely has less competition and targets a more specific, potentially more motivated audience.
You can find long-tail keywords by thinking about the specific needs and search behaviors of your target audience. Tools like Google’s Keyword Planner and SEMrush’s Keyword Magic Tool can also help you identify potential long-tail keywords.
Conclusion
Discovering the best keywords for your business isn’t a straightforward process. It consists of laborious efforts, but with the right strategies and plenty of research at hand, you can make it worthwhile to leverage your online business’s presence and win your target audience. Each step of the way in your keyword research is a step closer to forming a robust SEO strategy. To maximize results for long-term benefits, professional assistance can be invaluable.
Don’t hesitate to contact or call us today at (02) 8283 3168 for comprehensive digital marketing and SEO services catered to your unique business needs.
