When it comes to keyword research, it isn’t only selecting search terms that are high in volume. It isn’t only about building links and ranking for single keywords either, it’s the foundation of successful SEO campaigns if done correctly! As long as you do the keyword research right, you’ll be able to rank high for your pages, bringing you more traffic.
But as we continue to experience updates and new algorithms, it can get quite confusing as to what you should begin following. With that being said, read on as I show you how to do keyword research properly this 2019 for better results.
Finding Keywords to Drive Traffic
When targeting long-tail topics, you can rank better and drive quality traffic to your site. But take note, these keywords aren’t just about the word length. These keywords are queries that have LOW individual search volume, but as a group, it has a large search demand.
When looking for a long-tail topic, ask yourself these questions:
- How much search traffic do pages get?
- What keywords help with better search traffic and how many of it?
The quickest way to look for long-tail topics is by looking at your competitors’ pages, which generate the most traffic. There are a variety of tools that help you do this, such as Ahref’s Site Explorer.
All you need to do is to submit your competitors’ domain name, then check the Top Pages report. You’ll be able to see necessary data, such as the:
- Traffic
- Keywords
- Top Keywords
- Volume
- Position
You can adjust everything according to your niche. Once you’re done looking at the data, check out competing domains to see which websites share your similar keyword rankings.
Note that there is never a shortage of topics, but the question is: Can you rank well on it?
The 9-Step Process to Keyword Research
Now that you know about targeting the right keywords for traffic, what else should you know about keyword research? Here’s a helpful 9-step process for better success in selecting keywords today:
- Check the Potential
Once you’ve already come up with a topic, check that topic’s clicks, search volume, and the traffic potential. Again, you can use various tools to do this, like Ahref’s Site Explorer. Doing so can help you evaluate the chances of how your topics would rank, also depending on the keywords you’ll get.
- Look at the Competitors
When you already have the necessary data from your chosen topic, check out your competitors this time. Look at all their traffic-generating pages, which can further add to what other topics you can write about.
It’s not exactly copying your competitors’ content, but finding inspiration and writing about something similar. Make sure that you find a twist to your content to avoid copying anything, which search engines and users hate.
- Identify Your Search Intent
Identify what the search intent for your chosen keywords is to see how well they can do once the content’s published. You can do this by checking the top ten search results on Google when searching for the keywords.
You can then check out what the results are all about to give you a gist on how they became the top.
- Does It Fulfill Your Intent?
Now think about how you’ll be able to serve the search intent. If you can do it, then begin assessing the ranking difficulty. But if not, then start again with a new topic and keyword list.
- Manually Assess the Ranking
Tools would usually have Keyword Difficulty scores, though I suggest you assess the difficulty on your own for better results.
When doing so, ensure that you check the link quality and other on-page factors of top ranking pages similar to your topic. Can you build higher quality and more links than they do?
But also, remember that linking isn’t everything, your goal is to rank high on all your keywords for search traffic.
- Identify What Common Keywords Top Pages Rank In
The usual purpose for content gap analysis is searching for competitor keyword ranking, then analyzing what keywords they rank and what you don’t.
You can do this by using tools to find out the top ranking pages of your target keyword. This gives you an idea of what you can write on for content.
- Outline Your Content Around Chosen Keywords
Don’t only see the keywords you find as a list, but as inspiration to make your content online. You can incorporate all webpages’ content into yours, whether it’s the idea or outline.
Ensure that you have the content that doesn’t just have the keywords, but the relevant content people will appreciate. Your aim is for high-quality traffic and conversion rates, rather than have people see the same old content or keyword-stuffed article. Content is always king in search results, with keywords helping your quality articles be seen.
- Build Your Links
Once you have your content, start buildings links to it, which helps boost organic search traffic. Add relevant and high-authority links to your content. Also, once published, encourage others to share and add your link to their webpages, too!
- Monitor and Repeat
Now that you’ve done your part and published the content, monitor the progress and see what you need to improve on. Repeat the keyword research process for your next post, with added insights from your last published content.
Wrapping It Up
Keyword research is, and will always be, a crucial factor to improve your traffic, both organic and from search engines. Fortunately, there are various companies like Geelong Joel House SEO to help improve your keywords. However, it’s still crucial to learn more about how keyword research works to continue positive results even beyond the campaign.
I hope this article on keyword research this 2019 helped you out. So don’t wait any longer and begin strategizing for better SEO campaigns now!
If you have any questions or want to share your tips and experiences on keyword research, then comment below. Your thoughts are much appreciated.
