If you are new in the world of eCommerce, you must have surely heard of making your website SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly to get more customers. In the online world, where the majority of traffic comes through the text typed in the search engine’s search box, SEO is a deciding factor in your business’ fate.
Keyword research plays a crucial role in SEO copywriting and SEO strategy. Before you curate your website’s content, you need to research what your audience is searching for. The words users use in the search engine are called keywords. Based on this keyword research, you can write SEO based interactive and high-quality content.
In this blog, we shall discuss the importance of keyword research and the steps involved in it.
What is a Keyword?
A keyword (often called a focus keyword) is a word that best describes the content on your webpage. It is a search term that helps your page rank. So, when the users search for a particular keyword in Google or any search engine, they would find your page ranking online.
Suppose you sell mobile phones online. You share a blog on your website about what one should look for while buying a mobile phone and share reviews about the mobiles phones on your website. While creating the content, you must ask yourself:
- What search terms or keywords do you wish to be found for?
- Which keywords do your competitors use in their content?
- What your search query looks like?
Choose the keyword that best describes your product or product page. Notably, a keyword is not just a single word. You can use a mix of keywords, phrases, or multiple words. So, when we talk about keyword, most of the times it is more than just one word.
Why Are Keywords Important?
Content is an important part of a webpage that helps it rank. Google looks at the words of the page and accordingly ranks the page. For example, you wish to rank a page targeting the keyword mobile phone, and you have used the keyword only twice on the page. Then all the words on the page are of equal importance.
Google will have no clue of which words are important and which are not important. The words you use tell Google and other search engines what your page is about. So, if you wish to make Google understand what your webpage is about, you need to use the keyword often.
Keywords are not only important for Google or other search engines. But they are important for the users as well, such as visitors and potential clients. In your content, you should always focus on the users. With the help of SEO, you can get people to land on your website with the help of a keyphrase. Get in the heads of your audience and find out the keywords they use when searching for a specific item.
If you use the wrong keywords, you will get zero or fewer visitors than what you require. Why? Because your webpage content doesn’t match with what your audience is searching for. However, if you use the words that users search for, your business can benefit greatly from it.
In a nutshell, your choice of keywords should reflect what the users are searching for. With wrong keywords, you will get the wrong audience or none at all. This is why having the right keyword is important.
Important Concepts of Keyword Research
There are some important concepts related to keyword research that you must know:
Focus Keyword
A focus keyword is a word or phrase you wish your web page to be found for in Google or other search engines. You can perform keyword research to determine the set of focus keywords for your website.
Long Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are specific keywords that are less searched for than the head keywords. Long-tail keywords focus on a niche. Longer keywords are specific keywords and make it easier for a page to rank since they face less competition. Even though fewer people search for long-tail keywords, they can motivate customers to buy, subscribe, or sign up.
Keyword Strategy
The keyword strategy is to choose a list of keywords to target based on the keyword research. What content are you going to create? Which keywords will you use for it – head or tail? Where will you publish the content? All these answers will help you with keyword research.
Search Intent
Knowing the users’ search intent is key. You need to discover what the users search for. Don’t just look for keywords, but understand the users’ intent behind searching those keywords. Comprehend whether the users want to buy the product or just know about it. Try to provide a solution to the searchers through your content.
How Is Keyword Research Done?
In this part, we will guide you through the process of carrying out keyword research:
Identify Your Goals
Before you start with your research, think about your goals. What is the main goal of your organization, and what makes it different? Who are you trying to reach – who is your target audience? Take some time out and write down your goals. You must answer all these questions as it is the first step of the keyword strategy.
Some markets are highly competitive while some are not. Some markets are dominated by big players. Some businesses have huge budgets for marketing and SEO. Competing against them and ranking your page is tough.
So, if you are starting in a competitive market, you can start small. Start with a small part of your niche, and with time, go bigger.
List of Keywords
Next step is creating a list of keyphrases or keywords. You can sort them out as per your mission. What are the users looking for? How they search for the products using different keywords? Which problem do your products solve? Provide answers to as many questions as you can. This will help with choosing the search terms that you must use.
Keyword Research
There are several tools that you can use for research keywords. Some are free like, Google Trends, while others are paid. Through these tools, you can check which keywords are getting the highest searches and which are not getting any. You will also get the variations of the keywords, synonyms, and related keywords. You can add relevant keywords in your list. As per the list, you can plan your keyword planner.
But remember that keyword research and SEO are an ongoing process, i.e., keywords that are ranking now may not rank tomorrow. So, keep researching the keywords and accordingly update the content. Ensure that you are up-to-date and accurate with your keywords.
The Final Say
Once you have completed your keyword research and implemented them on your webpage and website, search engines will have a better idea of your website. It will help you match better with the correct searches. It takes time for your content (webpage) to rank once you have implemented all the keywords. So, have patience and wait for wonders to happen.
