Developing an SEO Keyword Strategy
You must have heard the statement, ‘Content is King, but it is essential to realize that content holds this coveted position only when it is backed by a strong SEO keyword strategy.
But before we delve deeper into the nuances of keyword strategy, let us first talk about what exactly a keyword is.
A keyword is a term that can either be a word or a group of words that people enter into a search engine to look for relevant information. In general, it is a belief that if users ‘search phrases’ match the keywords in your content, the content page will show up in the search results. However, simply stuffing keywords into your content is not the right technique to make your page or website range higher in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).
For that to happen, you need to develop a well-thought-through SEO keyword strategy to attain the goals you have envisaged for your website. So, read on to further understand what exactly is a keyword strategy, its benefits, and how to go about it in the most effective way.
What is a keyword strategy:
A website or business needs to have a competent SEO strategy in place in order to achieve varied goals like driving organic traffic to the website, improving search engine rankings, and boosting conversions.
An SEO keyword strategy is a meticulously devised long-term plan that entails researching, analyzing, and determining the most effective keywords to target in your content.
The keyword strategy needs to consider the target audience, content to be created, and the competitive landscape and then settle on appropriate keywords that are informative and specific to the page content.
Steps to developing a keyword strategy
Now that you know what an effective SEO keyword strategy is, let us discuss some key steps in developing a keyword strategy to attract the right audience to your page.
1. Identify your SEO Goals
Before you go ahead with devising an SEO keyword strategy, you need to think through your optimization intent and identify your SEO goals.
Primarily, you need to decide the following:
Do you want more traffic on your website (i.e. improved visibility)?
Are you focused on increasing your conversion rates?
For instance, some businesses are looking out for more visibility by driving traffic to their pages and are okay with the visitors that are seeking some information and may convert in the longer run.
But, consider a furniture company in Burlington that deals explicitly with vintage wooden furniture and sells online. In this case, driving mere traffic to their website won’t do any good to their business. They need to formulate a keyword strategy focusing on relevant keywords that helps drive prospective buyers to their website.
Hence, a business should first assess its short-term and long-term goals and then move further in the keyword research journey.
2. Understand your customer
When developing an SEO keyword strategy, it is essential to understand and empathize with your customer. For this purpose, you can use several research strategies like taking customer surveys, creating focus groups, conducting interviews, and studying data analytics.
By doing research and understanding your customers thoroughly, you can understand the kind of keywords and phrases they use while searching for your product or service.
For instance, if you are an organic beauty brand, you may discover that your customers are searching for phrases such as “ organic beauty brands ” or “ vegan beauty products.”
Also, empathizing is a critical aspect of understanding your customer. You need to analyze why they are looking for a particular product or service and how you can optimally fulfill their needs. So, considering the same organic beauty brand example, the SEO keyword strategy should also incorporate specific keywords like ‘vegan beauty products’ or ‘sulphate-free and paraben-free beauty products’ to showcase your niche and attract qualified traffic explicitly looking for organic and sustainable products.
3. Know your competitors’ performing keywords
An impactful SEO keyword strategy requires knowing your competitors’ targeted keywords. In other words, the SEO keyword strategy you aim to devise already exists on your competitors’ sites. Analyzing their performing keywords can help you to refine your own keyword research and develop a competitive or even better-performing strategy.
For assessing keyword competitiveness, you can leverage various keyword research tools that will help you to analyze search volumes, keyword difficulty, and other crucial metrics to plan an impeccable keyword strategy and create a competitive advantage.
4. Keyword research tools
Keyword research tools provide critical insights into the search terms commonly used by internet users and also play a pivotal role in assessing competitors’ targeted keywords.
One of the most popular and commonly used keyword research tools is Google Keyword Planner, which allows users to research relevant keywords and estimate their average monthly search volumes. Another popular keyword research tool is SEMrush, a paid tool that enables a detailed keyword analysis to accomplish your SEO goals.
In addition to these paid keyword research tools, you can leverage the free options like the “Searches related to” feature on Google search and Google Suggest for assessing the terms commonly used in search queries.
5. Follow a mixed-bag keywords approach
A mixed-bag approach entails using long-tail and short-tail keywords to create a successful SEO Keyword strategy.
Long-tail keywords are more precise, descriptive search terms that are quintessentially used by people who are looking for the exact thing and are more likely to convert into customers. Thereby, by including specific long-tail keywords, you can target a select group of people and increase your conversion rate.
On the other hand, short-tail keywords are more general and shorter search terms. These keywords are usually only one or two words in length and are leveraged to attract a broader range of customers. By including short-tail keywords, you can reach a wider range of people and increase organic traffic.
6. Have a measurement system in place
Lastly, have a measurement system for developing an excellent SEO keyword strategy and boosting your online business. This measurement system should comprise the necessary tracking tools to help you monitor the performance of your keywords on Google Analytics and Google search console.
A proper measurement system can help you track the performance of your SEO efforts. With the critical insights provided by these tools, you can revise your SEO keyword strategy and maximize your returns.
Wrapping Up
Keywords are the foundation of an effective SEO strategy. We hope this blog will help you streamline your keyword research process.
In case you need experts to help to devise an unmatched SEO keyword strategy, get in touch with the SEO team at Klusster Media, who can cater to all your SEO needs, and help you take your business to greater heights.