Top tips for SEO keyword phrase research

Back

16-05-2018

Understanding how your customers find you on search engines is one of the most important factors for SEO keyword research.

There is no point in optimising your website for keyword phrases that generate very little traffic unless your product or service is very targeted.

The goal of keyword research is to understand what your potential customers are typing into search engines to find the services or products you sell.

In most cases, there is no point in trying to rank high for ultra-competitive keywords. This will simply lead to lots of work and very little return.

Why not check out the video below where I show you how to use Ubersuggest which is a FREE online keyword research tool.

What is Semantic?

Semantic is what people call a smart search, Semantic search tools are used to gathers the meaning behind a search from a user’s point of perspective.

Semantic search was brought to us by Google Hummingbird update.

Seo operations have changed over the years, and they continue to change still to this day. Do right by yourself and get rid of all your outdated operations and replace them with new, up to date versions that will allow you to optimise your SEO strategy.

With the introduction of text to speech on smartphones, user's can now speak what they what to search for. When we type a search and speak a search we tend to phrase the search keyword differently.

Example Typed Search: local Indian takeaway

Speech Search: What are the local Indian takeaways near me

As you can see from above the speech search contains are words. It's a simple fact that not having to type is result in a user creating a more definitive search query.

What are the peaks?

Niche Targets - As mentioned above there is no point in trying to optimise a website for very competitive keywords, not to say that is cannot be a long term strategy but it would make sense that you look at more niche keywords which may not generate as much traffic but can be optimised more quickly results is some qualified traffic visiting your website.

For example, if you tried to rank high for "Light Bulbs" the number of search results returned form Google would be 255,000,000

For a more niece keyword like "Low Energy Light Bulbs" the number of search results returned from google would be 48,400,000 

Based on the above you can see the fewer search results returned from Google for the longer keyword phrase. 

Selecting the correct keyword should be your first and most important SEO strategy.   

Search Pattern Insight - Using tools like Google Trends and help you understand what people are searching for. The world is constantly changing and it should be your goal to stay one step ahead of your competitors.

Google trends gives you the tools to analyse the top user search queries across multiple regions and languages.  

On Point Topics - Keeping your keyword strategy up-to-date is important for long term rankings. For example, technology changes constantly, what is current tech today is old tat tomorrow. Understanding how your business services or products will evolve and give you a leading edge over your competitors as you can plan a keyword strategy well in advance.

Making Assumptions - The golden rule for a good keyword strategy is to do good research, assuming a keyword phase is good is not a wise move. Many times I find myself thinking I have a super keyword to optimise for on my website, everything is telling me to start working on it ASAP but when I go and research the phrase I find an alternative which is almost the same but just a little different, the result is a better keyword phrase and more targeted website visitors.

The Thoughts.

1. Anywhere you hear the word ‘ stuffing’ in the SEO world, keep well away, it carries a bad smell and will no doubt bring you bad luck.
2. Remember you are writing for human beings, not robots.
3. Be honest with yourself and your followers, after all, they're the ones giving you the ranking.
4. Do not rely on keyword research alone to get you to the top. You have to be willing to do those on-page and off-page optimisation tasks as well.

Take a look at the infographic by OVT Keywords for more useful tips.

(Click to enlarge infographic)

Article created by: DCP London Web Designers