The guidelines of keyword research are ever-changing. As Google and other search engines continue to change their rules, picking the proper keywords for your business can be a challenge.
When it comes to SEO (search engine optimization) and other forms of site optimization, there is no substitute for keyword research. In fact, the benefits of keyword research even extend to email marketing. But to reap these keyword research benefits, you have to understand keyword research better and learn to use the right keywords under the prevailing conditions.
Here are some tips on how to pick the perfect keyword(s) for your business.
1. Know How to Strike a Balance
As an expert on SEO for ecommerce rightly says, the way you attract traffic is what separates the successful businesses from the struggling online businesses. This traffic is achieved with the use of the right keywords. The perfect keyword does not just have to be perfect for your website, but for your visitors and search engines as well.
So, while a certain keyword might seem most relevant for the kind of content your site has, it might fail to offer the expected marketing benefits if potential visitors are unlikely to use it in their searches. Similarly, the word has to be considered to be of good quality by search engines like Google to rank better. Therefore, you have to strike the right balance to get the expected outcomes.
2. Find What Keyword Categories Are Popular At The Time
The reason Google’s rules on keywords keep changing is because the web user is constantly changing as well. This can make it difficult for SEO strategists to keep up. For instance, at the moment, users are pretty earnest in their search for discounts, sales, reviews, coupon codes, and comparisons between competing brands. So, your keyword optimization needs to take consideration of such factors to appeal to more customers.
3. Use Keyword Research Tools
Finding a proper repertoire of good keywords is no easy feat; you should use all the help you can get. Fortunately, there are a number of keyword research tools you can use to get better keywords based on what your business industry. For instance, Google Adwords Keyword Planner is a great tool to help you find monthly local and global search volumes for certain keywords so that you know what is trending and what is not.
4. Understand Keyword Types
To find the right keyword, you should make an effort to know more about keyword types. There are three main types of keywords – head, body, and long tail keywords. If you want high search volume, then a header keyword is what works best, as it consists of just 1 or 2 words.
Body keywords are usually 2 to 3 words long, and they offer a good search volume that is neither high nor low. Finally, long tail keywords are over 4 words long and they have low search volume, although they offer better quality traffic.
5. Consider the Specificity of the Keyword
When picking a keyword, the more specific you are, the higher you will rank in search engine results. However, the downside is that a longer keyword makes it less likely that web users will use that specific combination of words in their search. However, these words offer the best chances of conversions.
You can try to optimize shorter keyword phrases to rank high on search engines. Unfortunately, the competition for these keywords will be pretty stiff, and the cost of making yourself stand out for that keyword could be pretty high. Short keywords are also more likely to have a lower chance of conversion.
6. Understand the Purpose of the Keyword
While there is a lot that goes into creating keywords, all of these help you create better and more effective keywords, you should also create keywords based on the end goal you have in mind. For instance, some keywords are good for helping users find your site. These are called navigational keywords. Examples include keywords that include your site name.
Other keywords are simply informational, simply helping web users find answers to certain issues they have about certain things. For instance, this could be a keyword that helps your visitors find a guide on how to shop for a certain kind of electronic or product. In the same way, there are also investigational keywords, which users use when they need a little more information about a product or service before they make a purchase. For instance, such keywords may lead users to content that helps them compare products that are close substitutes.
Finally, you should know about transactional keywords, which users type in when they mean to make a purchase. During these searches, the web user is looking for a place they can buy a particular product. So, you need to fully understand what the particular keyword you are creating hopes to achieve, based on what your site offers and what the users expect of your website. Make sure that your keyword, though effective, gets you the traffic you need to push your business forward.
7. Follow Google’s Suggestion on Keyword Quality Guidelines
Every year, Google has something to say about the quality guidelines for keyword use so that website owners are more effective in the use of these important marketing tools. For instance, in 2017, search keywords with the words “know”, “do”, and “website” were ranked highly as they met many user’s needs.
8. Make Sure You Use LSI Keywords as Well
LSI is short for latent semantic indexing. These words help clarify what the keyword relates to. For instance, when someone searches the word “Casablanca”, the search engine will try to clarify whether they are searching for the movie by this title or the location itself. After they make the choice, words that are more specific to the user’s query will rank higher, therefore, if your site is about shoes, then use LSI keywords that specify that you deal with men’s shoes and so forth for better search and conversion outcomes.
Finding LSI keywords is easy today with the help of LSI keyword generators. Otherwise, you can type the word or phrase you want to turn into LSI keywords on Google’s search bar and then see what suggestions the search engine gives you.
Conclusion
Keywords are very important in e-commerce – their importance cannot be overemphasized. But having a perfect keyword strategy is not easy; there are many moving parts to deal with. However, this guide should make your search for a perfect keyword much easier. With the right keywords, you can rise above your competition and have a more successful online business.