The first thing we do to find information on anything is to search on the internet. Every query throws up millions of results. When was the last time you went beyond the first page (if ever)?
It is essential to be on the first page of SERPs to drive maximum traffic to your website, and SEO makes that possible. The first and the basic step to every SEO strategy is to choose the right keyword. A proper keyword brings the right customers to you.
What is a keyword? It is a focus word (or phrase) that sums up your post or web page’s content. Your keyword should match the search terms you want to rank for if you want to be in the search results. Our SEO boffins from Perth will help you understand how to choose the right keyword.
Why is it crucial to choose the right keyword?
- To reach out to the right audience
- To communicate with search engine
- To define the essence of your content
How to select the right keyword?
Here are a few steps to help you choose the right keyword for your site.
1. Know the user intent or search intent
Search intent or user intent means why or what is the intention of the user’s search. Search intent could be navigational, commercial or informational. Knowing the intent can help you find a suitable keyword that will lead them to your site.
2. Think like your audience
To find the right keywords, it’s essential to think from the audience perspective. If you understand how your customers search for your products, you can target those keywords, and it will help you to reach your targeted audience.
3. Know the types of keywords you want to rank for
Keywords are mainly classified as head, body and long-tail keywords. Head keyword could be a word or phrase that is searched very commonly. This can be a very competitive word or phrase. Head keywords are concise, hardly two to three words. In comparison, body keywords are a little longer than the head. Long-tail keywords best describe the content and exact summary. Most of the viewers directly search for such terms.
4. Use a keyword planner tool.
It can be quite challenging to choose the right keyword. Keyword Planner tools can help you understand how search terms have varied over time, a list of keywords etc. You can also analyse how much clicks you get for the keywords you are using and plan for better. Understanding and working with keyword planner tools can be time-consuming and confusing. An experienced SEO agency can help you by doing keyword research.
5. Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords
LSI is a method used by Google and other search engines to find a similar word that matches your keyword. LSI keywords are similar to or synonyms of the keywords used. When you type in a search engine, the autocomplete will refine your search by suggesting different phrases. But as you keep on typing, these suggestions will change. These are LSI keywords and can help you find and research more about the right keywords for you.
6. Customer’s journey
Before making a purchase, your customers pass through 3 different stages – awareness, consideration and decision. Awareness is the stage where your customer realises they need something, while consideration is the stage when they start researching for a product or solution and the final stage, decision when they find their desired product and take action.
It’s essential to target your audiences in both the awareness and consideration stage, so that they decide to do the transaction with you. This will increase your conversions and thereby ROI.
Want to know more aspects of keywords? Read our complete guide on keywords.
Choosing the right keywords is an important and fundamental step to SEO. Wrong keywords can bring in wrong traffic, or worse, no traffic at all. These tips on how to choose the right keywords can help you get started. Or our experts can help you with a great SEO strategy. Contact us or email at sales@computingaustralia.group to speak to an SEO specialist.
Jargon Buster
Navigational intent – An internet search with the purpose of finding a particular website or page.
Commercial intent – An internet search with the purpose of buying a product or service.
Informational intent – An internet search with the purpose of finding information on a particular topic.
Article originally published on 03/03/2021
Article revised by on 31/03/2021
Added 2 new points to how to select the right keyword section.