Keywords are supremely important for any website. We need keywords to help bridge the gap between a query and its answer. As one answers more and more of these particular queries using targeted high-search volume keywords, they will notice an increase in rankings and traffic. Increased traffic leads to brand credibility and higher domain authority establishing your site as a thought leader. So, something that may seem like a small element of SEO, can bring lots of traction to your website. However, your brand will have several competitors on the internet. How does one stand apart?
Here are five tips on how to find keywords for websites, and use them efficiently.
Keyword suggestion tools
Find keywords for websites using keyword suggestion tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and UberSuggest. These tools not only give you access to high search volume keywords but also insights such as the competition level, how many backlinks are required to rank for it, and its growth in the recent past. Find keywords for websites that are particular to your region as well using these tools. This helps you reach a very specific target audience. For example, "cars with good mileage" may have good volume but, "cars with good mileage in India," is much more helpful if your brand is established in India. For a better understanding, you can refer to this blog on Diminished Ovarian Reserve where the focus keyword is diminished ovarian reserve but the keyword planner by Google also suggested related keywords such as low ovarian reserve and poor ovarian reserve.
Consider the difficulty level
When you find keywords for websites, keep track of their difficulty level. High-search volume keywords may seem like an easy path to higher rankings, but that means you need either several backlinks or a good domain authority to rank for those keywords.
For example, shoes for women might have a search volume of 5,000, this means there are several searches for this query but if high domain authority websites are already ranking for it, it might be difficult to rank above them without paid backlinks. Use keyword suggestion tools such as Ahrefs to find the difficulty level. Opt for keywords that either has a low or medium difficulty level. This way you can rank easier. Apart from this, focus on your domain authority. You need not reduce the search volume to below 100, but keeping it between 100-800 is a good practice for lower domain authority websites.
Look for suggestions
A good way to find keywords for websites is to make use of suggestions that appear on Google. Type in your query and see what kind of results Google offers. You can also scroll down to the end for more related queries. This helps you find the different formats that your audience is using to search for one particular content. Now, you can find out the search volume for that query itself or find keywords related to it. For example, "Why do my gums bleed?" can be a common query, but gum sensitivity can be a targeted keyword.
Conduct competitor keyword analysis
When you find keywords for websites, always conduct a competitor keyword analysis. This can be done in a few simple steps. Type a broad query related to your topic and see which pages are ranking for the topics. Simply paste the link of the top-ranking pages on google keyword planner and get your keyword suggestions and ideas.
Please ensure that you use long-tail keywords, meaning keywords that are four words and above. Do not use very high search volume keywords as you may not be able to rank for them due to the competition.
Make use of several keywords
While creating any form of content be it a blog, guest post or YouTube description, ensure that you have multiple keywords. Try to find one focus keyword and a few secondary keywords. These help you rank for related topics. Please note that repeating the secondary keywords just as much as the focus keyword will confuse Google’s algorithm. If you use the focus keyword say, six times for 750 words, then secondary keywords cannot appear more than three times as it is considered keyword stuffing. While creating your title, it is recommended to place the keyword right in the first part of the sentence. Another best practice is to include the focus keywords in the first 100 words of the description or blog.
To summarise, though keywords might seem like a trivial part of SEO, they have a multitude of benefits. For any piece of content that is being created, including keywords can help reach your target audience better. While searching for keywords, conduct a competitor keyword analysis and make use of keyword suggestion tools to study if they are trending, and to guage their search volume. It is recommended to use a number of keywords with low or medium difficulty level to increase your chances of being discovered. Do not stuff keywords into your content and ensure they appear organically. All of these factors can slowly help your site in being recognised and appear more for queries thus increasing traffic.