In this article, we are going to learn how to do keyword research for SEO. Here, we are going to cover a lot of concepts regarding keyword research.
How To Do Keyword Research for SEO
What is a Keyword?
A keyword is simply a search phrase. For example. If we go to Google and type in vanilla ice cream, the keyword would be the entire “ vanilla ice cream”. To be successful in SEO, we need to figure out what the potential customers would search for in Google to find our website and the service or product the website offers.
Let’s say we have a website that sells yoga mats. One of the main keywords we should target would be yoga mats as that’s the main thing the website offers. Once we know what keywords we want to target, we can optimize the website to increase its online visibility for those keyword searches.
Understanding Keyword Intent
Keyword intent, sometimes known as search intent represents a user’s purpose for the search.
For example, if someone goes to Google and types in, “Yoga mats worth the money?”, then from the keyword, we can tell straight away that this person isn’t sure whether they need a yoga mat or not as the search phrase says, “Are yoga mats worth the money?”.
So, from this keyword intent, we find two things.
- The person knows about yoga mats.
- They are not sure whether they need a yoga mat.
Let’s take another keyword such as “buy a red yoga mat”, we can tell from this keyword that search intent is a lot more different. The person who typed in “buy a red yoga mat” which means they already know that they need a yoga mat and they have gone even further and they described the yoga mat they needed, which is a red one.
So, if we have a website that sells yoga mats and someone types in to buy a red yoga mat, then they land on our page showing red yoga mats. The person is most likely going to buy one if the price is right.
However, if someone types in, “Are yoga mats worth the money?”, then they land on the same page showing red yoga mats, the person probably isn’t going to buy. The person still needs convincing.
Understanding the difference in search intent will make a massive impact on the SEO campaign. When we understand the buyer intent, we can make sure the page a person lands on is relevant to what they typed in and will result in more sales and a much better user experience.
Short Tail vs Long Tail Keywords
Short-tail keywords are much more general search queries that consist of one or two words whereas long-tail keywords on the other hand consist of three to five or even more words.
An example of a short-tail keyword is “yoga mat” which is a lot broader and can cover a lot more things.
An example of a long-tail keyword is “best non-slip yoga mat” which is more targeted and narrowed down which means a long-tail keyword converts much more than short-tail keywords.
If someone goes onto Google and types in a yoga mat, we have no idea what the person is looking for. Are they looking for a red yoga mat or are they looking for a yoga mat to buy or are they trying to find out how much yoga mats cost?
However, on the other hand, with the long-tail keyword, “best non-slip yoga mat”, we have no doubt what this person wants. They want a non-slip yoga mat. They haven’t specified the color, so that isn’t an issue. What do we know is they want the best non-slip yoga mat.
If this person types that above long-tail keyword in Google and lands on our website which is all about non-slip yoga mats, it would be a win-win for both the user and us as well.
Long-tail keywords are much easier to rank in Google as they have less competition than short-tail keywords. So, if you have a website that sells yoga mats, you should target long-tail keywords as well along with short-tail keywords for much better rankings in Google.