How to do keyword research as a business owner

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Keywords are one of the most fundamental aspects of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It is what the searcher types in search engines when looking for a specific product, service, information, or website. Determining the kind of keywords that your potential customers are utilizing and optimizing your website for them is vital to garner better search engine rankings and build serious traffic. Now, if you want your website to rank at the top end of search engines, this guide will show how you can accomplish it through effective keyword research.

Identifying the User’s Intent

The search for the right set of keywords starts by diving into your customer’s minds. By determining their intent, you will know exactly what set of keywords to focus your marketing exploits. Try to find out why users are coming to your website.

  • Information – Are users visiting your site because of the information it provides?
  • Research – Are they looking for something specific?
  • Purchase – Do they want to buy something?

Once you know why users are coming to your website, you will have a better idea of the kind of keywords that you need to target. If you’re selling products, you definitely want to focus on buying-centered keywords. If you provide reviews, research-based keywords are what you need.

Create a List

Now that you know why users are visiting your website, you can start creating a list of keywords that you want to optimize for. The keywords that you choose should represent the most probable queries of your target users and customers. To find them, here are some of the things that you can do:

  • Through the Keyword Planner, you will gain access to a plethora of potential keywords. It’s an excellent way to search for relevant keywords and is pretty straightforward to use.
  • You can rely on boards and forums to find out what your customers are looking for. You can also ask them personally on why they stumbled on your business. And don’t forget to ask their concerns and frustrations as well so you will have a deeper connection with your target audience.
  • You can also take advantage of Google’s autosuggest by typing one of your terms in the search box and looking through the suggested phrases. The results are normally the popular keywords related to your user’s queries.

Choosing between Long-tailed and short Keywords

With the list of keywords at your disposal, which ones do you need to focus on? You can try and rank on all of them but at this point it would be best to favor long tail keywords over short tail ones. Long tail keywords are longer and more specific. So instead of optimizing for the keyword “caps” – short tail – try and focus your SEO strategies on the keyword “caps for men” – long tail. Choosing longer keywords will provide you with more targeted traffic and better conversion rates, overall. They are also not that competitive and are relatively easier to rank.

Use these steps properly and you will surely have a list of keywords that your customers use and can start optimizing on to give your website that much needed boost.