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If you’re starting out in search engine optimisation, then one of the most time consuming aspects is keyword research. You can find yourself whiling away several hours on it, particularly if your website covers a range of products or services. So why should you bother with it?
Often the keywords you think are the right ones to target aren’t, people search in so many different ways, some use singular, some plural, some full grammar, some partial grammar. You need to know this as you can’t guess which keyword combinations will drive the most targeted traffic to your site. Basing your SEO on what you think people may be searching on could lead to an awful lot of problems further down the line, not only in terms of competition but also if your keywords aren’t targeted properly – which leads to visitors not converting on your site.
When you begin researching your keywords, you’re looking to find out which keywords relate to your products / services, how popular those keywords are in terms of search volumes per month, and how competitive those keywords are which will give you an indication as to how easy or difficult it will be to gain high rankings. Armed with this list, you can then make informed decisions as to the best keywords to target for your web pages, often they won’t be the ones you initially thought of.
Besides researching keywords relating to your existing site content, your list should provide you with ideas to develop new content, write articles, blog posts etc. At the end of your research, not only will you know which keywords to use for your optimisation campaign, but have a whole load of ideas to develop your website with new ways of gaining traffic!
About Louise
Louise Barnes-Johnston has been working in social media marketing since 2007 after realising that it was a powerful marketing tool which would enable her clients to raise the profile of their businesses on the internet, even when working to a limited budget. Her specialism is in researching social media practices; trying out the most effective online tools and then sharing the best of them with her clients.
