To choose the right keywords, you must first find them. This seems obvious and straightforward, but in reality, people often go about it the wrong way (we discussed this point in the previous chapter).
Keywords
You might think that simply deciding on a keyword automatically makes it the most interesting? No. It's the users who determine whether a keyword is being searched for or not...
You could offer the best content in the world, but if your keyword doesn't interest anyone, it's (almost) useless! This chapter will cover choosing the right keywords for effective SEO.
How to Create a Keyword List?
There are several ways to find keywords. The simplest is to think about what you would type into Google if you were looking for your product or service. Pretend you have no knowledge of your brand at all!
A Keyword Research Tool
Another way to choose keywords is by using a keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner. This software provides keyword ideas that people are actually searching for.
You'd be surprised how many webmasters don't even check the search volume of their keywords before working on them!
A User-Oriented Approach
User-oriented keywords are a good starting point for compiling a list of potential keywords. Think about what people would type into Google if they didn't know you, or if they didn't know what the solution they were looking for is called. It's a bit like playing Taboo: you're trying to explain what your solution does to them.
To begin, try thinking about the following questions:
- What problem does my product or service solve?
- What are the most common questions people have about my product or service?
- What are the most important features of my product or service?
Once you have a good idea of user-oriented keywords, you can start expanding your list by looking at other popular keywords related to your product or service.
User Qualification Level
The level of precision in a user's search increases as they progress in their search. A user searching for "clogged toilets what to do" is not at the same stage as someone asking for a "cheap compressed air gun", even if their problem was the same initially!
Therefore, you should think about the different stages of the user's journey and the keywords they will use at each stage. This is known as the "purchase cycle" or "sales funnel."
There are four main stages in the purchase cycle:
- Awareness: The user realizes they have a problem.
- Research: The user tries to find a solution to their problem.
- Comparison: The user compares the different solutions they have found.
- Purchase: The user buys the product or service that will solve their problem.
You should consider the keywords that each type of user will use. If you sell a complex product or target business-to-business, you'll need to create content for each stage of the purchase cycle tailored to the target audience.
Keywords Search Intent
As seen in module 1, search intent refers to the user's goal when entering a keyword into the search engine. Or rather, its interpretation by Google!
There are four major types of search intent for these terms:
- Informational Intent: The user is looking for information without necessarily wanting to buy anything. For example, they might want to know how to make a recipe for shortbread cookies.
- Navigational Intent: The user is looking for a specific website. For example, they might want to go directly to the Wikipedia page for cookies.
- Transactional Intent: The user is looking to buy something. For example, they might want to order a package of shortbread cookies online.
- Commercial Intent: The user is considering buying something but is not yet sure. For example, they might want to compare different types of shortbread cookies before making a decision.
It's essential to consider the search intent of a SERP when writing content to precisely meet the expectations of your audience (and therefore, Google) when choosing a keyword.
At the Core of Content: The Keywords
As discussed in the first module, the functioning of a search engine's algorithm is based on keywords. The relevance and quality of content will naturally be linked to the concept of the keyword, especially to Google's interpretation of search intent.
For Google, user experience is at the core of its algorithm. While site speed and performance are crucial for a good user experience, the search engine's goal remains to find the requested information. To achieve this, it relies on content quality.
The higher the content quality, the better the site will rank in search results.
Keyword Definitions
In the context of SEO, the keyword refers to the word or set of words that a user enters into a search engine to find information. It's the expression that the algorithm compares with the semantics of the content referenced in its index to offer search results in line with it.
Lexical and Semantic Fields of Keywords
The lexical field of a keyword corresponds to all the words that can be used in its place. For example, for the keyword "buy cookies online," the following words could be part of the lexical field: order, purchase, cookie sale, etc.
The semantic field of a keyword is the set of words linked to it by their meaning. For example, for the keyword "buy biscuits online," the following words could be part of the semantic field: dry cakes, package, packet, chocolate chips, tiles, crunchy, crumbs, etc.
Primary Keyword and Secondary Keywords
The primary keyword is the one that best matches the user's search intent. For example, for a shortbread cookies product page on a confectionery e-commerce site, the primary keyword could be "shortbread cookies."
Secondary keywords are related to the primary keyword and help qualify it. For example, for a product page about shortbread cookies, secondary keywords could be "buy shortbread cookies," "order shortbread cookies," or "recipe for shortbread cookies."
Long-Tail Keywords
This term refers to a set of highly specific keywords that are less frequently used. For example, for the primary keyword "buy biscuits online," a long-tail keyword could be "delivery of gluten-free butter cookies."
This type of keyword is less competitive and therefore easier to rank in search results. Long-tail keywords are used by users who are further along in their buying process and are more likely to convert.
Choosing the right long-tail keywords is essential for generating more targeted and conversion-prone traffic while being less competitive. In SEO, long-tail keywords also cost less in terms of investment because they're easier to rank for.
Criteria for Choosing Your Keywords
It's essential to be clear about the content's objective before starting to write to identify the keywords that best match your theme. Trying to find content that "fits" a chosen keyword in a second step isn't always a good strategy.
Keyword Relevance
The first criterion for choosing the right keywords is relevance to the content's subject. This seems obvious, but webmasters don't always work in this direction!
An irrelevant keyword, even if competitive, won't generate traffic interested in your content. The match between content and user search intent is essential for a good ranking in search results.
A keyword's relevance can be checked using Google's "related searches" feature. For example, if you enter the keyword "buy cookies online," you'll get a series of related searches with different levels of specificity. This can help identify other relevant keywords that might be worth including in your content.
Search Volume
The second criterion for choosing your keywords is search volume. This refers to the number of times a keyword has been entered into a search engine over a given period. The higher this number, the more people are looking for information related to that keyword.
It's important to note that a keyword's search volume varies over time. This can be related to current events or changes in user behavior.
To know a keyword's search volume, you can use the Google Ads Keyword Planner or tools like Ranxplorer, Semrush...
Keyword Competition on Search Engines
The competitiveness of a keyword is determined by the number and quality of pages targeting that keyword, their SEO efforts, but also by the elements displayed by Google on page 1 of the results. Competitive elements can be Google Ads, Rich Snippets, position zero, a knowledge panel, etc.
It reflects how difficult it is for a web page to rank for that keyword on that SERP. The more competitive a keyword is, the harder it will be for your content to rank well without external link juice (backlinks).
Keyword Difficulty
The last criterion for choosing your keywords is keyword difficulty. This corresponds to the competition for this keyword in the search results and the SEO efforts you'll need to put in to position your content. A keyword with low difficulty will be easier to rank on the first page of Google than a keyword with high difficulty.
To know a keyword's difficulty, you can use tools like Moz Keyword Explorer, Semrush, or Ranxplorer.
Keywords and SEO
Choosing the right keywords is crucial for good SEO. The relevance of the chosen keywords will influence your web page's position in search results.
To choose the right keywords, you need to understand the user's search intent and provide the content they expect.
How to Choose the Right Keywords for Your Website?
The first step in choosing the right keywords is to understand your target audience's needs. You can use the following methods to achieve this:
- Check your site analytics data to see which pages get the most traffic and why.
- Look at the keywords you already rank for.
- Use keyword research tools to see what types of keywords people are searching for related to your topic.
You'll be able to create tailored content that meets your audience's needs if you take the time to understand what they're really searching for.
Trend Analysis
Keywords reflect users' questions and needs. It's natural that they evolve over time. This is known as trends in SEO.
To find out if a keyword is becoming popular or losing its popularity on search engines, you can use Google Trends. This tool shows how many times a specific keyword has been searched for over a given period.
You can also compare keywords to see which one is more popular. Some SEO browser extensions like Surfer SEO for Google Chrome even provide this feature by default.
Competitive Monitoring
You can also observe your competitors to see which keywords they are targeting. If they have a company blog and are doing SEO, you should be able to spot their keywords just from the titles.
However, to know if they manage to rank for these keywords (i.e., if their strategy is effective), you can use a tool like Semrush, allowing you to analyze a site other than yours.
Be cautious; all the information you can obtain this way, your competitors can also do with you!
Choosing Keywords for Search Engines
SEO involves meeting user needs as well as search engine needs. For good SEO, you will strategically choose your keywords.
Auto-Complete Suggestions
Search engine auto-complete features allow you to know which keywords are most often entered by users.
To do this, simply start typing your primary keyword in the search engine's search bar and look at the suggestions that appear. This trick can be used on Google but also on other search engines like YouTube or Amazon.
Related Searches
At the bottom of the search results page, you'll also find a list of related searches. These are keywords that are often searched for by users who have already entered your primary keyword.
This list can give you ideas for new keywords to target.
People Also Asked
These are questions related to your primary keyword that have already been asked by other users.
You can use these questions as inspiration for your own content.
There are other free services that suggest a keyword tree based on user queries, relying on user browsing data.
This is useful for seeing the relationships that can exist between different keywords and the thought process behind each term! All of this will help you understand user intent and offer the best possible content.
Browser SEO Extensions
Some SEO tools like Surfer SEO install a browser extension that allows you to analyze users' queries in the blink of an eye.
You'll get information on the estimated monthly search volume, as well as related keyword suggestions. This will help you quickly find the most popular phrases around a keyword: you'll see that your jargon and that used by users to find your content isn't always the same.
Strategy: Search Volume and Long Tail
Don't rely solely on search volume to create your list of keywords: exact keywords will inevitably have a higher search volume than long-tail keywords since they are less specific than the long tail.
Exact keywords correspond to a broader search intent, often less well-defined. On the other hand, the long tail is generally easier to identify because it targets a much more precise intention.
A strategy focusing on the long tail is particularly interesting on search engines like Google.
Keywords in Titles
The title (meta-title) of your page is essential for SEO. It should contain your primary keyword but also be attractive to users.
A good title will help you stand out from the competition and attract clicks to your search result.
A good title tag should not be too long and should integrate the most important keywords at the beginning as they will carry more weight.
Conclusion - To be continued
To find them, we must think like our users and understand what they're looking for on the web.
To know how to choose your keywords, find keywords, and make a relevant keyword list for your website, there's a lot of work around search intent and understanding customer needs.
Depending on the user's qualification level, they will expect to find advice sheets, loan simulation tools, an article detailing business expertise, or a blog page.
Targeting key phrases is essential to select keywords useful to your business: keywords that bring in qualified traffic, therefore likely to convert. In the next chapter, we'll delve into a keyword's search volume.
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