SEO - Keywords Research

As mentioned in the previous post, search engine optimization helps you drive more and targeted traffic to your website, but how do you target your users/audience? Using the right keyword/keywords.

Before you start your keywords research process, you need to clearly define the following:

1)Your Audience

2) Your Market/Categories

3) Your Goals

Now that you have all of the above in mind, you can start.

I recommend following the below steps while searching for your keywords:

1.    Brainstorm all possible words and phrases that users would use to find what you have. Remember to put yourself in the mindset of the potential user.

2.    Research:
a)    Check what your competitors are using.
b)    Check your top and new keywords in Google Analytics (Users are already using those to find you).
c)    Check what are the top searched terms users are typing in your site search box (You can check this either using Google Analytics or using logs).

3.    You can also use Google insights for search and Google trends to check the trend.

4.    Use Google Adwords tool to filter the list you came up with, and to check the search volume and competitiveness, in addition to other suggested phrases by Google.

5.    Break down the update list into segments into 3 groups of keywords:
a)    General:
•    Shorter phrases and single words
•    General
•    Lots of traffic
•    Lower conversions (not much targeted)

b)    Focused:
•    Slightly shorter phrases
•    High traffic numbers
•    Phrases are still focused on what you offer (more targeted than broad)

c)    Laser Focused (Long Tail):
•    Longer and more targeted phrases
•    Traffic numbers are smaller
•    More qualified users and conversion rates are higher

Examples:
• General (Generic and competitive keywords):
Beach
Jumeirah Beach (Maybe user is looking for photos)

• Focused: Less generic, and less competitive:
Jumeirah Beach Directions
Staying by Jumeirah Beach

•    Laser Focused: Long tail phrases: (Less traffic but more targeted)
Booking at Jumeirah Beach Hotel

Stay tuned for the next post!