Search engines sure love to change those algorithms, don’t they? It seems like you have to tweak your content strategy constantly just to stay relevant. The good news is that if you use smart ways to make your content better instead of trying to outsmart the system, you’ll always be ahead of the game. So, to make sure that you’re using a good keyword strategy, try these tips.
Keyword Types
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about what’s out there in the world of keywords.
There are single keywords, long-tail keywords, keyword phrases, and more.
Some keywords are related to the market, and some are related to the customer. There are product-focused keywords, thought leader keywords, competing keywords, related keywords, and geo-targeted keywords.
For blogging purposes, you’re going to want to find long-tail keywords, keyword phrases, and low-competition keywords.
A low-competition keyword is easier to rank for because the big-name brands aren’t spending a lot of money trying to attract people to that word or phrase.
You’ll want to rank for searches with low competitors but relatively high search volume.
Go Digging
The first thing you want to do is do some keyword research. This sounds much more complicated than it is so let’s talk briefly about it!
When you first start, you don’t have to come up with a ton of keywords. Just know that each page should have its main keyword for which you want to rank.
All that means is that when someone searches for your keyword, they should be able to find the content you’ve created for that word or phrase, such as a blog article or YouTube video.
But first, find the keywords!
There are many ways to go about it; you’ll soon develop a flow once you work on a few pieces of content.
Here’re some simple but effective ways to find keywords online:
Take a Guess
What?!? This sounds crazy, right? But, if you’re part of your own demographics, then you probably already know some keywords.
Make a list of what you’d search for if you were looking for information about your niche, such as “freelance writing for beginners” or “start an online business”. That’s a good starting point for finding more keywords.
Your audience’s Lingo
Find where your readers hang out and make notes about their discussions and questions. The type of words they use are words you should add to your keyword list.
Use keyword tools
- Google Keyword Planner comes with your Google AdWords account. You can use the planner to help you find appropriate keywords and keyword phrases, as well as assess the competition level of the keywords you choose. Again, a good keyword should have low competition and around 10-100 thousand searches.
- Google Trends – This is a great way to find out what people are searching for in each niche. You’ll be able to find a lot of content ideas, especially during seasonal spikes.
- Answer the Public – you have to check out this site! Answer the Public shows you what people are looking for with regards to your keyword(s).
Just enter your keywords in the search box and go through the five options that come up. You’ll find results that include keyword comparisons, questions, and prepositions. Below is an example of a search – you can click each image to expand it.
- Amazon.com – Yes, our favorite (or most despised) online store. Amazon is a great way to get ideas for keywords. Just start searching with your guesses and see what comes up.
- WordStream – For those running or thinking of running ads, WordStream helps take the guesswork out of pay-per-click advertising so you can make the most of your marketing budget. The tool will help you find new, highly-relevant keywords that you can upload to your Google Ads account, for example.
YouTube
Like Amazon, finding keywords using YouTube is super easy, especially if you’re looking for what’s popular online.
Twitter is a fantastic search engine that you can use to find keywords. A good idea is to start with a base keyword and add on from there based on what turns up in search.
Yoast SEO
This versatile plugin for self-hosted WordPress sites will make keyword suggestions if you upgrade to the pro plan.
Putting it all together
The thing to remember about keywords is that you want them well-placed within your work but you don’t want to overstuff your website and content with them.
Instead, design your content to engage with your readers – if adding another keyword would make your article annoying to read and repetitive, then DON’T add it!
Whether it’s your home page, contact page, about page, or a blog post – you should focus on only one keyword or keyword phrase, and you want to keep your keyword density between 1 and 2 percent for the most effective keyword strategy.
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