You want to improve ranking keywords, increase visibility, and target the right searchers with your online presence. This requires being strategic, using available tools, and employing some creativity and research in keyword targeting.
But if all these sound a little challenging, we are here to help you on this journey. With these tips, you’ll understand keyword research, why it is important, and how to use keywords to boost ranking in no time.
Let’s get started!
What is Keyword Research, and Why Is It Important?
Keywords are the common phrases or questions online visitors are typing on search engines like Google to get relevant results. And keyword research is the process used to monitor top-performing keywords in your niche.
The goal of keyword research is finding and analyzing data for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes. During keyword research, you’ll know which terms are popular, the keyword difficulty, what’s trending on Google, and what words or phrases you can use for your content.
But why is keyword research needed?
Increase Organic Traffic
With the right keywords in your niche, you’ll rank higher on Google, and there will be more visibility. This translates to more people clicking through your content, increasing traffic to your website.
Marketing Trends
As you perform relevant keyword tracking and research, you’ll gain insights into the marketing trends in your niche. For example, look into trending topics and what searchers are looking for throughout the season. With that knowledge, your content can be more focused and relevant to meet the searcher’s intent.
Acquiring New Customers
If your content appeals to your readers who may be looking for a product or service, proper keyword research will ensure they can find you. With a well-written call-to-action (CTA), you’ll be able to acquire new customers or even collaborate with business professionals in your field.
Brand Awareness
With keyword research, your content can rank well for a number of keywords, leading to more business exposure. For example, if you write informational blog posts that help readers understand certain things in that niche, you’ll be seen as an expert, and your brand will reach more people.
How to Use Keywords to Boost Your Ranking
If you are not sure which keywords you should research and track, ensure they meet these qualities:
- Relevance – The keywords and content should meet the searcher’s intent and add value to them. It should answer their question and provide correct information.
- Keyword volume – Search and use keywords that have considerable monthly volume. Otherwise, ranking on page one for keywords nobody is searching for will not help your business much.
- Authority – Google values high-authority sites. You should create high-quality content, promote it on social media, and ensure you get backlinks to rank high and maintain that position.
With that, let’s look at three ways you can use keywords to boost your ranking:
1. Have the Right Keyword Density and Use Them in the Right Places
Having the right keywords for your niche is just the first step. A better ranking will remain a mirage without the proper density or using them in the right spots. That said, you should use your relevant keywords in the:
- Title
- Subheadings (one or more of them)
- Body of your content
- Introduction, preferably within the first 100 words
- Conclusion
- Meta description
- Image alt tags
For the best results, you will want to use SEO content editing tools to help you learn relevant keyword density. Tools like these can help since they prevent the unnatural keyword stuffing that increases the bounce rate. Also, ensure you use header tags throughout your content for a better user experience – this can help move your page up in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
2. Use Relevant and Related Keywords
Your goal should be to rank continuously and see steady growth in your traffic. Therefore, after ensuring the top keywords are relevant to your target audience, spice them up with related keywords.
Start by searching for other terms and phrases that apply in a similar context and use synonyms. Besides increasing your ranking, this will also help you rank for more keywords within the same content.
You can use Google ‘related terms’ and ‘people also ask’ to gain insight into what people are searching for and the best keyword optimizations for your content. This may require additional keyword research, but it’s helpful for increasing your ranking.
3. Keywords and Links
Internal links look good to Google, especially if your content is related and your topics are within a specific context. Ensure some of your anchor texts and internal links contain the keyword phrase for better ranking.
Also, be deliberate and creative in how you use your keywords to make them linkable. If your strongest points contain the keyword phrase, you make them more linkable, increasing the chances of getting natural backlinks – thus increasing your site’s authority.
The Importance of Keyword Monitoring and Tracking
After using keywords in different ways to increase ranking, there’s a need to monitor top-performing keywords continuously. You can use tools or Google Analytics to gain insights into which keywords are generating traffic and which are not.
Relevant keyword tracking allows you to:
- Know which keywords are bringing in more visitors and what content would be relevant.
- Keep an eye on low-performing content that’s not meeting the searcher’s intent and needs updating.
- Follow trending topics that are relevant to your business.
- Figure out which content requires more optimizations.
- Determine what kind of content is best for your audience – length, topics, etc.
Work With a Reputable Team
Keywords, when used correctly, will result in better ranking, increased conversions, and better brand awareness. For such results, be thorough in your keyword research, use them appropriately, and continuously monitor how the keywords perform. Zero Gravity Marketing is here to help you weed through the keyword maze and find the words that’ll work best for your business. Schedule a call with our team today!
