Crafting a successful SEO strategy can be complex; the most challenging aspect is selecting the right keywords. The keyword selection process has transformed over the years, with more resources now available to guide businesses.
However, a comprehensive strategy to narrow down your keyword choices still needs to be included. Here’s some valuable insider knowledge on a strategy that can help.
My Journey in SEO and Keyword Selection
Over a decade ago, I embarked on my SEO journey. SEO was a novel concept at the time, with many of its techniques and tools still in development. As a writer turned SEO expert, I had to navigate this uncharted territory, grappling with new concepts like canonical tags and the significance of using dashes instead of underscores in URLs.
Through the years, I’ve gained invaluable insights, adapted to rapid changes in the SEO landscape, and transitioned from clashing with web professionals to embracing continual learning. Today, while there’s a surplus of general SEO advice, there still needs to be a notable gap when devising an effective keyword selection strategy.
The Art of Keyword Sculpting
Selecting keywords is akin to sculpting. Just as Michelangelo once said, when asked how he would carve an elephant out of stone, “I would take a large piece of stone and take away everything that was not the elephant,” so too, you must whittle down the vast sea of keywords to the ones most valuable to your business.
Here are five steps to assist you in the art of keyword selection.
One way to stay focused is to use bid strategies on different campaigns. Using different bid strategies allows you to set up different bids for each campaign, so you can create a more efficient ad spend. You can set bids for a fixed price, a fixed cost, or bid on a CPA. Bid strategies also give you the ability to specify how many impressions you’re willing to pay for, and the total budget. But, most importantly, you can set bids to match your budget, and the resulting ads are guaranteed to have the exact same results. Another strategy that many marketers use is to split the Google Ad budget across several bidding strategies.
1. Analyzing Your Competitors
Begin your journey by understanding your competitors. Determine the keywords they rank for and where there’s overlap between your domains. A detailed competitive analysis is crucial. Organize your findings in a spreadsheet, filtering out any proprietary keywords unique to your competitors.
One way to stay focused is to use bid strategies on different campaigns. Using different bid strategies allows you to set up different bids for each campaign, so you can create a more efficient ad spend. You can set bids for a fixed price, a fixed cost, or bid on a CPA. Bid strategies also give you the ability to specify how many impressions you’re willing to pay for, and the total budget. But, most importantly, you can set bids to match your budget, and the resulting ads are guaranteed to have the exact same results. Another strategy that many marketers use is to split the Google Ad budget across several bidding strategies.
2. Discarding Overly Difficult Keywords
Next, eliminate the keywords with high difficulty scores, as ranking for these will require considerable effort. Keywords with a difficulty score of 50% or higher often necessitate tactics such as soliciting backlinks from high-authority sources. To simplify your process, stick to those with lower scores.
3. Excluding Low Search Volume Keywords
Proceed to remove the keywords that have low search volumes. It’s crucial to ensure that your SEO efforts generate meaningful results. So, unless you offer a niche product or service with high margins or are spearheading a novel technology, it’s prudent to focus on high-volume keywords.
4. Refining Based on Keyword Intent
Refine your list by discarding misspelled, overly broad, or irrelevant keywords. Ensure the remaining keywords are specific enough to represent your product or service accurately.
5. Prioritizing Natural Sounding Keywords
Finally, scrutinize your remaining keywords for their linguistic naturalness. A keyword may only be a good fit if it sounds familiar or natural. Be wary of homonyms, as you could inadvertently compete in an unrelated keyword space.
Implementing and Monitoring Your Keyword Strategy
Once you’ve honed your list to the most useful and relevant keywords, you can begin implementing them using best SEO practices. Remember, this same process can be applied to long-tail keywords or questions generated from search queries, which can be an excellent material for blog posts.
Embrace a continually curious mindset when it comes to your keyword strategy. SEO success involves research, hard work, and experimentation. Stay committed and persistent in your efforts, as SEO is a long-term strategy. Optimizing, monitoring, and adjusting your approach as necessary will pave your way to success.
Conclusion
Perfecting your business’s SEO strategy through careful keyword selection is critical but complex. By leveraging expert insights and following a step-by-step approach—analyzing competitors, discarding difficult keywords, excluding low-volume ones, refining based on intent, and prioritizing natural-sounding keywords—you can simplify this process and sculpt a successful SEO strategy.
Remember that keyword selection, akin to the art of sculpting, involves the continuous process of carving away the unnecessary until only the value remains. This journey calls for constant curiosity, research, and adaptation to the ever-changing SEO landscape. Stay committed and consistent, and you will successfully optimize your site, enhance your online presence, and ultimately boost your business’s performance.
See also: A Guide to Creating SEO-Focused ChatGPT Prompts.
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