How to Find Best Keywords for SEO

 

When talking about search engineoptimization (SEO), most people think of using keywords. Even though this is only part of your SEO, it is the foundation for much of the content you give to your website. By identifying the right keywords and then processing them in the right places on your website, you ensure that Google places you on the first page of search results when that term is entered.

Research shows that 40 percent of all internet users open the first result of the search engines. A quarter of all internet users only view the first 5 results and only 10 percent of internet users go to the second page of search results. So the goal is to get to the top 5 when someone enters a specific keyword. Use this guide from Ranking Masters and you can make a success of your own keyword research and website. Reading time 3 minutes.

What are keywords?

Keywords are words that an internet user types into a search engine and that you want to be found with. Search engines use certain parameters to select and rank the candidates from the 1.2+ billion websites that best match the search term that has been typed in. And Google usually gives you many pages of results for you to view.

In reality, only 1 in 10 searchers looks beyond the first page and only a quarter of all searchers look beyond the first 5 search results. If a search term is typed that applies to your website, then it is important to end up in the top 5 of the search results. And you do that by first carefully selecting these keywords and then incorporating them in certain places in your website.

Different types of keywords

The first thing you do when conducting keyword research is to make a list of terms that are typed in by internet users when they search for your product or service. Here you then get the best search terms, based on usage and a competition analysis. We'll walk you through this in this guide, but it's not a bad idea to briefly explain the different types of keywords.

Generic and long tail keywords: Generic keywords consist of one word, for example 'ladies shoes'. Long tail keywords consist of several words, such as 'qualitative leather ladies shoes Amsterdam'.

Main keywords and secondary keywords: you choose a main keyword per page. This is the keyword you want that page to be found on. To this you add a number of secondary keywords that you also include in your text, but that are bound by considerably fewer rules.

Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords: These are semantic keywords that relate to your main keyword, but describe it differently. Think for example of 'ladies' shoes' and' shoes for ladies'.

What is a good keyword?

Before we help you compile a list of keywords and incorporate them into your content, it's helpful to explain the definition of a good keyword. If you know that, you can take this into account from the start. A good keyword has the following characteristics:

·         A good keyword is usually a long tail keyword.

·         This keyword is regularly typed into search engines.

·         At the same time, there is as little competition as possible for a good keyword.

Build alist of potential keywords

With this information in mind, we can start the keyword research. It is important that you plan enough time for this, because everything you use to implement your website from now on will be affected by this. The first step is to make a list of potential keywords for your website. So these must be long tail, they must be used and there must be little competition.

Step 1: designate long tail keywords

You can already choose a number of long-tail keywords yourself when you think about the business you have, the services you provide or the products you sell. That alone is not enough, because there are undoubtedly keyword combinations that you will forget. Therefore, there are a number of ways you can expand this group.

Suggestions from Google: When typing in a keyword, Google already gives you suggestions before you hit enter. And you use this to see which terms have already been typed in by users. To stick to the example of women's shoes, type in 'women's shoes', but do not press enter. You will automatically receive some valuable suggestions. You can make this exercise even more detailed by using 'women's shoes a', 'women's shoes b', 'women's shoes c' and so on.

Tools: There are also free tools you can use that offer suggestions. You can easily find these online, such as KWfinder, the keyword tool from Google and MOZ Keyword Explorer. If you want to carry out more parts of your search engine optimization yourself, consider downloading an SEO tool. These often also have programs with which they offer you good suggestions, plus a number of other useful tools to improve your search engine optimization.

Step 2: find keywords to be used

Then it is important to rank these keywords by use. If you choose a word that is barely typed, it will of course be of little use to you. There are also plenty of tools for this and the aforementioned are part of that. You can then see at a glance how often a certain search term has been used. The keyword tool from Google is the leader in this, but then you need an Adwords campaign. If you don't have these, you can try KWfinder, Ubersuggest, MOZ Keyword Explorer, WordStream or SearchVolume.io.

Step 3: Find keywords that have little competition

Finally, make a list of keywords that have little competition. This means that they are not yet widely used by companies that offer the same things as you. If you work regionally, 'ladies shoes [city]' is often a good idea to reduce competition.

You can also use Google to see how many websites use the keywords you have selected so far. You enter 'allintitle [keyword]' in the search bar and Google will give you a list. The fewer results that come up, the less competition there is for that keyword and the more suitable it is for you. And if there is less competition, the search engine is more likely to prioritize your website.

Step 4: make a selection

With all this information you can now make a selection. That means you pick the keywords that are typed the most but have little competition. There is still profit to be made for you there. Make a list of no more than 10 keywords and choose a few main keywords. These are the keywords that you prioritize in your texts. Now you can enter them in your content.

Using the keywords to optimize your pages

To use your keywords you have to apply a number of rules. These rules are intended so that the parameters of the search engines find your website, but do not see your keyword usage as abuse. It is not the case that you can just enter your keywords everywhere, because if the texts no longer run properly, the search engines will see this. Too much of the same keyword is also not good, because then the search engine will think you have done this on purpose. Too few keywords and you will not be caught. It is therefore best to proceed as follows.

1. Include keywords in your URLs

The URL of your website is the address that is typed in the address bar to find that page. URLs should be well designed and not too long. It is also not wise to include too many punctuation marks, because that makes typing difficult. Finally, put the main keyword of that page in the URL as well. So always determine in advance which of your keywords you want to use as the main keyword for which text.

2. Include keywords in your page titles

After you have adjusted your URL, include the main keyword of the page in question in the H1 title. This is the main title of your page or your article and it represents the content exactly in a concise manner. It is also the title that all subheadings refer to, so think carefully about this. Make sure that the keyword is processed in a natural way.

3. Include keywords in your subheadings

The subheadings of your texts are described as H2 through H6 and are called heading tags. The H2 and H3 subheadings refer back to the H1 title and can therefore be seen as paragraphs and sub-paragraphs. It is important that you use at least one H2 subhead and that the keyword is included in the first subhead.

4. Include keywords in your text

You use your structure of H1 title and subheadings to make a plan for the text you want to write. Then you only have to enter the text. Make sure to include the main keyword in the first sentence. Then you have it returned with a density of 1 to 2 percent of the total number of words in the text. So if your article has 300 words, the main keyword must be in it 3 to 6 times. This already includes the keywords in the title, the first sentence and the first subheading. In addition to the main keyword, you also process a number of other keywords.

Secondary Keywords: Use some of your other keywords from the list you have compiled in your text. These often only need to be mentioned once or twice. You may also include prepositions in it. If one of your keywords is 'leather ladies shoes Amsterdam', you can make 'leather ladies shoes in Amsterdam' out of it to make the text more fluid.

Latent Semantic Indexing keywords: also add some LSI keywords to your text. Again, it is important that it remains readable. If your main keyword is 'quality ladies shoes Amsterdam' then you use, for example, a few times 'ladies shoes of quality in Amsterdam' or 'Amsterdam ladies shoes of quality'.

5. Include keywords in the Meta title and Meta description

Now that you have written the text and you are satisfied with it (there are, by the way, plenty of tools available online with which you can easily calculate the density of your keywords) you go to the Meta title and the Meta description. This is what the searcher sees in the search results, so in Google this is a blue short title with a piece of text below. Again, a number of rules apply.

The Meta title cannot exceed 65 characters (including spaces) and must contain the main keyword. It is important that it is catchy and attracts attention. The text below, including spaces, has a maximum of 160 characters and you can use at least 120 characters. Here you put an active text that describes the core of the page or article and that encourages the reader to take action. Of course you also process the main keyword here.

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