Business meeting reviewing their success stats.
In today’s digital age, SEO is not an optional marketing strategy. It’s essential. However, many business leaders don’t understand the key research components needed to run a successful SEO campaign. All too often I see companies choosing their keywords based on gut feeling without having done the proper research. This approach ensures that companies invest time and resources in ranking a keyword that will not impact their bottom line.
Instead of guessing which keywords will advance your marketing goals, choose target keywords based on thorough research. Search intent and keyword research are essential for a successful SEO campaign. Keyword research provides insight into which questions, phrases and words your target group is searching for on Google. Search intent research goes one step further and examines the main purpose your customers have when they Google a topic.
When companies use both keyword and search intent research as part of their SEO strategy, they are more likely to achieve their SEO marketing goals. However, knowing how to implement your findings can be challenging if this is your first time making the attempt. Here are five ways to use intent and keyword research to improve your SEO efforts.
1. Make a list of relevant topics
As with most things in life, it often feels like the hardest thing to get started. But with SEO, the first step is quite simple. When you begin the research process, make a list of topics related to your business. For example, if you run a veterinary clinic, you could list “large pet health” and “small pet health” as two topic clusters.
After you identify the topic clusters that are most important to your business, identify specific keywords that fall under each cluster. In the example of a veterinary clinic, specific keywords could be ‘vaccinations for dogs’, ‘food for cats’ and ‘annual care of horses’.
2. Get Help from Keyword Research Tools
To understand what keywords your audience is searching for and what competitors are ranking for, you need the help of SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs. These programs inform you about the monthly search volume of each word. The higher the monthly search volume, the more interested your audience will be in the topic.
Keyword research can also uncover areas where your competitors rank and you don’t by identifying gaps in your content strategy. However, keywords with a high monthly search volume tend to be harder to rank for. So depending on your budget, it may be more beneficial to target a related keyword with fewer monthly searches.
3. Target low hanging fruit
Companies with sites with a high domain authority have an easier position for competitive keywords than companies with a lower domain authority. That’s why you often see larger organizations searching for popular terms on the first page of Google.
If you are a smaller organization with a lower site authority, this can be daunting. However, there is much less competition to rank for lower volume search terms. Therefore, targeting relevant words and phrases with fewer monthly searches can increase your chances of landing on a page of Google Search.
4. Determine the search intent for your keywords
Once you’ve chosen your target keywords, it’s important to determine how they relate to your users’ search intent. Search intent falls into four main categories: informational, preferential, transactional, and navigational.
Users looking for informational terms are looking for general information about a topic. People who look up preferred terms research brands and products. Users who google on terms of transaction are ready to make a purchase, while people who search by navigation terms want to be taken to a specific site. Understanding the user intent of a target keyword will help you identify the types of content you need to create to rank for that term.
5. Create keyword-optimized content on location
Fast growing companies include keyword-optimized onsite content as the cornerstone of their SEO strategy. By creating content that responds to their target audience’s search intent and includes organic target keywords, they can attract new customers by providing value. Examples of the types of content you may want to offer include engaging blog posts, in-depth articles, educational guides, and informational white papers.
Entertaining, inspiring and educating your customers is the best way to keep them coming back to your site. However, there is a lot of competition in content marketing. If you want to stay relevant, it’s essential that you create and distribute your content regularly.
Create an SEO campaign that converts browsers into buyers
Digital marketing is a competitive landscape. It is no longer enough to simply create content without a strategy or end goal in mind. If you don’t prioritize SEO, it means your competition will always outperform you in Google Search, capturing the attention of your target audience. But by conducting keyword research and considering your target audience’s search intent, you can create compelling resources that attract searchers and turn potential customers into loyal customers.
