Identify Niche Topics
Firstly, you need to find your niche. Your company may be selling sports equipment, and so, your niche will revolve around sport. This is the foundation of your keyword research, and so, you need to continue building from there. However, niches are broad, and you will need to hone in on specific keywords. Although there are many keyword planners on the internet, most will churn out obvious, unimaginative keywords other companies are most likely using. You’ll want to take your time selecting your keywords, with your marketing team brainstorming many ideas and avenues.
An example of creating more specific keywords is avoiding the broad niche of “sport” or “sports equipment,” and instead, use “sports equipment for losing weight,” “how to lose weight” or equivalent. You want keywords which are searchable, and highly likely to be typed into a search engine. Think conversational, as if you’re asking your friends a question at the local pub.
Niche Topic Lists
You should be able to come up with a few niche topics off the top of your head, however, if they seem too generic, further research should be implemented. You’ll want to tap into your target audience, and fully understand who it is interested in your products. This means acknowledging gender, age, income, likes and dislike, and their past online behaviour.
For sports, you’ll want to consider athletes, gym-enthusiasts and people hoping to lose weight. If you’re selling more corporate sports equipment, consider gyms or sports facilities.
Also scout sites such as Reddit or forums where people are highly likely to ask questions. On Reddit, there are subreddits besides ‘/r/aww’ and ‘/r/blep.’ Type in “sports,” “fitness,” “dieting,” etc. and you’re more than likely to find people asking questions your sports products could answer. E.g. someone started a thread saying, “need help exercising at home” – you can then include that phrase in your niche topic list if it applies to you.
Determining Keyword Type
There are many types of keyword – single words, natural phrases, brand, longtail – and some are incredibly competitive. Usually, longer and more natural keywords have higher conversionA conversion is a desirable result on a website that leads to an action such as completing an order, filling out a form, or simply clicking on a link. rates; they’re also less competitive. The public usually types more than one word in their search engine; therefore, longtail seems like the best bet. However, they do have fewer search rates because they can be so specific. This is where your previous research comes into play.
If you’ve researched thoroughly, and understand your customer base and what they’re looking for, then your longtail keywords should bring in optimal results. Make sure to measure the metrics of your keywords.
Transforming Keywords into SEO Content
Google’s algorithm “Fred,” has targeted black-hat SEO, and so, before creating content, you need to be 100% sure that the quality of your keywords is incredibly high. Keywords should be natural and fit into articles without becoming too obvious; you should also avoid keyword stuffingKeyword stuffing is a technique that attempts to give pages higher rankings in search engine result pages by inserting the same keywords over and over again. as “Fred” will penalise content which revolves around SEO-focused content, rather than useful information. Keep “Fred” as a mere acquaintance.
Final Thought
Keyword selection hasn’t greatly changed so far, however, the importance of researching and selecting keywords that are relevant, offer great metrics, and naturally fit into SEO content is more important than ever with Google’s “Fred,” overseeing any black-hat heavy sites/content. If you need help determining keywords for your company, make sure to contact us for more information.
Since Click Intelligence began, we’ve helping our clients identify the best keywords for their campaigns, so contact us if you need help with yours.
