Choose Keywords for SEO

Search Engine Optimization
Content Planning
December 5, 2023
39
5 minutes read

How to Choose Keywords for SEO

Table of Contents

Even though search engine optimization (SEO) today is about much more than keywords, choosing the right keywords can have a big impact on your online presence. More than making it easier for people to find your website, keywords will also help you avoid creating boring or irrelevant content that may diminish your image online and beyond. Read on to find out how to choose keywords for SEO.Here are 5 steps to choose keywords for SEO.

5 Steps – Choose Keywords for SEO

Brainstorm Plenty of Keyword Ideas

Before you can start choosing keywords for SEO, you want to generate a list of relevant keyword ideas. These are keywords related to what you do.

You can come up with a few topics and then use a free or paid keyword research tool like Soovle, Ubersuggest, or the Google Keyword Planner to identify keywords related to those topics. At the end of this process, you should have a long but focused list of keyword ideas all of them relevant to your business.

Check Your Keywords Against Search Volumes and Competition

Once you have your keyword ideas list, you can start filtering your keywords based on their performance and other factors. The advantage of using a keyword research tool is that it will show you search volumes and competition levels for each keyword you type into it.

This will help you see at a glance whether enough people search for it to make it worth targeting. Also, it will show you how difficult it will be to rank for it. Very popular keywords can be hard to rank for. But often, it’s possible to find variations on them that are more cost-effective and that can show results faster.

At this stage, you want to filter out keywords with a low search volume and high competition and highlight keywords with a high search volume and low competition. Often, it’s good to choose a mix of long-tail and short-tail keywords, where long-tail keywords consist of two words or more and short-tail ones of up to two or three words.

Consider the Earning Potential of the Keywords

If you’re selling a product or think about monetizing your website, this step is important. Keyword research tools will show you click-through rates (CTR) for ads using those keywords, or how much advertisers will pay Google and other search engines for promoting ads or content matching those keywords. The more money advertisers bid for a keyword, the better.

If you’re selling a product or service, you also want to consider the commercial value of that keyword for your brand. For example, is the keyword relevant to the product or service you sell or to your niche?

Often, it’s best to target keywords that customers search for when they are not searching for actual products. In other words, when you choose keywords for seo, keywords related to niche-specific information that fit your customer demographic.

Check Out the Search Results

When it comes to choosing good keywords for SEO, numbers aren’t everything. You want to consider the user experience. Carry out a search result for your shortlisted keywords and check out the results. If Google displays snippets with instructions, directions, or answers to questions that already answer the search query, then that keyword may not bring you a lot of organic traffic.

Focus on the User Experience

Today more than ever, search engines emphasize the user experience web pages provide. Google and other top search engines are also smart enough to figure keyword synonyms. This means that you should choose your keywords with your target audience in mind.

If a keyword is clumsy, it may be better to drop it than compromise on the quality of your content. You also have to align your keyword with your intent, mission, and values. Keywords are not the destination—they are only signposts leading to the destination, which is the overall user experience your site provides.