What is keyword research & why do you need it?

What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of brainstorming, researching and choosing which keywords to target in your business. Usually, keyword research comes in three parts:

  1. Selecting your main niche and keywords
  2. Selecting keywords strategically to help your target market find you
  3. Developing a content strategy based on your keyword research

Why Keyword Research is Critical

The cornerstone of any website or marketing program is good keyword research.

Without adequate research many products and businesses fail. The same is true for SEO. Unfortunately, the majority of websites we see have poor foundations and poorly chosen keyword search terms. As a consequence, they don’t achieve the results they require or attract the wrong types of customers.

Keyword Research needn’t be that difficult but it can sometimes be time consuming. You can save time by outsourcing all the hard work. This leaves you free to focus on running your business.

Use specialized keyword research tools to:

  • Analyse the competitive landscape and develop strategies that help you improve your visibility in search engines.
  • Gain insights into which keywords drive profitability using proven market research techniques
  • Understand whether there are any pitfalls in the site design and learn how to fine tune the site structure and make it search engine friendly
  • Understand how to develop relevant links which improve your specialist authority

Use Keyword Research to Develop Content

Once you have completed your keyword research, you can use it to help you develop content. Ideally, you should have several content hubs with content focused around specific topics. This should be organised into long-form cornerstone content articles and 6-10 shorter articles that include sub-topic keywords. The shorter article should link to your cornerstone content. Your cornerstone content should link to your main service page.

“Secret Sauce” To Make Your Website Successful

If you’ve heard the proverb “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”, know that this absolutely applies when it comes to keyword research. Good keyword research and content will help form the foundations of a solid SEO strategy.

Most businesses don’t become successful overnight. Most become successful as a consequence of careful planning.

If your brick-and-mortar business doesn’t have a big shop front or a network of sites that sell your product, planning for success on the web is critical. Not doing the right planning upfront will most likely mean that you will have to start over again. Keyword research should be done right the first time.