Keywords, or key phrases, are essential when creating a new article, writing an advertisement, or uploading a YouTube video to ensure your visibility on search engines and make it easy for people to find your content when searching for relevant topics, resulting in increased visits/views.
In SEO, identifying the main keywords and conducting research around them is the first step in optimizing your website for search engines and achieving better success in digital marketing. Incorporating relevant keywords within your content helps search engines understand the nature of your content and its relevance to web users' queries.
Using primary keywords smartly is crucial to attain top rankings in search engine results. This involves selecting the most appropriate keywords that align with the online content you offer on your website.
Statistics confirm that a website ranking first for one primary keyword can also dominate in thousands of other related keywords. Therefore, it is essential to be meticulous in choosing your main keywords to secure top search results.
In this article, we will delve into the details of keywords, defining them, exploring their types, discussing how to use them effectively, and exploring other fascinating aspects related to keywords.
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| Keywords Explained: Types, Usage & Research Tools |
What are Keywords?
Keywords refer to a group of words that researchers use to find pages on your website or your online activities. This is how they are defined in the language of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and keywords have various characteristics and advantages.
Keywords can also be defined as a set of semantic phrases that identify pages and sections within websites, distinguishing your website's content from others. Keywords come in diverse forms, and we will discuss this further in the following sections
Types of Keywords
1. Short Tail Keywords:
Short tail keywords are those composed of three words or fewer. They face intense competition, making it challenging to rank high in search engines. However, if one can achieve a top position with short tail keywords, it can result in a significant number of visits.
2. Long Tail Keywords:
Long tail keywords, unlike their short tail counterparts, typically consist of four words or more. These keywords are more popular than short tail ones due to their ease of use and the relatively lower competition for them. Long tail keywords often target specific search queries, making it easier to rank well for them.
The Importance of Keywords
It is essential to understand that the significance of keywords goes beyond merely using them within an article. They play a crucial role in various aspects, such as content marketing and email marketing. Incorporating keywords in these areas can enhance search performance, improve your website's search engine optimization, and increase the desired outcomes of advertising campaigns.
Due to the valuable role keywords hold for users, many platform owners worldwide tend to overuse them. However, Google now penalizes excessive keyword usage. Therefore, it is crucial to use keywords appropriately for your business; otherwise, you risk facing penalties or other consequences from Google.
How to Do Keyword Research
The Keywords Research Process is not a complicated task, but it is not entirely easy either. So, follow along to learn how to obtain keywords that serve the topic you are discussing or any other subject using various methods.
Creating and Preparing Lists:
This method involves preparing customized lists containing the specific topics your website focuses on for each page. This is achieved by identifying various aspects related to keywords, which we will discuss in the following sections.
This approach requires putting yourself in the shoes of the searcher or target audience to understand their thoughts. Determine the topics you want to address on your blog and select keywords that you believe the searcher may find interesting.
Extracting Ideas from Keywords:
It is essential to choose keywords with relevant ideas that align with the topic you are discussing. Each topic has its unique dimensions and specific keywords, so this aspect must be considered, along with the language used to communicate with the audience.
As people speak different languages, try to use the official language as much as possible and use common keywords applicable in multiple countries.
This is all for the sake of controlling and dominating search engines through keywords. Remember that every word, no matter how simple it may seem, has its advantages and unique features. As we mentioned before, keywords are words used together to rank higher in search engine results.
Finding Keywords Relevant to the Topic:
In this step, you will search for both long and short keywords that serve your topic. Many tools can help you determine the appropriate keywords that contribute to improving SEO.
Later in this article, we will present the best tools to help you extract keywords.
Monitoring and Analyzing Competitors:
Not only the primary keywords matter when trying to rank high in search engines, but there are also several other factors, including monitoring and analyzing competitors who use the same keywords as you.
This process allows you to understand their ranking and the keywords they use. You will be able to access some of their strategies and methods of using keywords. Therefore, it is essential to utilize tools that assist in analyzing your competitors and choosing relevant root keywords that impact search engines and improve SEO.
How to Choose the Right Keywords?
Targeting long-tail keywords with low competition is the best way to quickly appear on the first pages of Google search engine.
The process of targeting long-tail keywords helps improve your website's search engine optimization (SEO) and gradually achieve results, unlike short and highly competitive keywords that require complex technical SEO strategies.
Why Should You Use Long-Tail Keywords?
There are four levels of keywords in terms of ease of ranking, as follows:
- Easy
- Medium
- Difficult
- Very Difficult
If you are starting a new website, you cannot target keywords from the very difficult or difficult levels. You should choose keywords from the easy level first, then the medium level before considering the higher levels.
For example:
1. best b2b seo agency primelis (Easy)
2. b2b seo agency primelis (Medium)
3. b2b seo agency (Difficult)
4. seo agency (Very Difficult)
If you have limited resources in your SEO budget, you should initially target long-tail keywords. The main title of your article should be a "complete search phrase."
You will find that you need a simple strategy, minimal effort, and a short time to rank for the phrase " best b2b seo agency primelis."
In reality, it all comes down to high-quality content. You cannot achieve rankings with poor or bad content, and even if you achieve rankings, they will drop again.
If you have created better content than your competitors and your purpose is to genuinely serve the user, that will undoubtedly help you achieve rankings more easily than you expect.
How to Use Keywords Effectively within Content
Many users used to heavily utilize keywords on their website pages, and initially, this was indeed effective. However, with the updates that occurred in Google and the emergence of new algorithms, this approach no longer yields the same results.
Towards the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, Google developed its search algorithms in an incredible way, making them even smarter.
To use keywords effectively within your page content, consider the following:
- Include keywords in the page title.
- Use keywords at least once in the description in a meaningful way.
- Incorporate targeted keywords into the content in a user-friendly manner; there's no need to use them excessively.
Remember that you are writing for your targeted audience, not just for search engines!
Common Mistakes in Using Keywords and How to Avoid Them
There are several incorrect practices when it comes to using keywords that you should be aware of and avoid:
1. Keyword Stuffing
One of the most dangerous SEO practices is placing keywords randomly and without any relevance to the user's experience. This means repeating keywords in a way that does not add any value, solely to improve rankings in search engines.
Google's search engine can recognize the content of your page by placing the main keyword in the title and naturally throughout the content. Simply put, you will be penalized quickly, and you may experience a decrease in website traffic without any explanation.
2. Keyword Stuffing in Alt Text and Image Descriptions
Some people believe that stuffing images with keywords is an effective way to deceive search engines and improve rankings. This practice is one of the riskiest approaches you can take and can lead to a significant drop in rankings.
3. Hiding Keywords Within the Page
Some individuals hide keywords within the web page's text, such as placing them in the same color as the page's background or in inconspicuous locations. This practice is also harmful and should not be employed.
Remember that you are writing for users and not for search engines. However, this does not mean neglecting your target search phrases, as they remain crucial to consider. Striking the right balance is essential.
Best Websites and Tools for Keyword Research:
1. keywordtool.io
The keywordtool.io tool is the best alternative to Google's Keyword Planner and relies on artificial intelligence.
This tool helps you discover numerous keywords by simply entering your main keyword. The free version of the tool provides up to 750 related keywords that you can rely on for your work.
You can use keywordtool.io for free without even creating an account.
2. Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a free tool for keyword research and understanding search volume. It offers many advantages in your research process, such as knowing the cost of advertisements and the Keyword Cost Per Click (CPC).
The great thing about this tool is that it is provided by Google, which means you can easily analyze all your keywords with high accuracy and contribute to improving search engines.
3. Google Trends
Google Trends is a tool that shows the most searched keywords and Google trends for a specific time period. Through Google indicators, you can identify the most important keywords during that period and discover related events.
With the related search operations and search volume provided by Google indicators, you can quickly come up with ideas for future content.
If you want to analyze keywords, this tool is perfect for you. You can also use it to analyze global events happening around you and get indicators for an extended period.
4. RapidTags.io
If you are looking for a tool to generate "YouTube Tags" or keywords for YouTube videos, RapidTags.io is designed specifically for YouTube.
When using RapidTags.io to search for keywords for YouTube videos, you will understand the quality and impact of this fantastic tool on your work. When searching for a word, you will receive suggestions for keywords.
5. Ahrefs Keyword Explorer
If you want the best tool to obtain keywords with greater accuracy, you should use this fantastic tool.
Even though it is not free, it is one of the best keyword generation websites. Ahrefs not only helps you obtain keywords but also provides you with a lot of data to improve your search engine results and understand your website's usage of keywords by your visitors.
This advanced tool provides you with everything you need to achieve better search engine results and understand your website more accurately in terms of the keywords your visitors use to find it. You can also monitor your competitors more precisely, know their search phrases, the number of external links to their website, their overall ranking, the number of keywords used on their website, and more.
If you are an SEO expert, you will be able to read the data using this tool and identify your competitors' strengths and weaknesses. As a result, you can build a good strategy to quickly dominate search engines.
6. TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy is one of the tools for YouTubers that allows you to gauge the strength of any keywords you use. You will also identify the best keywords to use in your work, along with many other fantastic features.
There is a paid plan and a free plan, but in most cases, the free plan is sufficient.
Also, read:
Best Free and Paid SEO Tools (+50 Top Ranking Tools)
Conclusion
And so, we have reached the end of the article where we have discussed almost everything related to keywords. We have talked about their significance in improving search engines and the value of keywords for your website. Additionally, we have explained the methods of finding keywords using the best tools in the industry.
