Why Keyword Research is Essential for Content Marketing

5 Tips for Making SEO Smarter, More Effective

If you want to attract your target audience to your website, you need to provide the content they are searching for. While having the right keywords has always been important for SEO, you must go beyond search engine rankings if you’re hoping to establish your authority in the marketplace. Delivering an excellent  user experience requires developing a content marketing strategy and researching relevant keywords to draw more qualified traffic to your website. Here are 5 tips to help you accomplish this task.

1. Study your niche
2. Identify your core content topics
3. Consider searcher intent
4. Type your terms into Google
5. Use tools to help your research

1. Study your niche

It’s vital to understand your niche or topic before you can put together a list of the best keywords for content marketing. Start by polling or directly communicating with existing customers. Find out what terms they use to identify your service, product, and the company overall. Reach out via the social media platforms your target audience uses. Get involved in online communities and see what words are mentioned. 

2. Identify your core content topics

To gain valuable search traffic, it’s necessary to go beyond the topics that simply attract an audience. Use keywords that are relevant to your target audience. Think in less generalized terms and identify qualities uniquely specific to your brand. What is your area of expertise? How do you help the customer better than competitors? How is your product different than similar products? Get as detailed as possible. For example, customers may not search for just any plumber but for a “plumber who can unclog a drain” or a “plumber who can replace lead pipes.” Create highly targeted content using specific words

3. Consider searcher intent

When you understand why your target audience searches for the product or service your company delivers, you will have a better idea of the keywords they type into their search. For example, are they searching for “dining” or “restaurant,” or are they inputting menu items such as “steak” or “seafood”? Recognizing these keywords allows you to incorporate them into content that they will want to consume. Additionally, if you have a search function on your website, evaluate the terms in the queries

4. Type your keywords into Google

 Google is the number one search engine world, so you want to test out your keywords to see what results are delivered. Note the types of websites that come up, and how they rank. Dive deeper to learn how their content is formatted. Does the content answer the query you presented by searching with your keywords?

 5. Use tools to help your research

Several tools (free and fee-based options) will help your keyword research for content marketing. Utilizing these tools provides you with a more exact match of keywords. These tools include:

• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Trends
• Ahrefs
• KWFinder
• Moz
• SEMrush
• Ubersuggest

Make the most of your content marketing

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