Keyword research is an important base for the search engine optimization of your website. It is about your websites appearing in the Google search results list for matching search queries. And if possible on the first page.
Through keyword research, you can see which topics are really relevant for your target customers. In addition, you “train” yourself to speak or write in the language of your target customers.
There are many myths surrounding the topic of “keywords” and there are often many questions. I would like to answer the most important questions about keyword research and the SEO text in this article.
Table of Contents
Keyword Research Tools – Recommended
1. Google Search Console
Use what you already have and get an overview.
Do you already know which keywords you will be found for? And which of your subpages or blog posts are best positioned here?
In order to operate search engine optimization really effectively, you should know your current state. And then, of course, you also define a TARGET state as a goal.
In the Google Search Console, you can see under “Search Queries” which terms you use, with which pages and in which position. Here you should check:
Are the well-positioned pages and associated search queries really relevant to your offer? In short: Would you prefer to be found for these keywords?
If this is not the case, the first thing you should do is take a close look at your content.
The search queries for which you rank from page 2 onwards as position 11 is particularly interesting. Which of these searches match your offer? Can you still optimize the content of the existing pages? All content on page two is already on the threshold of page 1 of Google search. Use this good starting point and optimize to make the jump over this threshold.
2. Google Keyword Planner
You have already collected a few keyword ideas and are now wondering whether they are helpful. Check the search volume and density of the competitors in the Google Keyword Planner. Choose keywords that have an attractive search volume and at the same time show medium or low competition.
3. Ubersuggest
This tool by Neil Patel is wonderfully clear and easy to understand. You definitely recognize potential with the values, because you get an overview of:
- The search volume of your chosen keyword
- Keyword ideas with information on the trend, the search volume, the competition and value on the degree of difficulty of the optimization
- Content ideas with the indication of similar contributions
4. Google Suggest
Google Suggest or Autocomplete is a function at Google that makes suggestions for users to complete the search query as soon as they enter the word.
Take a suitable keyword or a combination of several keywords (longtail keyword) and now look in the Google search mask to see which alternative search queries are also displayed. Also, see which articles and pages for these search queries are listed on the first page.
Then research:
- What do potential competitors write about the chosen topic? What can you do differently/better? What content gaps are there that you can fill with your contribution?
- What search intent do other blogs serve with their posts?
- What is the initial situation of your readers? What basic information may you need in the introduction to the topic? What are the initial questions (W questions) of the users?
Avoid Duplicate Content
Identical content on several pages poses Google the question “Which page is the original or of the highest relevance?” In the best case, the pages with identical content must share the “relevance weighting”. In the worst case, the page is no longer included in the Google Library if a page with the same content is already indexed. This is the external “duplicate content”.
However, the same problem can also arise internally on the website. If, for example, overview/category pages exist that only duplicate the existing content.
Example: online shop for electronics
You have put together a page with the electronic products for “men over 40”.
Now there is another page, with the special topic “popular electronics”.
Here you also put some of the electronic products for “men over 40” again.
From a technical point of view, there are two subpages with identical content.
Solution:
Setting a so-called “canonical tag”, this “tag” shows Google which the original source is. In WordPress, you can set this for blog posts, for example, via the categorization. By marking a category as “primary”, Google will recognize that as the primary page or the original page.
Basically, your website content should always be individual and unique. However, identical brief descriptions of your company in third-party portals, such as business directories and social media channels (to which search engines have access) are less relevant. Because essentially it is our goal to strengthen our own website in the visibility of the search engines.
Strengthening Local Visibility (Local SEO)
Local search engine optimization usually means that the local location is included in the search and thus in the search results. You can support the whole thing by optimizing your website for local search.
- Location of your company on the website
- Your city/region mentioned in the text (where it fits)
- Mention of your city in connection with your offer, your service and the appropriate keyword in the metadata (title and description)
- Subpages for different locations with individual content (no copies with changing city names)
Also use directory entries for more local visibility.
For example:
- Google My Business.
- Bing Places.
- Popular regional directories.
It is important that the same basic data on the company is available everywhere. And this also in the same spelling.
SEO Myths And Outdated Assumptions
1. Keyword density
The “Keyword density” describes how often a keyword occurs in relation to the rest of the text. In the past, keyword density was considered a Google ranking factor. But this is no longer valid. A high keyword density is not really an asset for your text and your reader.
My Tip: Do not write your text around a keyword, but for your reader. The use of suitable search terms usually happens on its own, when writing.
When you have completed the text draft, simply check whether a keyword from your keyword set is available in the following places or whether it can still be used.
- In title and heading
- In the subheadings
- In the text, especially at the beginning of the text
- Leave keyword density. Focus on your message and content.
Important: Please do not “squeeze” the keyword into the text, for the sake of legibility.
2. How Much Text Should It Be?
The only useful rule of thumb for the correct text length: A text should be as long as necessary, but as short as possible.
I know that most of you want a specific number of words that you can use as a guide. But this number does not exist (not even for Google). The topics and the necessary information content of the texts are so different that we can mostly only be wrong with a number of words. It remains with the above rule of thumb.
Conclusion
A good text is not technically oriented to the needs of the search engine, but to the questions and needs of the reader. Do not tense up when using the keywords, but always keep your potential customer in mind.
The search engine is based on user behavior. This means the more popular your content is with readers, the more relevant the search engine will rank your website. Therefore, you should absolutely focus on recognizing and answering the questions of your desired customers.
You can refine your texts over and over again. Because SEO is not a one-off thing, it is rather a maintenance and continuous optimization.