Keyword Research: In Search of Online Success

 Understanding Search Terms 

Search Terms or keywords are phrases or even single words that visitors use to discover relevant sites or information on the Internet. Some of the searches are carried out using long phrases hence this should never be neglected. When a user enters a browser's search box he or she types a word or a phrase according to intent to find relevant information presented by a blog, website, knowledge panel, and more. 

The SERP or search engine result pages that open up in our browsers are now inundated with diverse sources of information, and not only the 10 site links as in the past. Hence when we are doing keyword research we must consider all sources of information to discover words and phrases to focus on in our sites, blogs, and optimization campaigns.

Making a Keyword List

Marked keywords are well documented and stored in a list in the excel sheet after a careful analysis. In the case of a website, the terms should be listed according to the landing pages so that proper distribution takes place during the creation of content, title, and meta. This distributed list also becomes handy when creating anchors during off-page optimization. Hence acquisition is a vital exercise and should be subject to regular management and updates. 

The research begins at the whiteboard stage when the concept or the topic becomes clear. Initial searches are based upon the seed keywords that define the topic core.  From here on expansion of the list should take place on regular basis.

Though an SEO collects lots of meaningful terms using the tools and competitor analysis, the acquisition is a time-bound exercise. Since the search term profiles are always changing depending on the trend and the addition of in-depth information layers on sites and blogs etc. 

Term Discover - A Common  Sense Approach

Using the seed keyword and understanding of the topic, the first instance of discovery is using common sense.

What users are going to type for a particular intent? 

This comes naturally as begin to figure out the terms in relation to the topic and the intent. A substantial number of terms can be collected to add to the list. But wait, to collect in this manner needs refinement by collating with acquisition done using the other means.

Using Keyword Discover Tools 

All SEO service providers are familiar with discovery tools and use them often for the acquisition and refinement of their list and priorities. Unfortunately, most of the tools are paid, and some are prohibitively expensive for SEO entrants and professionals alike.  

So what do you do? 

Well, almost all the tools offer insights and a list of terms on a limited basis for free. You can use a number of tools to add meaningful words and phrases to your list and at the same time get familiar with them.

Some tools offer analysis of terms based on monthly or annual searches and this insight is vital for prioritizing words and phrases based on popularity. But remember in spite of the search volume you should focus on terms most suited for your content. Hence narrow down to optimize the list based on the contents in the body not solely on the search volume. If you shape your content to focus on highly searched high volume primary keywords the intent may change misleading the visitors.

Is this what your site or blog is meant to deliver? 

Question yourself to clarify.   

Thus in order to choose keywords, go back to the whiteboard stage and realign with the offerings. For keyword research an SEO professional should be well aligned with the topic and the intent, there is no room for confusion. 

Some of the popular discovery tools are:

• Google Keyword Planner
• Ahref
• Semrush
• Niel Patel
• KWFinder
• Growth Bar
• Keyword Tool
• Majestic 

The output of all popular tools is nearly the same, hence, when going in for a paid subscription remember to check all site audit features that come along with the package.

Google Trends Website

This trend analysis website offers search figures across various regions. The website offers a graphic representation of the comparison of various terms and also the search volume. Google now updates this vital source for keyword optimization on regular basis. Refining terms are vital, and if you collate analysis using various sources you will be better informed. 

Remember a winning SEO Campaign depends much on how skillfully various relevant terms are used on the page and off the page. Not only the contemporary trends and insights, but Google Trends is also vital for understanding customer behavior pertaining to various subjects and topics. This will help shape the customer journey to align with your goal conversions. This tool also helps discover the market size and provides relevant economic indicators for example as an additional source of information. There are many subsets as search for websites available for the users.

Competitor Analysis & Search Encounters 

Keyword Acquisition is not an overnight exercise. Webmasters should be vigilant of the terms present anywhere that describe their content niche or special offerings better and at the same time reduces competition from competitors according to stiff competition on the SERPs. These encounters happen over a period of time when you are searching for diverse platforms for link building or seeking more information about the topic for content creation. 

Competitor study offers many insight fruits as you move over the websites, off-page contents, articles, blogs, and reviews. When you are conducting a competitive analysis you also look over all the SEO audit elements including the search terms.  Discover terms during these encounters and insights are time bound but add to your kitty and understanding of the subject matter in depth.  

Thus, search engine optimizers should take all relevant matters on the Net seriously, and you should care to go over them with attention. 

Semantics & Keyword Percentage

Semantics are words and phrases that are different from the main keywords but yet deliver relevant message/information to search engines for indexing and ranking and also to increase readability. The relationship between semantic words and phrases helps tremendously in explaining to search engines what the content is all about.    

For any content not to be called spam the keyword percentage should not be more than 5 %. This is vital to be in the good books of the search engine filters and robots. All the exercises above will help you in writing better both for the search engines as well as the visitors to your content.  

Read More on Keyword Research

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Uday provides a search engine optimization service for digital marketing. He provides website content and content for authoritative links. He also works as SEO Content Writer for digital companies on a remote WFH basis.

He also teaches digital marketing in his home town Jabalpur. He can be contacted at: 

pateluday90@hotmail.com

09755089323          

Content Marketing: Does A Long List of Keywords For Seo Matter?

Contents & Algorithms

Constantly evolving and at times faltering, algorithms (algos) for ranking, indexing and providing answers on SERPs are at the center of search engine optimization. Also known as SEO, it is indispensable part of  Digital Marketing. Webmasters or Seo consultants are always on their toes to keep abreast of changes made by search engines to their algos some of which are subtly disclosed while many need smart exercise to decipher. 

Metrics involved in ranking and indexing are never disclosed. Following the guidelines - often elaborated - regarding optimizing a website is not an option rather it is a must. But we know that internal and external links and contents matter. Contents on website are as important as those associated with the links during off page promotion. This is what marketing focus is on at present. 

Content on a website is most important, and they should be well written, properly formatted, informative and unique. Remember the write up is to provide an answer to a users query. They are certainly not to test the readers attention span and entertain without purpose. If you are providing the most suited answer to the users query than for that term you will rank without much efforts. If a lot many sites are doing the same than metrics come into play. 

Generally very long write ups are a turn off until unless they are expanding the relevance or adding to related information. Attributes like videos, images and graphics add to increase the readers interest hence the attention span. This could also reduce the bounce rate. 

"If you use keywords properly you can answer the query in a short passage. Thus if you wish to focus a page on few more terms write short passages on a page...relevant to each other and the main topic of the page."    

Keywords

Though we always emphasize on inclusion of keywords they are not necessary if the writing is apt. But inadvertently keywords creep in. If they are in limits of natural expression it works wonders but if you saturate and repeat them in the write up excessively your page could be penalized or ignored?  

But is is a good exercise to find search terms that elaborate the topic on a web page. They could be included on the title and tags naturally. They are useful whence you wish to state what the page is all about in the title and tags. This applies to the anchor text as well in the external and interlinks. 

Remember naturally obtained links are most powerful, full of juice and effective in placing the site on the top whence searched using relevant terms. This is possible if the visitors find your site very useful.   

For page contents semantic indexing is more important since it informs the search engines as well as the visitors about the search intent i.e is what the page means. Natural inclusion of related phrases or words describing the topic is very important hence you should be writing for the reader and not for search engines.          

When you are shaping a campaign for optimization the first step is keyword analysis and research. This comes about first by understanding the topic regarding its focus. Since a topic may be subdivided into many related matters it is a must to sit down with the client and find out the exact topic for each page. 

This is if the contents have not been written and the project is on a white board stage. If they are already on board then you should straightaway start with analysis and research. This will help you give a closer feel of the topic and what is being talked about. 

Why are we talking about contents in relation with accumulating keywords for  web page? 

Well both are strongly interrelated keywords, are more like a synopsis of content. In short/long phrase or even in single word they will help your visitor and search engines understand the topic. Seo is topic relevant without relevancy in content marketing your campaign will fail.      

Actually if you are creating a list of keywords than you should discover those strictly relevant to the contents initially. Unlike earlier times you could us a tool and amass a long list of high traffic terms for your campaign.This would not work anymore. 

Response to first page keyword placement for a website is strictly dependent upon the write up. Both should be semantically related. If you do not understand this you will be wasting your time on promoting terms which are not closely related to the write up but appear to be related anyway. Hence you should focus on very strongly related words and phrases which not only respond well to your Seo campaign but also clear the intent. Hence initial exercise should land you with closely matching terms with a higher or lesser degree of competition on SERPs. 

(Read article on Google Bombing to understand why distantly related terms may not work anymore.)

Thus apt content writing becomes important whence you focus on chosen terms. Go though your page well or repeatedly in order to list keywords you can rank on quickly. More distantly related terms should be worked on gradually as the campaign proceeds. Thus simply put accumulating terms for targeting a web page is a gradual process and not one day exercise. As you visit competitor pages, score the SERPS on topic and visit many social media platforms the picture of you own web page will come sharply on focus and help you avoid unproductive terms.  

If you wish to increase the range of responsive terms you have to look at the page and additional write up may be required. If the addition is relevant search engines too would look favorably at your page/website.         

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Uday teaches Internet Marketing in Jabalpur
He provides website contents in English
He provides Internet Marketing Service 
Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com
9755089323

Digital Marketing Evolution: A Conundrum of Smart Terms

Well it all boils down to content well Yes! But web development technology plays an important role  now more so with the advent of smartphones or mobiles, tablets, laptops apart from the ubiquitous desktop.

From humble beginning Seo has taken huge strides. It changes along with the evolution of search engine ranking and indexing algorithms on day to day basis. With the popularity of social networking platforms a paradigm has taken place as to how we promote the websites on SERPs. 

To those not familiar with search engine optimization this may sound bizarre. But this is not the case search engine algos do consider metrics related to performance on social networking platforms besides hundreds of website attributes. The likes, comments, links and associated contents, video subscriptions and traffic, infographics are all part of the big game that metrics play in placing you on the top of the search box or SERPs meaning search engine result pages an attribute central to web browsers.

Earlier it was simple keyword placement and link building that worked to see your client's site on SERPs ranking at the top. Now SEO is an all inclusive activity. SEO being a part of digital marketing ...it is in reality central to digital marketing. Now not everyone can be an SEO expert but then lot many wish to be part of digital marketing sector. So cleverly the sector has been bifurcated into divisions that take care of part of activities. 

So we have to familiarize ourselves with terms like SMM or Social Media Marketing which is marketing your product and services on the social media. Then you have SEM which is seo + CPC (paid marketing) combined. As such search engines are not platforms they simply indexing and ranking programs. As the Net grow wider more divisions will creep in and hence more terms......

Hence you have to win on the SERPs....and promote landing pages using paid advertisement like Adwords, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn Ads. There is no free lunch as far as advertisement on social networking platforms are concerned hence be ready to dish out the moolah! But remember nothing delivers like organic presence on the search box for greater conversions much more the paid Ads however so ever craftily designed. That is why search engine optimization exercise is indispensable.    

Well all are part of comprehensive digital marketing or Internet marketing campaigns. Hence in order to be an SEO professional you should be involved with every activity that the terms define. Do not be confused...only learn to break things up. The terms are a person's justification on being part of the digital marketing sector. 

While videos and infographics do play an impressive role it is content creation that is central to all activities online. The message is clear...

If you wish to be Seo professional or digital marketing expert learn to create contents and fast before you are immersed into oblivion. Technical Seo is fine and a must but that is one fourth of the cake content creation, video marketing an link buildings are the big chunks.   

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Seo Author

Uday is a blogger and provides Digital Marketing & SEO Services. He creates quality links. He also provides website contents in English. He has ten years of experience in this trade. 

Uday Teaches Digital Marketing in his home town Jabalpur. 

Uday is also a freelance naturalist/birder and loves to blog on wildlife.

He can be contacted at : pateluday90@hotmail.com

Mobile: 9755089323

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Researching Keywords & Contents A Wise Approach

Though using keywords tools are the regular means of finding the important search terms, it is usually a bad experience since the extensive one's are paid. The best solutions for making a list of useful terms is to study the topics in books, letters and the SERPs literally speaking. 

With the complexity of ranking algorithms there is no possibility of coming across magical search terms that would invite tons of organic traffic. It is best to list a large number of terms which are long and semantic in nature. This way you will sideline competition to a good degree and rank quicker. In the contemporary period ranking on prime keywords is nigh difficult and if your seo practices are good you even then it will take a long time to rank.

Will your client wait that long?    

Hence understanding the topic is most important...if the contents of the site have been already written. Else understand what the client wish the site to be about, and then first write contents naturally using a good mix of semantic terms and proper ratio of prime or exact terms. 

Besides understanding the topic thoroughly take into accounts the trends and demands that surrounds a topic or a product. This will fetch you closer to the right content, and surely right search terms will emerge. If you type the terms from the list you have made and query them on SERPs you will deepen your list with more discoveries. Remember your site will only rank for terms that are relevant as shown by the content on page. Trying to rank on words and phrases outside the purview of onpage contents will be a meaningless exercise. The contents should be pointing towards words and phrases and you can rank only on these and the semantic of course. Do not waste time on high ranking phrases if they are not relevant to your contents. 

Hence first most important task is the focus on contents...are they written suitably to what the website means to deliver. Accuracy is a must in the write ups done naturally...do not write for the SE's. Good contents can be delivered only by a good writer who understands SEO very well. At the same time he should have the capacity to research. What I am putting emphasis upon is that contents and keywords are intertwined and the latter should have a diverse profile. Relevancy is what explains the engines better about the topic else a confused status means very poor ranking on SERPs.    

If you are promoting a hotel website then besides the hotel terms you can rank poorly on resort and lodge terms. Ranking on related terms may be weak but they will accord you a proper mix of terms for links to be used as anchors which is imperative. Simply put  you cannot go on using a term for long in anchor.    

Hence deep research and study of the topic is a prerequisite for discovering search terms. And then these will play an important role in the whole promotional strategy. This is a make or break activity so be on alert constantly. Throughout the search engine optimization campaign you should be discovering new words and phrases which are relevant. Focusing on wrong terms will certainly lead to failure and client dissatisfaction.   

Extensive research will also help you on Adwords campaigns albeit their keyword planner would of great assistance whence paid search factors are taken into account.

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Uday teaches Internet Marketing in Jabalpur
He provides website contents in English
He provides Internet Marketing Service 
Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com
9755089323

Using Keywords in Search Engine Optimisation

Keywords - Content & Link Building 

Keywords are compact group of words and phrases that impart information about a topic. They may be descriptive as well as deliver context about a topic, service or product. To some it up few words define a whole gamut of meaning.  

Keywords find major use on the Internet on the websites and blogs and elsewhere. A medium where short text is read more than long text a keyword would inform the visitor on the SERP what it is all about rather than reading whole descriptive text. The keyword than would prompt the visitor to move on if that is what he or she is looking for on the Net. 

Keywords also called search terms are central to any written text, domain a naked link and a short tweet. 

When writing content the search term usage is bound by rules. Usually the first line should contain a search term and so should the last line. The headlines, title and description should contain the terms as well. But the rules intervene and do not allow repetition of terms beyond a certain limit. This may be a guideline of search engines but overall purpose is to create good contents - readily and interesting. Just imagine if you encounter the same word again and again in an article ...you will certainly be disgusted.    

With the increasing popularity of LSI the content writing for visitors and the search engines has taken an interesting turn. Unlike before were keyword infested contents were tolerated the current change has made writeups more natural. Hence whence writing text you should do so naturally any forceful intrusion of text would be frowned upon and possibly lead to a penalty.    

Keywords are most targeted by SEOs or webmasters in copy of website and blogs. The limitation applies to them as well. For external link building repetition of search terms surely leads to a penalty.

Therefore anchor text usage demands that you use primary or exact match terms in limitation and supplement it with long tail and partial match terms. Using brand name in anchors is again a good idea.

Remember the purpose of links is to add information and if done properly using an authoritative site you get lots of juice for ranking. 

Keyword usage is part of content creation for marketing. The terms should arise after extensive research and the relevancy should not be in question. With passing of time webmasters realize the terms most used by visitors in search. Proper usage leads to readability and information which attract natural organic linking for better ranking.
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Uday provides Internet Marketing (SEO) Services
He also conducts Internet Marketing Classes in Jabalpur
Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com
Mobile: 09755089323

Keywords or Search Terms - All You Wanted to Know

The introduction of search engines brought in a universal term called keyword or search term. The client and the SEO consultant or specialist whatever you call him or her both understood the significance of this term. I do not hesitate to say that it is a mystery term and all SEOs or webmasters try to unravel the hidden secret behind in order to open the Pandora's box and create traffic.   

The term has to be of course topic relevant indicating the query and often associate meaning like the location or type etc. Extracting search terms usually begins at a nascent stage whence the webmaster comes across the contents.

In the initial stages the professional will go through the whole website analysing its architecture, design, content, design parameters, topics and even the aesthetics. All these elements of a website are important hence in order to make an SEO campaign successful one needs to analyse them and then edit or change attributes that the webmaster thinks are closer to the guidelines set by the search engines such as Google, Yahoo or Bing.      

The research and analysis is important and all webmasters conduct it. Keyword research takes prominence as it is the guiding light of the campaign. Choosing the right search terms means high conversions which definitely spells success.    

Visitors to search engines look for answer to their queries and hence type the most relevant keyword they think will fetch the right answer. But webmaster extended the terms because one types terms that may not be similar to to another searcher but often the result looked for is the same. Hence while on person may type "hotels in Jabalpur" another may type "accommodation in Jabalpur". Both are seeking the same answer but the query typed in differs. Hence for the same search keyword typed in varies vastly and this means a website has to respond to many terms for good traffic.

During the search engine optimisation process the website is optimised on many search terms provided the content or related matter speaks of them. Explanation is simple you cannot optimise a "Jabalpur website" to respond to Mumbai word. This is where relevance comes into the picture whence optimising.

The webmaster has to be aware of focusing of the site and subtle nuances that enable it to offer answers that may be segmented. Hence one Jabalpur hotel website may be offering information on budget hotels another may be offering information on only luxury hotels. This is what fetches in the variation in the terms to be attributed to a website, and hence the list becomes larger and larger whence semantic terms are taken into consideration as well.        

Whence optimising a site the search phrases should usually contain the topic, the location and the relevant kind. This is a terse explanation the variation can be brought about by various attributes.

Whence optimisation the search terms are placed in the title and meta tags "content=description" and "content=keywords". Search engines do not accord weight to meta tags anymore but nevertheless both the elements play an important role in quickly summarising the website offerings for the visitors. Snippets are another means of displaying the offerings on the SERPs and can be easily understood by the search engines as well. 

Keyword profile becomes enhanced with active research and by using your own logic which experience will bring forth. Tools also assist in this process and there many on the Internet for this activity. Google keyword planner is an important tool which is very popular among the webmasters and Adwords advertisers.      

Accurately optimising website is not only dependant on the  title but also on the contents on that page. Usually most typed two or three word phrases are referred as primary/secondary keywords while long worded terms are called long tail keywords. 

At the beginning of the campaign the webmaster will analyse the contents and edit accordingly depending upon the terms it has to be focused on. A comprehensive right up will lead to including the semantic terms which the search engines understand very well.  This is called SEO content engineering. This has to be carried out on all pages depending upon their corresponding terms. 

Keywords are also inserted in the image Alt tags. But it is wiser to insert term to explain the picture and not the terms aimed at.

The assemblage of  search terms explain to the visitor what the page is all about and also assist the search engine algorithms to index the page correctly. Correct placement of terms be they primary or long tailed also assists the search engine algorithms to rank the site taking into account all the metric involved.                      

Keyword Research That Makes or Break Business

In search engine optimisation keyword research plays an important role. Without the right keyword choice the campaign may fizzle out. Hence the first step whence taking over a new project is to extensively study the website and then derive search terms that should be targeted.   

Analysis 

The Seo professional needs to look into the offering of the website holistically, and what products or services are being targeted. This calls for sitting with the client and discussing all aspects of his online business. After this analyse competition and what they are targeting. Make a deep study how to rank your clients website.  

Locations  

It is also important to know the sphere of client's business, whether he wants to generate leads from local places or state wise or country level. Country level rankings are highly competitive nevertheless you will charge more and take more time. In order to achieve position on primary competitive search terms you have to climb the ladder from step one any way. 

Hence the location is essentially mentioned on the website. Supplies, services and products are searched for in the place of location.

Example: Stationary suppliers in NY, tea brands in India, hotels in Jabalpur.      

Beginning: Research

Keyword research begins using common sense. 

What phrases would you type in order to seek those service or products?

If it is a comprehensive eCommerce portal than you have to understand the category. If need be you can engineer contents with the involvement of the client to give an accurate delivery.  

It is important to target the right phrases. You can use many tools available online to come to a conclusion or use your own brain besides some idea from the client. As person in this trade you must have developed an acumen as to what people type on the Internet on SERPs.    

Types of search terms    

Standalone keywords are rarely targeted since they are impossible to rank.  The targeted terms are usually phrases with the most competitive ones are called as primary keywords. Terms that are supposed to be less competitive (less typed) are called secondary keywords. The last but not the least are long tail terms which fewer people type in the box hence less competitive.  These are unique and cumulative ranking would yield high traffic hence do not ignore them. They are more effective and easier to rank with high conversion rate. 

Example : 1) Green tea 

                 2) Buy green tea online

The latter is typed with intent hence more effective.    

While finalising terms to be targeted you can have a peek at Adwords being run the SERPs or use tools as I said  earlier. All the selected phrases should correlate with the websites offerings.    

For service providers managing Adwords campaign things are easier since they have had live experience of value of search terms regarding that topic. 

One caution is do not target highly competitive terms if you website offerings are well below.