What is Keyword Research And How We Can Research Our Keywords?

·        A keyword is simply a search phrase. For example, if you went over to Google, and typed in, vanilla ice cream, the keyword would be vanilla ice cream, the entire search phrase, not the individual words, so not vanilla or ice cream.

·        The keyword would be vanilla ice cream, to be successful in SEO you need to figure out what your potential customers would search for in Google to find your website and the service or product you offer.

·        If we go back to my previous example of yoga mats, let’s just imagine you have a website which sells yoga mats. One of the main keywords you would target would be yoga mats, as that's the main thing you offer on your website.

·         Once you know what keywords you want to target you can then optimize your website to increase your online visibility for those keyword searches.

·         Understanding keyword intent. Keyword intent, sometimes known as search intent represents a user's purpose for the search.

If someone goes into Google and types in, are yoga mats worth the money?

 

·         Then from the keyword, we can tell straight away that this person isn't actually sure whether they need a yoga mat or not.

 

·         As the search phrase says, are yoga mats worth the money? So from this keyword intent, we get two things, we know, one, the person knows about yoga mats and two, they're not sure whether they need a yoga mat.

 

·         If we look at another keyword, such as buy red yoga mat, we can tell from this keyword that the search intent is a lot more different. The person has typed in, buy red yoga mat, which means they already know that they need a yoga mat and they've gone even further, and they actually described the yoga mat they need, which is a red one.

 

·         So if you have a website selling red yoga mats and someone types in, buy red yoga mat, then they land on your page showing red yoga mats, the person is most likely going to buy one, if the price is right.

 

However, if someone types in, are yoga mats worth the money?

 

·         Then they land on the same page, showing red yoga mats, the person probably isn't going to buy the person still needs convincing.

 

·         Understanding the difference in search intent will make a massive impact on your SEO campaign. Essentially, when you understand the buyer intent.

 

·         You can make sure that page a person lands on is relevant to what they typed in and will result in more sales and a much better user experience.

 

 

Short Tail versus Long Tail Keywords

 

·         Short Tail Keywords are general search queries, consisting of one or two words. Long tail keywords; on the other hand consist of three to five or even more words. An example of a short tail keyword is yoga mat.

 

·         An example of a long tail keyword is Red non-slip yoga mat under $30.

 

·         As you can tell, the short tail keyword is a lot broader and covers way more things. If someone searches on Google for yoga mat then we actually have no idea what that person is looking for.

 

1. Are they looking for a red yoga mat?
2. Are they looking for a yoga mat to buy?
3. Are they trying to find out, how much a yoga mat cost?

 

·         We literally have no idea as the search intent is not crystal clear.

 

·         On the other hand, when a person searches for a long tail keyword such as, red non-slip yoga mat under $30, we have no doubt what’s over what this person wants. They want a red non-slip yoga mat that costs them less than $30.

 

·         If this person lands on a page on our website, which has red non-slip yoga mats for sale that are priced under $30. Then this would be the perfect match for the user. And is likely, that will actually generate a sale because of that.

 

·         As a result long tail keywords convert much better than short tail keywords. Simply put, long tail keywords are way more targeted and much more specific.

 

·         Just as a pro tip, long tail keywords are also much easier to rank for in Google as they typically have less competition than short tail keywords. Do bear in mind that if you do own a yoga website, then you still should be targeting the keyword, Yoga Mats in general, anyway.

 

·         However, that shouldn't be the main effort of your SEO campaign because that keyword is super competitive and it's likely that you'll get stuck on page two or three of Google.

 

• When it comes to your SEO Campaign, start off targeting long tail keywords, and as you build up momentum and authority, branch out and target, the more competitive short tail keywords.