RachelBy now you have mastered the basics to keyword research, so let’s take it a step further and look at some of the advanced strategies for keyword research. If you need a quick refresher or you are looking for something a little more novice, visit our keyword research basics article.
Let’s Recap
Keyword research is essential for you to know what keywords to use in your website to help your website rank on the search engine results pages when those keywords are searched. Knowing which keywords to naturally implement into your website, subpages, and posts will help your website rank on these SERPs. Creating content based on a keyword list will help your site’s search engine optimization.
Now that you’ve researched the basics and come up with a list of quality keywords to include in your website, let’s look at some of the advanced ways you can increase your chances of ranking #1 on a SERP.
Analyze the Keywords
There are many online tools that will allow you to search keywords to analyze the amount of times they are being searched, terms related to the keyword, and how many people click a link related to the keywords. Knowing the search intent, search volume and search queries of different keywords will help you develop a keyword list of your own.
Analyzing keywords is important because it allows you to review realistic impressions that your keyword is making on users.
These are some of the most helpful keyword research analyzers:
Organize the Data
Once you have performed an analysis of your keywords, you need to organize the data.
The research tool you use should give you the option to download your results. If so, you can import the data into a spreadsheet, such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, for you to organize and filter.
Organizing your data is important because you can arrange or filter the data however you need. You can filter by most monthly searches, total page clicks, lifetime impressions, etc. This is important because it allows you to see how you should optimize your keywords to produce the best search engine results page ranking.
Apply the Data
Once you have analyzed your keywords and reviewed the data, it is now time to apply the research you have discovered. After all, your research is only valuable if you put it to use.
You may notice that users have begun including additional words or phrases when searching the original keyword. Use this to your advantage by incorporating these words or phrases into your website, subpage, or blog post.
Other Helpful Strategies
There are also additional strategies you can implement when creating search engine optimized content. These strategies can help you rank on search engine results pages.
Barnacle Strategy
This strategy is called the “barnacle strategy” because it focuses on attaching your website to a largely recognizable website.
Search engines rank websites on the search engines results pages based on their relevant content, keywords, and quality backlinks. Businesses with a large online presence will usually outrank those smaller websites, but there is a way to use this to your advantage – by using the barnacle strategy.
You will want to attach your website to a website with a high ranking on the search engine results pages. By doing so, you will increase the chance that your website will rank on SERPs as well.
Shoulder Niche Strategy
To help build backlinks to your site and rank on search engine results pages, you can use the shoulder niche strategy.
A shoulder niche is a niche that is closely related to your website, blog, and content. While you may have found keywords that rank your website on SERPs, you can also optimize search engine results by implementing shoulder keywords.
If you do it right, the shoulder niche strategy can make you look like you are a mind reader. Give your readers the content they are looking for on your website when they may not be expecting it. Implementing these shoulder keywords will allow you to do just that.
Avoid “Knowledge Card” Keywords
Have you ever typed a question or keyword into the Google search bar to have the answer displayed on a knowledge card? A knowledge card allows users to get the answer they are looking for without clicking a link.
Knowledge cards are great for readers because it gives them the answer they are looking for instantaneously. Knowledge cards are also great for the search engine companies because it creates returning visitors. Visitors who immediately get an answer for what they are looking for will likely return to that search engine for future answers.
This can be critical to your website. If your website content or blog posts gives the same information that can essentially be posted in a knowledge card, you will want to rethink your strategy. The goal for ranking on search engine results pages is for your website to be clicked, so make sure you are including content that readers will not only need but also want to obtain.
Things to Remember
- Creating your list of keywords is the first step to performing an analysis to determine how your keywords are faring on search engines.
- Use one of the many online resources to analyze the keywords.
- Gather the data from the research to determine areas of strengths and weaknesses regarding the keywords. Some of the keywords may be searched less than you realized.
- Apply the information that you have obtained to your website, subpages, or blog posts. Your analysis is only as good as how well you apply it.
- Consider using some additional SEO strategies, like the barnacle strategy and the shoulder niche strategy. Knowing these strategies and implementing them into your website will help your website rank on SERPs.
Keywords are the Gatekeeper to Success
Coming up with a list of keywords related to your website is essential if you want to rank on search engine results pages. Analyzing those keywords and incorporating them into your website will help your website rank at #1.