If you have a business, it is difficult that you have never heard of SEO. On how to learn how to earn a relevant position in Google we talked about RocÃo SantamarÃa, SEO consultant, in her workshop “Introduction to Professional Keyword Research”. A guide for beginners that started with a direct question.
Why is keyword research important?
“Because keyword research is the basis of an SEO strategy”. Thus, RocÃo went on to explain each of the virtues of planning, as it allows:
- Getting the most out of the project’s performance and profitability
- Define the information architecture of the website.
- Correctly optimise the content of each important URL and its SEO On Page.
- Finding opportunities and margins for improvement.
- Develop a correct content strategy for the blog (informational content).
- Optimise URLs that bring benefits to the business (products or services).
Before starting to use tools, Rocio suggests that you go through a review and knowledge exercise that involves several phases.
Initial stages of keyword research
- Research
First things first. Do not rush. Prior to any action, you need to gather as much information as possible. Think about what type of business you have in front of you: a service website, an e-commerce, or a local business?
Understand the market niche, its differential advantage compared to the competition and the business objectives.
Familiarise yourself with the products or services you offer and which ones are the most prominent. This will help you to start your keyword research effectively, prioritising the URLs on which to start working on keyword research.
- Get to know your Search Persona.
From the creators of the Buyer Persona comes the Search Persona. Do you already know who your ideal client is? And what are their problems, fears and motivations? Now you have to build your Search Persona. A detailed profile of your target audience is essential to focus your content and keyword research strategy. Keep in mind that a professional will search differently than an average user. Know your audience thoroughly!
- The 5 Levels of Consciousness
Users go through different stages when searching on Google, from being completely unaware of their need to being fully aware and ready to buy. Take advantage of these levels of awareness to drive your content and keyword strategy!
- Not aware of the problem: the user does not know they have a problem or need. Content needs to be worked into the blog. For example, red eyes and blurred vision.
- Problem aware: the user knows what problem they have. As an SEO strategy here we should make a blog post about that concern or about the benefits of a need. Example: what is dry eye syndrome.
- Solution aware: when you already know which solution to apply but you don’t know exactly which product to buy because you are in the comparison phase. Here it is recommended to work on a typical buying guide post, comparisons… Example: best eye drops for dry eyes.
- Product aware: now the user knows their need, knows what their solution is and knows that you can offer it to them through your product/service. They know what product to buy and decide to search in the categories of an ecommerce, for example. Example: eye drops for dry eyes.
- Fully aware: the user already knows what product he wants, with name and surname. Prepare a good offer. They will land on a product page. You must optimise this product page so that they end up on your page when they search for it.
- Keyword Types
RocÃo recommends: “go to the search engine in an incognito session and search for those keywords” that you want to analyse. Little by little you will add them to a document on which you will work on the potential of each one of them. Keywords vary in length, search intent and seasonality.
- By length, depending on the number of words in that keyword:
- Short tail: 1 or two words. In the search engine they give very generic results, they require a lot of investment of time and resources for few clicks. You don’t really know what that user wants.
- Middle tail: between 3 or 4 words. It is a more specific group of keywords, but still has a lot of organic competition.
- Long tail: 5 or more words. They give us very specific results. Although the volume of searches is small, there is less competition for positioning.
- By search intent, Google defined them as follows:
- Know (informational) – These are usually answers to the interrogatives what, why, when, how much, how.
- Do (transactional) – These correspond to when the user wants to perform an action such as buy or download.
- Visit (navigational) – When a user types the name of a brand or website and when a user searches for how to get to a local business.
- By seasonality. A keyword is seasonal when the search will fluctuate over the course of a year: nougat, bikinis, Black Friday. Keep in mind that SEO is slow and you have to work on it a lot earlier. Take advantage of it at the right time!
- SEO Tools
“There are a lot of tools, but in the end the important thing is the methodology you use. There is no better or worse tool, you have to know how to do a good keyword study”.
There are many options and the ideal is to be able to combine them in order to carry out an effective study. From paid tools such as SemRush to free Google tools such as the Keyword Planner.
In short, SEO is an ongoing process and often takes time. Working on keyword research will allow you to optimise your content, find opportunities for improvement and, most importantly, attract your ideal audience. And keep an eye on your competition. Knowing what keywords they are using and how they are doing can provide you with valuable clues…
About Wayco Learn
Wayco Learn workshops are theoretical and practical training sessions aimed at teaching new professional skills. The topics focus on an area of specialisation, from the creation of digital products to public speaking techniques, from sustainable food to architecture.
– Video of RocÃo SantamarÃa’s workshop in Wayco Cabanyal.
34432
