Now that we have an idea of who our perfect visitor is, and we have a list of the words and phrases that best describe our content, (see the previous article) it’s time to do some hard core keyterm research. There are a bazillion tools out there to accomplish this task, and some hard and fast rules from “conventional wisdom” that we are supposed to follow.
Courtesy of Pixabay
This is the step that often becomes overwhelming and sends many content producers running from their computer screaming at the top of their lungs. But it doesn’t have to be difficult, and the “rules” and “conventional wisdom” don’t have to be followed for good results.
You only have to remember and follow a few steps.
Keep your visitor first and foremost in your mind as you come up with the words and phrases they will use to find you.
Look at your “competition” but don’t copy them. You have NO idea who their perfect visitor is! Thus, the people they are attracting with their keyword choices may not be the people YOU want and need. If you try to emulate the top sites for a keyterm you’ve chosen, your results will not be the same as theirs and it may not help you attract the visitors you need and want.
Use online resources for keyterm suggestions that you may not have thought of, but make sure those keyterms reflect YOUR content.
The Keyword List(s)
Make three lists of keyterms.
The first list are general terms that describe the theme and ideas of your body of work - the general topics your website, posts, or videos will address.
Example - Coloring books, beachfront vacations, coming of age novels
Think of this as a category list of topics and limit it to 5-7 phrases.
The second list is more specific - think of it as a list describing a specific post or page or video.
Example - Adult mandala coloring page, Hamilton Beach vacation rentals, vampire teen romance story
There is no “limit” on the number of phrases and words that will go on this list, and it will change somewhat with each page, post and video description.
The third list is what I call a regional list - those words or terms or phrases that might be specific to subgroups of visitors.
Example - colouring book, beachfront holiday
Hit thesaurus.com as a first stop on your research list for common suggestions and variations on your main keyterms from list one. These suggestions are more usage based than the “traffic” based words you will often find on keyword research sites and are a good source of alternatives to plug in to those “traffic” based sites you’ll hit in step 3.
The Research Sites
Hit the keyword suggestion tool sites that will give you more suggestions and the usage stats that go with them. The tools I like best for keyword research are
Wordtracker.com (https://www.wordtracker.com/) which allows limited free terms - use this one for your main terms from list one
And ahrefs.com (https://ahrefs.com/keywords-explorer) $7 for 7 day trial
They offer a “Clicks” metric which is very important. Just because a keyword has high search volume doesn’t mean people actually click on the search results. Ahrefs shows the estimated number of clicks for your keywords.
They will also show you: return rate, clicks per search, % of clicks, % of paid clicks, and more. It’s a really handy tool and if you plan ahead you should be able to get your research done in the 7 day free trial.
Alexa.com is VERY useful for demographics. Most research tools will show you competitor urls that are highly ranked for the keyterms you enter. To find out more about the audience using those sites, enter their url in Alexa Site Info and you will get some useful free information. The Upstream Site stat is VERY useful in determining where your potential visitors are hanging out. If your competitors audience isn’t coming from InstaGram but they are coming from FaceBook, then you’ll know you will need to have a FaceBook presence to grab your share of that audience.
Many stats are available on https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo for free, but they also have a trial period. Since you’re only going to be using Alexa and the other sites in the initial research stage, do what you can for free, then if you need to, pay for one month, do your research, and then cancel the subscription unless or until you need it again.
Please remember, these three sites are my go-to research sites, there are MANY others out there so don't be afraid to visit others and kick their tires and give them a spin.
DO NOT USE GOOGLE KEYWORD PLANNER
The Google Keyword Planner is geared towards PPC ads and terms and will NOT give you the information you need. What works for ads is NOT the same as what works to drive people to your content when they use a search box.
After you’re up and running, you’ll want to get Google Webmaster Tools, which is free, and which will give you a much better idea of what exactly is going on every time your website gets a visitor. It also gives you a clear picture of some of the other criteria used by the major search engines in addition to keyterms. Several of these other factors are actually given more weight than the keyterms you have chosen when it comes to ranking.
To sum it all up, here’s the blueprint.
- Using the keyterms you found you used most often when writing an article and describing your content or site, hit the thesaurus for people-centric alternatives to those terms.
- Run those keyterms through a keyword suggestion tool like Wordtracker.
- Make at least two lists of keyterms and phrases - one that is general and applies to your entire body of work, the second that is specific to a page or an article.
- Double check the keyterms on both lists at a keyword site such as ahrefs to be sure you have included the “action” words - the keyterms that actually get clicks and visitor action.
- Check sites that are similar to yours in content using https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo to get a better idea of the demographics of those visitors and where they hang out.
- Make a “regional” list of keyterms you may need to include in your content based on the Alexa information.
Ignore keyword planners that are based around advertising keywords.
Don’t worry about your competitors - don’t be put off by how many websites use the same keyterms as you do. Ranking is determined by where and how well you use those keyterms and several other factors we’ll go into in the next articles.
EVERY KEYTERM HAS COMPETITION.
There will be hundreds, thousands, even millions of sites and pages that are using the same keyterms as you are. There is no “low hanging fruit” that offers a bazillion visitors and little competition.
Keywords are just one part of feeding the ranking bots. They are the beginning, not the end of SEO. Offering the content the visitor is searching for, using those keywords well and in the right places, having the visitor take action of some sort, even if that action is just going deeper into your website or watching another one of your videos are as important as the keywords you choose.
Next up will be Part One of Sending the Proper Bot Signal - the absolute most important part of SEO.
Previous SEO Articles in This Series
The Myth and Magic of SEO
The Marketing Mindset
Keywords - Part 1
Keywords - Part 2
Why Am I Writing This Stuff and How Will It Help Steem and Steemit?
I’ve been helping clients reach good rankings and teaching SEO for more years than I care to think about. Some of you may have taken part in Discord workshops and tutorial sessions I’ve had with various groups here on Steem. Because the blockchain is based on transparency and openness, it’s time to bring that training out from the private Discord groups for everyone on Steemit.
If we want Steem and Steemit to grow, we need to be able to compete for eyeballs on the traditional net in an effective manner. Thus, we need to know and understand SEO because it is the primary mover behind getting those eyeballs on our content. By breaking down SEO into manageable chunks of information, I’m hoping everyone reading these articles will be able to improve their own rankings and turn more conventional net people into Steemians.