Keyword Research - The One-Hour Guide to SEO, Part 2

Summary

This 'Whiteboard Friday' episode delves into the crucial realm of keyword research for SEO, emphasizing its necessity for understanding search demand and crafting effective SEO strategies. The speaker illustrates the importance of aligning content with popular search terms to outperform competitors and highlights the significance of analyzing search demand landscapes. The episode guides viewers on setting priorities and matching keywords to website pages, considering the evolving nature of search results and the impact of mobile versus desktop user behaviors on SEO tactics.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Keyword research is essential for understanding which words and phrases people use in search engines, enabling better content structuring and targeting.
• 🏆 Competitors who perform keyword research can choose wise search phrases that attract more searchers, giving them an advantage over those who don't.
• 🌐 Understanding the search demand landscape helps in crafting SEO strategies that can either build brand demand or serve existing demand effectively.
• 📈 Keyword research aims to create a list of terms and phrases to match marketing goals, achieve rankings, and ensure high ROI by prioritizing keyword investments.
• 📊 The importance of matching keywords to existing site pages or creating new content if matches are missing or suboptimal is highlighted for effective SEO.
• 📱 The variety of search results on mobile and desktop devices has evolved, with different types of SEO required for organic, paid, local, image, video, and map results.
• 📊 Click-through rates for mobile and desktop searches differ significantly, with mobile having a higher percentage of no-click searches and desktop favoring organic results.
• 📈 The search demand curve illustrates the distribution of search volumes, with a few high-volume keywords and a vast number of low-volume, long-tail keywords.
• 🔑 The long tail of search demand consists of numerous specific keywords with fewer searches per month, offering lower competition and more specific intent.
• 🛠️ Tools like Moz's Keyword Explorer, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Google Trends are recommended for conducting keyword research and analyzing search demand.
• 📝 The process of keyword research should result in a prioritized list that considers volume, difficulty, click-through rate, business value, and the types of search results that appear for each keyword.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of keyword research in SEO?

The main purpose of keyword research in SEO is to understand which words and phrases people use in search engines to find content, products, or services. This helps in structuring content and optimizing it to rank higher in search results, ensuring that the content meets the searchers' needs and expectations.

Why is it important to know the search demand landscape for SEO strategy?

Knowing the search demand landscape is crucial for crafting better SEO strategies because it helps determine the search volume and competition for specific keywords and phrases. This information allows marketers to focus on terms with high demand and less competition, potentially leading to better rankings and visibility.

Can you give an example of how understanding the search demand landscape helped a company in the script?

An example provided in the script is Crowd Cow, a startup that delivers beef from small ranchers directly to consumers. Understanding the search demand landscape helped them realize that there was more search demand for their competitors like Omaha Steaks than for generic terms like 'buy steak online.' This insight could guide their SEO strategy to focus on building their brand and creating demand.

What are the big picture goals of keyword research mentioned in the script?

The big picture goals of keyword research include understanding the search demand landscape, creating a list of terms and phrases to match marketing goals and achieve rankings, prioritizing keyword investments for the highest ROI, and matching keywords to the pages on a website, creating or optimizing content as needed.

Why is it necessary to prioritize keyword investments in SEO?

Prioritizing keyword investments is necessary to focus on the most important and high-ROI keywords first. This ensures that time and resources are spent on optimizing for terms that are most likely to drive traffic and conversions, rather than spreading efforts too thin across less valuable keywords.

How has the variety of search results changed over the past 10-15 years according to the script?

According to the script, 10-15 years ago, search results were primarily 10 blue links. However, today, search results include a variety of formats such as shopping results, advertisements, organic results, maps, images, and videos, reflecting the evolution of search engines and user behavior.

What does the script suggest about the distribution of search demand among different types of keywords?

The script suggests that there is a search demand curve where a small number of keywords have a very high search volume, while a large number of long-tail keywords have lower search volumes but collectively account for a significant portion of searches. This highlights the importance of targeting both head and long-tail keywords in an SEO strategy.

What is the significance of the 'long tail' in keyword research as mentioned in the script?

The 'long tail' in keyword research refers to the large number of keywords with low individual search volumes. These keywords, when considered collectively, can represent a significant portion of search demand and offer lower competition and more specific intent, making them valuable targets for SEO.

How does the script describe the difference between head, chunky middle, and long tail in keyword research?

The script describes the 'head' as having a few keywords with very high search volumes but higher competition and broader intent. The 'chunky middle' consists of thousands of keywords with moderate search volumes and less competition. The 'long tail' is characterized by a large number of keywords with low individual search volumes but very specific intent and lower competition.

What is the importance of understanding the types of searches that appear for a keyword?

Understanding the types of searches that appear for a keyword is important because it helps determine the best SEO strategy. If certain types of results like images, videos, or maps frequently appear for a keyword, it may be beneficial to focus on those specific types of content to improve visibility in those search result areas.

How does the script discuss the importance of matching keywords to existing website pages?

The script emphasizes the importance of matching keywords to existing website pages to ensure that the content is optimized for those terms. If there are no matching pages, new content needs to be created. If existing pages are sub-optimal, they need to be improved to better answer the searcher's query. This process helps in leveraging the existing content and improving the website's SEO performance.