Search engines send 300% more traffic to websites than social media. It seems like a no-brainer to get listed on a search engine until you learn that 60% of searchers click on one of the first three search results.
That’s why search engine optimization is necessary. If you want a larger share of search engine traffic, you need to get your website in line with Google’s search algorithm.
That starts by choosing the right keywords for your website. How do you know which keywords drive traffic? You have to learn how to use keyword planner and do keyword research.
You’ll want to keep reading because we’re going to cover how to use a keyword planner and how to pick the right ones for your website.
Do SEO Keywords Still Matter?
SEO keywords are still a main ranking factor in 2022. Keywords provide relevancy and context to both search engines and users.
When someone searches for information on Google, they’re looking to answer a question or get information.
Keywords help Google match your content with a person’s search query. It tells Google that your content is relevant to the searcher and should get shown in the first few search results.
Pick a Keyword Research Tool
This is where you can get overwhelmed because there are so many keyword research tools out there. There are free tools, while others offer limited searches or make you pay to do keyword research.
You can get all of the information you need using a free Google keyword planner tool.
You might want to try Google’s Keyword Research Tool. You’d assume that would give you all of the information you need because it’s directly from Google.
Google’s tool doesn’t give you the information you need to make a decision about which keywords to use.
Lookup a keyword using Google’s tool and then look at the search volume. You’ll get very broad ranges of search traffic, like 10k to 100k.
That doesn’t tell you much.
Other tools will give you exact search data. They’ll either use third-party data or develop their own algorithms to estimate search traffic volume.
It’s best to have a main Google keyword planner tool for the bulk of your information. Double-check results with one or two other tools.
Between the tools, you should get the most accurate picture of search volume data.
How to Read Keyword Research Results
Type in a search phrase into the keyword planner. You’ll get the search volume for that keyword, a list of other potential keywords, and an indication of how difficult it is to rank for that keyword.
You want to use long-tail keywords instead of keywords that have one or two words. Long-tail keywords have lower search volumes, but they’re going to be more relevant to users.
Take the search term “insurance” as an example. That gets a million searches each month. It would seem like a good keyword to target.
The problem is that it can have anything to do with insurance. A person might want to know how to become an insurance agent. Someone could search for information about health insurance legislation.
It’s a broad term that won’t attract your ideal client to your website, so let’s narrow it down a little.
If you sell insurance policies, you’ll want to target people who are searching for information about those policies.
They might look up “Homeowners insurance quote” or “how to choose the best homeowners policy.” You can create content around these search terms to bring the right people to your website.
You don’t want to get too detailed to the point where your keyword doesn’t get search volume. Look for keywords that get between 1,000 and 10,000 searches a month to start with.
It may be less if you target a specific location or have a very narrow niche.
At the same time, the keyword planner tells you the difficulty to rank for the keyword. Find keywords that get search volume but aren’t difficult to rank for.
Applying Keywords to Your Website
Keyword stuffing is when you take a keyword and use it with no context dozens of times on a webpage. It is against Google’s guidelines because it creates a negative user experience.
There are a few places to apply the keywords on your website. Use them in title tags, headers, content, and page descriptions.
The main thing to remember is that the keywords have to appear naturally in the text. The keyword planners may have given variations of a search term.
Use the different variations naturally. This will give added context and give your content a greater chance to appear in more search results.
More SEO Tips
Keywords still matter in SEO because of relevancy. It’s a top ranking factor, but it’s not the only one. Google is said to use over 200 ranking factors.
If you really want to supercharge your keyword research, you’ll want to get some of the other main ranking factors under control, too.
Site performance is among the top ranking factors. That’s because Google knows that people won’t wait long for a website to load.
Check your site’s speed using Google’s Page Speed Insights Tool. This will give you a list of recommendations to improve your site’s performance.
Be sure to have a secure and mobile-friendly website. Use an SEO plugin tool that gives you SEO tips to improve your site.
How to Use Keyword Planner
Keywords form the foundation of your SEO strategy. Use keyword planners to find the top SEO keywords to use for website content.
Now that you know how to use keyword planner, you’ll be able to attract the ideal audience to your website.
For more digital marketing and SEO tips, check out the other articles on the blog today.
