Things to Consider When Doing Keyword Research
Keyword research – an overview
There are plenty of things to think about when researching the best keywords to use in your web content. Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs), competition in modern search engine optimisation (SEO), and balancing potential traffic with return on investment (ROI) are all important factors to bear in mind. In this article we will explore some of these topics, and look at how your keyword research can be improved.
Keyword rank
High-volume keywords are often stupidly competitive, which means it’s difficult to get them to rank effectively. More difficulty translates into more time and more money, so it’s important to check keyword difficulty when researching keywords. Take these results into account when considering potential keywords for inclusion in your content.
Organic opportunity
Modern SERPs are a complex mixture of paid results, as well as organic results. 100% click-through potential does not exist. It is therefore unwise to assume that effective keywords will, in isolation, provide you with the results you want. The bottom line is that effective keyword research is only one of the components needed to achieve a high search engine rank.
Relevance
Some keywords have more business relevance than others, so it is important to prioritise keywords that are most closely aligned with your business AND which suggest a buying intent. “Manchester property prices” is less appealing here than “find Manchester property.”
Potential
Once you have finished researching keywords you will probably be left with a large number of them which can be overwhelming. The question on people’s lips at the stage tends to be “How do I begin to make sense of this?” Below is a simple model for wading through your data and shaping it into something that makes sense.
When thinking about keyword potential, there are four metrics to bear in mind:
- Keyword opportunity
- Volume
- Keyword difficulty
- Importance
Volume carries meaning by itself, while keyword difficulty and keyword opportunity are multipliers – higher keyword difficulty reduces keyword opportunity. Importance is also a direct multiplier – higher keyword importance means greater keyword opportunity, while lower importance results in keyword difficulty.
This model can be adapted to create a useful metric for your research. Bear in mind, however, that it should only be used as a guide; one metric is not a substitute for exercising some business judgement in prioritising potential keywords.