Even though Google says don’t keyword stuff your site or write content using an unnatural keyword density, it is still important to do careful keyword discovery and analysis as part of your content creation strategy. So how do you develop a keyword list that helps you and your writer to keep focus?
1. If you use Google AdWords, take a careful look at the keyword combinations that are generating lead conversions. Make sure to use the Search Funnel report to find last click keywords and assist click keywords.
2. Glean additional data from Google Analytics. Look for trending phrases to identify are words in a certain order are plurals used versus singular forms. Check the bounce rate for the terms you are carefully considering.
3. Put on your thinking hat. Sit down with your client and do searches on Google for terms you both think that someone would use to find his or her website. Then take a careful look at the search results. If you do not find competitors showing for that keyword phrase it may be either too general, may be too narrow, or not on topic. When I see .edu sites and Wikipedia sites showing for a query, I know that I need to keep digging to find a better match as this type of query will drive information gathering traffic not lead conversion traffic.
4. Use the Google AdWords Keyword Planner and Google Insights tool. Look for trending keyword variations and new opportunities. Look are high and low competition areas.
5. Take your list and start testing your blog posts using the keyword phrases your have created. If you feel that you have a great list start testing pages in the website to see if you can get a boost based on the new keywords.
6. Make sure to report and review monthly. Without this important step, you’ll never clearly identify if the content, meta tags, and blog posts improved placement for the site.
If you need help creating a strategy for your website, it starts first with our SEO Evaluation. Find out more about how we may be able to help you.