SEO and PPC strategies are evolving, but keyword research remains by far the most important aspect of these two processes. If you cannot identify the right keywords for your content, you can hardly ever reach the targeted audience and maximize the return on investment.
Keep in mind that we’ve come a long way from simple one or two-word keywords. According to the report, longtail keyword searches have a click-through rate 3% to 5% higher than generic searches. At the same time, over 50% of all organic search queries include four or more words.
In such circumstances, the question everyone is asking is: How can I improve keyword generation for my SEO and PPC campaigns? We will help you solve the riddle by showing you five steps for effective keyword strategizing.
1. Utilize Multiple Keyword Generation Tools and Tactics
The first segment of keyword generation is also the most critical. Namely, you should not rely on one keyword research method only and expect it to identify all the relevant options at once. A much better option is to diversify the search and utilize multiple keyword generation tools and tactics. Luckily enough, there are a lot of solutions at your disposal. Here are the major options:
- Brainstorming: Option number one is easy as you only need to brainstorm ideas that seem to suit your content strategy. For example, college paper agencies will almost certainly focus on keywords such as “essay writers” and “best writing service.”
- Keyword research tools: Now that you have a clear starting point, it is time to use keyword research tools. A free platform like Google Keyword Planner is always welcome, but there are many paid tools to consider such as Ahrefs Keyword Explorer or Keyword Snatcher. If possible, it would be great to combine several tools to come up with the right results.
- Google: Of course, Google remains an anchor of keyword research since you can take advantage of options like “People Also Ask” or explore the hottest trends in your niche or location.
2. Conduct Competitor Research
We bet you’ve found a lot of useful keyword suggestions already, but you can take the extra step and conduct competitor research to pinpoint additional suggestions. How come?
Well, the idea is to analyze the posts of your highly-ranked competitors and discover keywords that make their content search engine-friendlier than anyone else’s. What should you analyze? Let’s take a look:
- PPC ads: Start with your competitors’ PPC ads to figure out their keywords, but you could also try to identify negative keywords they might be using.
- Blog: A business blog is the essence of the website content, which means you ought to explore it and learn why search engines love your competitors’ posts so much.
- Social media: Social networks generate thousands of fans from all over the globe and you should pay attention to this channel as well. The only difference is that hashtags play the role of keywords on social platforms.
- Product descriptions: A well-written product description is what makes the difference between top-sellers and their less productive peers. Therefore, you must analyze product descriptions to see the strengths of your competitor’s SEO strategy.
3. Create Keyword Categories
Now that the research part is finally over, you should systemize keywords and create special categories for each group of search terms and phrases. It can be annoying if you have hundreds of keyword options, but it shouldn’t take you too much time. Here’s what you need to do:
- Divide categories based on content topics. It’s enough to do it in a Microsoft Office Excel document to have a clear overview of all keywords.
- Create keyword filters that suit different match types. At this stage, you should divide PPC and SEO keywords because they have different objectives.
- Analyze keywords according to competition and search traffic.
- Remove unnecessary keywords. It is highly unlikely that you’re going to use every keyword from the list, so do your best to leave out the ones that are not relevant to your PPC campaign or content topics.
- Mark your keywords based on objectives. Do it using different colors for different campaign types and business goals.
4. Determine Keyword Objectives
Speaking of business goals, you should always determine the purpose and objectives of each keyword from the list before going live with the content. Generally speaking, your goals can fulfill many different purposes such as to:
- Raise brand awareness
- Grow customer loyalty
- Promote new products or services
- Drive conversions
Of course, don’t forget that the goals of your PPC campaign or SEO content also depend on the position of a prospect within your customer journey map. You should keep that in mind and determine keyword objectives accordingly.
For instance, you can focus on the average bounce rate, CTR, session duration, etc. If you choose the parameters accurately, it will be much easier to evaluate performance and adjust campaigns in real-time whenever needed.
5. Use Keywords Interchangeably
The final tip on our list is to share keywords and use them interchangeably in your campaigns. Although different, SEO and PPC campaigns should support and augment each other, and that basically means you can often use the same keywords in both cases.
At the same time, you should make use of SEO and PPC keywords across multiple communication channels. Start with your business blog and website as a whole, but don’t be afraid of expanding the list and adding keywords to your YouTube videos, PPC ads, social media posts, email newsletters, and so on.
The Bottom Line
Keyword generation is not the only aspect of SEO and PPC campaigns, but it is definitely the most important. If you want to maximize the efficiency of your content and reach the right audience groups, you should follow the keyword research steps we discussed above. Make sure to remember our suggestions and don’t hesitate to write a comment if you have other interesting ideas – we would love to check them out!
AUTHOR BIO:
Michael Gorman is a blogger and a member of several dissertations services, including Assignment Help Australia and Assignment Help Adelaide. Michael is an expert in digital marketing and search engine optimization. He is the father of two lovely toddlers and a passionate long-distance runner.
