Search engine optimisation or SEO, as it is commonly known as, is the process of getting your website ranked for specific keywords at the top of page 1 of Google search engine ranking pages (SERPs). As such, it cannot be stressed enough about the the importance of SEO to generating traffic and huge profits for your online business. Hence, it is prudent to have a well-planned long term SEO strategy in place for your online business. However, before implementing your SEO strategy, it is equally crucial to conduct some research on your niche. This may include, but not limited to, search demand, to determine which keywords your potential buyers are searching for, and the competitive difficulty in ranking those keywords. For example, if your business is about halal restaurants in london, then you should target keywords like halal restaurants in central london.
Let’s get into each factor in more detail below.
Search Demand:
It doesn’t matter how much effort you put into thinking about targeted keywords if practically no one’s searching for neither them nor phrases related to them. Therefore, you must take great care to consider both keyword specificity and search volume when it comes to finding the best possible long tail keywords for your online business site. So how do you do this?
First, be aware of the lingo your target market or niche is using. Let’s look at an example of minimalist running shoes. Instead of going for technical terms like “running shoes with minimal cushioning”, you can go with “minimalist running shoes”, which is what most running enthusiasts refer to when talking about shoes with minimal cushioning.
Another way to do this is by using practical, e.g. cheap or free, analytical tools to determine the search volumes for certain keywords. These include Google AdWords, SEM rush and Ahrefs.
Lastly, you need to think ahead by being more aware of upcoming trends, the possible rebranding of certain products, etc. In other words, you need to be able to anticipate events ahead of the general public so you can already position your online business site for specific keywords that have the potential for massive search amounts later on.
Competitors:
Keep in mind that one of the primary reasons why you want to optimize your online business site for your niche relevant keywords is to rank as high as possible for keywords that have significantly less competition. So how can you figure out whether or not a particular keyword has a level playing field or has a lot of competitors?
One way is to do a basic search for your targeted long tail keyword or phrase. If the results page of your targeted long tail keyword is dominated by big companies, you may consider the term highly competitive, which means it’ll be very difficult for you to rank high for that long tail keyword. As such, you should look for a less competitive long tail keyword wherein your online business site can rank significantly higher.
What is Next After Keyword Research?
Remember, researching for niche relevant keywords – if done and chosen right – can help your online business site rank very high on the search engine results of major search engines. As such, you can drive a lot of traffic organically into it and enjoy more sales and higher profits.
However researching keywords is just part of the components of SEO. After keyword research, other important components include optimising your website pages (aka onsite SEO), and building and looking for the best place to buy backlinks. One highly recommended company you should consider for all your SEO needs, is 786SEO.