Keywords are terms and phrases that people commonly type into search engines to find valuable information. By using keywords relevant to your website, you can reach out to people who are interested in your business. Your website could appear on the first page of Google, thus increasing your SEO rankings and number of visitors.
Once you have found the right keywords for your SEO strategy, you can create high-quality content to improve your web visibility. That can be achieved by conducting keyword research.
Keyword research is the first step to having a successful SEO strategy. This method starts by identifying the right keywords for your content, allowing you to get closer to your target audience on search engines like Google and Bing.
But keyword research is not as easy as it looks.
When finding keywords for your SEO and digital marketing strategy in Singapore, you cannot choose any random word. You also have to consider the relevance and value of a keyword for your website. Doing so should help you create quality content to rank higher and ensure your website is visible on search results.
Everything You Need To Know About Keyword Research
What exactly is keyword research?
Keyword research is an integral part of SEO services that specialists and marketers use to increase their website rankings. It focuses on finding and researching search terms that people type into search engines when looking for products, services, or relevant information. You could align your web pages with specific keywords to rank higher on Google.
After doing research, the next step is to create a list of keywords that will impact your SEO strategy in Singapore. You can optimise your content based on the keywords to drive more traffic to your website and provide users with relevant information.
The Importance Of Keyword Research
Besides being the first step of your SEO strategy, keyword research also affects other aspects of SEO. Whether it is link building, copywriting, or local SEO, keyword research encompasses the entire process of SEO. Without it, you might not make any progress to improve your rankings.
Think of it this way: keywords are the foundation of every SEO campaign. When writing blogs for your website, you can insert keywords into your content to improve your pages’ rankings. You could also use keywords for your title tags and meta descriptions to make your pages even more SEO-friendly.
Most importantly, keyword research gives you a better understanding of your target audience. It lets you know what your customers are looking for whenever they enter keywords into search engines. You can discover the exact terms that your customers use as they search for information on the web.
Understanding The Two Types Of Keywords
When doing keyword research, you will come across two types of keywords: short-tail and long-tail.
Short-tail keywords consist of one to three words. They usually refer to broad topics and get high search traffic. For example, “blue jeans” is a short-tail keyword because it utilises no more than three words and does not dive into specific details.
However, since short-tail keywords are broad and tend to have a high search volume, they are also highly competitive. That means you will usually find it harder to rank higher for short-tail keywords.
Long-tail keywords are more specific and contain more words. While they have lower search traffic, long-tail keywords usually have a higher conversion rate. An example of a long-tail keyword is “dark blue slim jeans in Singapore”. Notice how it is lengthier and more specific compared to short-tail keywords.
Both types of keywords are essential for SEO. While short-tail keywords are vastly competitive, you can still target them to gain as much search traffic as possible. On the other hand, long-tail keywords may be less popular, but you can use them to reach a niche audience and engage with more potential customers.
Either way, when you create a list of short-tail and long-tail keywords, you must use them properly to produce the best results. Insert keywords into your content within the first 100 to 200 words of your article. Subsequently, you can use at least one keyword per paragraph. Most importantly, use keywords naturally throughout your articles to keep readers engaged.
3 Reasons Keyword Research Is Essential For SEO
How exactly does keyword research benefit SEO? Here are some of the reasons why keyword research is essential for SEO.
1. Discover New Topics
When it comes to SEO and copywriting, creating content based on relevant and timely subject matters is crucial. The good news is that keyword research will help you get a sense of direction.
For example, let’s say you want to write blogs about digital marketing. To propose unique and original topics, you can use Google and enter the keyword “digital marketing” to prompt additional suggestions to appear. These suggestions could give you an idea about topics for your blog.
The keywords and suggestions you just found on Google are just some of the things related to digital marketing that most people want to discover. You can create content for SEO based on these very same suggestions. Continue to do more keyword research to present more topics based on your new keywords and findings.
2. Know What Attracts Your Target Audience
Want to learn a little more about your target audience? The solution is simple: do keyword research. You can discover the most frequently used keywords by your target audience. To do so, you can use a keyword tool to research keywords for your campaign. You can also use Google Trends to find popular keyword phrases. That way, you can know the type of topics and trends that will capture your audience’s attention and interest.
But how does it work?
Part of keyword research for SEO is gaining insight into your target audience’s search queries. You can know what your customers frequently look for whenever they use search engines like Google and Bing. It should give you an overview of their interests and behaviours, allowing you to understand your target audience even more.
3. Improve Your Local Rankings
Most long-tail keywords contain words referring to locations and places, such as cities, regions, and countries. You could use these keywords to your advantage and improve your local rankings.
You can drive both foot and online traffic by using location-specific keywords that can improve your rankings. This strategy is called local SEO, and you can utilise it to attract more customers nearby.
The trick to improving your local rankings is by using local keywords. Look for keywords that pertain to your business address and location. For example, if you sell kitchen appliances in Singapore, then your local keywords could be “kitchen appliances in Singapore” or “kitchen equipment in Singapore”.
In short, all you have to do is use local keywords related to your location, business, and industry so that you can improve your rankings locally. Aside from that, you can claim a Google My Business (GMB) listing so that your website and address can appear on local search results.
How To Do Keyword Research?
The very foundation of SEO starts with basic keyword research. The right keywords for your SEO can significantly improve your rankings. To achieve this goal, check out this step-by-step guide to keyword research.
Use A Keyword Tool
Finding a keyword is as simple as entering key terms and phrases into Google Search and waiting for suggestions to appear. While this method is easy to do, it is not as effective as using a keyword tool.
One of the most well-known keyword tools is Google Keyword Planner. While Google Keyword Planner is mainly for advertising, you can still use it for SEO.
When using Google Keyword Planner, you can enter any words relevant to your business, industry, product, and services. Doing so should let Google provide you with a list of essential details regarding the results. Google will show you the average number of monthly searches per keyword, along with the level of competition.
If Google Keyword Planner is not your preferred method, then you can try other keyword research tools for SEO, such as:
- Moz Keyword Explorer
- SEMrush
- SEO Power Suite
- Ubersuggest
- SpyFu
- Keyword Surfer
Create A List Of Topics
A simple way to know which keywords are perfect for your SEO strategy is by thinking of topics that could catch your customer’s attention.
For example, imagine that you own an SEO company in Singapore. In that case, you can look for things related to SEO services, such as:
- Search engine marketing (SEM)
- Copywriting
- Content marketing
- Local SEO
- Ecommerce SEO
- Link building
- Digital marketing
These topics are related to SEO, and your target audience is most likely interested in them as well. Because of this, you can create content based on such topics to attract potential customers.
Take note that these topics are not yet your keywords. They merely set up a path that gets you closer to your target keywords and audience.
Consider Keyword Difficulty
Remember a while ago when we discussed short-tail keywords and how they are highly competitive? The reason is that many advertisers and marketers are already using these keywords, thus boosting the competitive nature of short-tail keywords.
It will be more challenging to increase your website’s ranking with SEO strategies if you focus too much on short-tail keywords. That is why you must consider keyword difficulty when researching keywords.
For newly established small businesses, using long-tail keywords is the way to go. They are more specific than short-tail keywords, and you have a higher chance of getting conversions.
The good news is that most keyword tools allow you to detect the level of difficulty per keyword. For competitive keywords, you may have a difficult time ranking higher on the search engine.
Nonetheless, when choosing a keyword tool for SEO services, it is always advisable to use one that offers the option to evaluate keyword difficulty. It will give you a general representation of how challenging it could be to target a particular keyword.
Understand Search Intent
When people use search engines, the information that they look for is dependent on their search intent. Search intent refers to the purpose of looking for something online. In the context of SEO, there are 4 types of search intent:
1. Informational Intent
Keywords with informational intent are for search queries that look for general information regarding specific topics, whether it is about news, trends, people, and many more. Examples of informational keywords include:
- How to fix a phone
- Tips for SEO
- Benefits of digital marketing services
- History of Singapore
2. Transactional Intent
To find and purchase a product online, you must use transactional keywords. People who use this type of keyword want to make a purchase. For transactional keywords, the most commonly used terms and phrases include:
- Online delivery
- Where to buy
- Buy online
Furthermore, transactional keywords are not only exclusive to purchases. They can also lead to other actions or conversions, such as signing up for a newsletter, making a phone call, or sending an email.
3. Navigational Intent
Navigational intent refers to the purpose of using keywords to search for a specific website. For instance, if a person wants to visit Nike’s website, they can type “Nike” into Google’s search box. Google will then provide the person with a link to Nike’s website on the search results page.
4. Commercial Intent
Commercial intent is somewhat similar to transactional intent. The difference is that the former is usually for paid advertising. For example, if you manage a digital marketing company in Singapore, you could use Google Ads to bid on keywords like “digital marketing Singapore” or “digital marketing services”. That way, whenever someone enters these keywords into Google’s search engine, your paid ads can appear.
Shown above: a list of commercial keywords on Google Ads. By bidding on these keywords, your paid ads can appear on relevant search results. (Source: AdEspresso)
Understanding search intent is essential for keyword research and usage. You must optimise your web pages based on the different types of search intent so you could provide users with what they are exactly looking for on Google.
How can you optimise your website for SEO and search intent?
Try this method: for product pages, you can optimise them by using transactional and commercial keywords to drive more traffic. Doing so will allow your product pages to become more visible on search results for users with transactional intent.
Another thing you could try is to optimise your homepage for navigational search intent. Use navigational keywords that will get you closer to customers who are looking for your website. This strategy is effective for attracting customers who are already aware of your brand.
Here is an example of how similar keywords can have different variations of search intent:
- White shoes price (Transactional)
- How to clean white shoes (Informational)
- White shoes Nike (Navigational)
In summary, knowing the search intent of your customers is crucial. You must ensure that your web pages contain keywords that match a user’s search intent. Try categorising your list of keywords according to their search intent so you can create informational, navigational, or transactional content based on your customer’s needs.
Do Competitive Keyword Research
Let’s say that you already have a keyword list, complete with high-volume keywords that have better conversion rates and less competition. Does that mean you are ready to use your keywords for SEO and online marketing in Singapore?
Not quite yet.
Before you strategically utilise your keywords for SEO, you should consider how your competitors use keywords as well. Competitive keyword research is a process that lets you understand who your competitors are and how they drive traffic to their websites. It is essential for SEO because it gives you a better understanding of how customers search for other products and services online.
A simple yet effective way to begin your competitive keyword research is by doing a search on Google. Just type keywords related to your business’ industry into Google’s search bar, then wait for the search results to show up. From there, you can click on any of the top-ranking websites. Wander around the website to see how your competitor uses its keywords in comparison to your search query.
Another method of competitive keyword research for SEO is using tools like Moz or SEMrush to identify a competitor’s keywords. You can acquire a list of keywords used by your competitors. By the end of your competitive keyword analysis, you could obtain a list full of organic keywords with a high return on investment (ROI).
For example, check out this image of Moz Keyword Explorer. Notice how you can use the keyword tool to choose a specific website and see what keywords they are targeting. You can even compare competitors with one another. The best part is that you can check your competitors’ highest-ranking keywords, along with their top positions, page authority, and domain authority.
At first, you might decide to target keywords with the most popular search queries. Doing so is a good idea, but you should also consider filtering out highly competitive keywords, especially if many high-authority websites are targeting them. You might have trouble ranking higher for such keywords, so it is better to target keywords with low competition instead.
How To Use Keywords Properly?
After doing proper keyword research, the next step to successful SEO is using keywords for your content. Keywords are one of the most overlooked yet powerful marketing assets. If you utilise them properly, you can drive more traffic to your website, increase your SEO rankings, and attract more potential customers.
Here’s how you can utilise keywords for SEO services.
1. Create SEO-Friendly Content
Content is one of Google’s top-ranking factors. Just by creating high-quality content for your website, your SEO rankings could increase significantly over time.
However, even if your website contains engaging content, your efforts will not impact your SEO rankings if you do not use keywords properly.
When creating content for your website, remember to use keywords naturally. Make sure your keywords are relevant to the information you wish to share. Include a target keyword in the intro as much as possible, too. Target keywords are terms and phrases that most people enter into search engines. Using target keywords is essential for getting your page visible on search results.
Most importantly, avoid keyword stuffing. Do not insert too many keywords into a single sentence or paragraph to the point where it looks unnatural and forced. Aside from negatively affecting your SEO rankings, keyword stuffing will make your content hard to read.
Here’s a brief example of keyword stuffing:
“Our digital marketing services in Singapore are simply the best. If you’re looking for digital marketing services in Singapore, then contact us today. We can provide you with digital marketing services in Singapore that will help your business.”
In this example, you can notice how there are too many keywords in one paragraph. Other than that, the whole paragraph is not well-written. It can discourage your readers from looking through your content further.
2. Use Keywords For Title Tags And Meta Descriptions
Part of technical SEO is using keywords for title tags and meta descriptions. Title tags are the subject of your website that appears on search results, while meta descriptions are the brief captions below the title tags.
Same with creating SEO-friendly content, you can insert keywords into your title tags and meta descriptions to impact your SEO rankings. Focus on matching relevant keywords with suitable title tags and meta descriptions to improve your web visibility.
When writing a title tag, include at least one relevant keyword. The same goes for your meta description. Remember to write a brief caption of your website to let users know what the page is all about.
3. Optimise Your Images
Images are probably the last thing you would expect when it comes to using keywords. However, images get indexed by search engines, so you need to optimise them for SEO by using keywords.
To do so, you can insert relevant keywords into your image’s title, filename, alt text. For the alt text, you can use at least one keyword. Write a caption that describes the image to improve its accessibility and make it easily understandable for search engine crawlers.
Conclusion
With the right set of tools and knowledge, you can improve your SEO rankings significantly over time. Just remember to focus on planning your SEO strategy ahead of time by doing keyword research. Once that is over, you can proceed to create quality content for your target audience to build trust and attract customers.
If you need help with keyword research, try getting in touch with a trusted SEO company in Singapore. Visit this website to contact OOm today.
