Keyword search: The most important tips and tricks in ten minutes

Do you want to create a new website? Redesign an old homepage? To be successful on Google, Bing and on other search engines, one thing is indispensable: the right keywords. We will show you which keyword types there are, how to find the right keywords, and how to search them.

1. The three keyword types

A) Navigation keyword

These keywords are entered by the user into a search engine to find a domain or a specific sub-page of the domain. In the simplest case, he/she enters the domain name into the search engine, e.g., “ebay.de”. This approach may seem ridiculous to an expert; in the language of young people, even the term “googler” is used. However, in fact, many Internet users do not know what an address bar is, or that they can also write the domain name directly there.

B) Information keyword

Here, the user searches for a general type of information. With the keyword “Orchid”, he/she searches, for example, for nursing instructions, botanical classification, scientific articles, etc.

C) Search keyword

EA search, that is probably done before a purchase, is characteristic of this keyword type. For example, the search words “Test Lenovo Laptop” indicate that the user wants to know how good the Lenovo laptops are; probably because he/she wants to buy one.

D) Transaction keyword

These keywords indicate a direct transaction intent. In short, the user wants to spend some money! In the simplest case, a product or a service is directly searched for. Transaction keywords are equally important for online and traditional shops (hairdresser, plumber, supermarket etc.).

2. The three keyword forms

Here, short-, mid-, and long-tail keywords are differentiated.

Short-tail keywords include only a single word. They have a very high search volume and accordingly, they are very competitive. Whoever wants to score here must put lots of effort into a good ranking.

Mid-tail keywords consist of two or three words. They also have a high search volume, but are easier to specify. So the competition is not at a very high level.

Long-tail keywords consist of more than three words. They are searched less frequently, are very specialized and the competition is weak here. Texts optimized for certain phrases can appear in the first search results quickly and easily.

3. How many search terms does the average user enter?

(Source: Google)

With 34 percent, two-word keywords are the most popular. Followed by the three-part keywords, with 26 percent, and the one-word keywords with 19 percent.
Not all texts need to be optimized for two-word keywords. Multi-part keywords (long-tail keywords) can already contain the other search words.

4. Find the right keywords

A) Brainstorming

Collect all the terms that you consider relevant. Do not limit yourself and just write them down. Also note word combinations.

B) Use the normal language

In many cases, users are not experts. You will use wrong terms (“screwdiver” instead of “screwdriver”), phrases (“consultant for house purchase” instead of “building expert”) or common synonyms (“private credit” instead of “consumer loan”). Use the language of your users to find the right keywords.

C) Check your competitors

Just look at the pages of your competitors. What words and combinations of words do you notice? You can then find the appropriate keywords.

D) Tools

Using keyword search tools, you can check how promising words and phrases are found. The tools show how often the keywords are searched, how high the competition is, and they can even suggest new and related search terms. This makes it very easy to find additional keywords.

5. The most important keyword search tools

Google:Keyword planner

Probably the most important tool of keyword search is Google’s keyword planner. The free tool allows you to easily find new and alternative ideas for search words, and even predicts the traffic of the individual search terms. Also, the tool can combine keywords. To do so, enter a list of your different store transactions and a list of the locations of the stores. The keyword planner automatically combines these lists and displays the expected traffic. Since you can import the keyword lists as CSV into the tool, use of the planner is also very easy with extensive research.

Note: The Google Keyword Planner works only with a free AdWords account. Since its update in the autumn of 2016, it has not provided any exact forecasts for customers without an advertising budget. If you still want to have the exact data, you can find the correct instructions on the blog of onpage.org.

Keywordfinder

The Keywordfinder is a search tool that provides very useful results in the free version. A search for a keyword immediately provides its search volumes as well as related keywords and their search volumes. The trend of the individual keywords is also displayed. Also, a very nice feature is the circle diagram “SEO difficulty”. It shows you how simple or difficult it is to rank well with this search term.

neilpatel-übersuggest

With a simple click you will find matching long-tail keywords for the search term. You can also enter term combinations and get additional recommendations.

(Picture: neilpatel-übersuggest)

Google search

You can also find search terms directly in Google search. These are always at the end of the results list. Here we simply searched the term “car tires”.

(Picture: Google)

wikimindmap

The wikimindmap tool can also be used to search for new keywords. It shows which topics are listed for each keyword on Wikipedia. This allows you to find more specific keywords and new ideas for content.

(Source: wikimindmap)

Forums and dictionaries

You can also search specific forums for keywords. On which topic do members want information? What are the right keywords? The synonyms dictionary also provides alternatives to known keywords.

6. Find relevant keywords

After you’ve aggregated your keyword list, re-enter it in the Keyword Planner or the Keywordfinder to determine its relevancy. But which keywords are relevant at all?Very simple: keywords with high search volume and low competition , which bring a high conversion rate.

The Keyword Planner displays the search volume and the strength of the competition. The conversion rate is given by the composition of the keyword.

7. Test keywords

You can test the usability of your keywords by simply typing them into Google.
Very useful keywords have found in the top ten results:

• A maximum of three social media pages (Facebook, Twitter etc.) in the hit list
• Only two to three hits with forum pages
• Maximum two very strong sites like Amazon, Wikipedia and similar ones in the hit list
• No more than two to three pages in the hit list, where the keywords were integrated in bad or very short texts
• Less than 100,000 hits when searching in quotation marks “buy cheap car tires”

8. Choose the correct type of keyword for your page

You should choose the type of keyword depending on the type of text and the purpose of your website.

Transaction keywords increase your conversion rate when you sell things or offer services.

Search keywords increase the conversion rate when you offer content that leads the users to service providers and shops.

Information keywords are important for information pages related to the advertisement business, or for companies that want to establish themselves as specialists.

9. Do not exaggerate!

Even if there are many possibilities for keyword search, you do not have to exaggerate. The effort and the benefits should always remain within the framework. Well researched keywords are only a part of a successful search engine optimization. In addition, too many keywords will allow Google to regard the website as spam and downgrade it. Therefore, always proceed with the user as your priority. What does he/she want from you when he is looking for this or that keyword? How can you fulfill his/her concerns as best as you can? If you satisfy the visitors with your website, Google will reward it with a good ranking.

Dieser Artikel wurde am 16.December 2016 von Thomas geschrieben.

Thomas