Finding the right keywords feels a bit like an Easter egg hunt. Only, there’s countless eggs, half of them are rotten, and only a few have prizes inside. Here’s your basic guide of how to look for the right ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like there’s no point in looking for Easter eggs in off limit areas, there’s no point in targeting keywords that nobody in using in their searches. While Google planner gives you a good staring place (it shows you search volumes), you also want to check the monthly volume of the top ranking site to get a better picture of what incoming traffic might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If people search the keyword you are targeting, they have a search intent. Let’s say the intent is to find a rental car to rent. Also, let’s say they search with “rental cars nearby,” which happens to be a keyword you’re targeting. If you know the intent is to find a car to rent, then don’t target that keyword if you’re making a website about the history of rental cars in their area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are usually three intents: learn something, buy something, or find a specific website. In the example, the searcher wants to buy something, and you thought they wanted to learn something. A way to make sure that you’re getting the intent right on less obvious terms (such as “piano”) is to see which intent the current SERPs are targeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the user intent is to buy something, it clearly has business potential. However, if the intent is to learn something, the answer is not as clear. If someone searches for your chosen keyword, would it be natural for your business to come up? For example, if the keyword was piano, could your piano-selling website pop up and not feel forced? “Piano” does have business potential, but a keyword like “how to install virtual piano app X” probably does not (unless you’re the one selling virtual piano app X). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most keyword volume trackers have some way of displaying competition level for a single keyword. While it is possible to rank for any keyword, if enough work is put in, it isn’t resource efficient to go for keywords with high competition. There are often low-competition keywords that will serve you just fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n