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How does keyword research work?
Any marketing specialist knows that keyword research is the point of departure of any SEO effort.
But is it still so?
Do keywords matter?
1. google ranking: a matter of authority
Everybody wants to rank high in Google.
Regardless their degree of digital marketing
expertise, they all understand why it matters.
But how?
The answer is simple: with Search Engine
Optimisation (SEO).
This guide explains just that, with particular
emphasis to SEO for B2B markets.
We refer here to ranking on Google because
it has an almost natural monopoly of web
searches.
The second most important engine is
Youtube.
A de facto monopoly
So, you understand that the âMountain Viewâ
is the only one that truly matters (at least, for
the moment) when we talk of SEO.
In a nutshell, ranking depends on authority.
Authority can be at a domain or a url level
(the whole website or a single page of it).
Many factors at once
So, how can one gain authority?
Google search engine uses hundreds of
parameters.
The most important ones have always been:
– backlinks
– content relevance (via keywords)
– page speed
Many developers, though, learned to cheat
by adding links and keywords, regardless
of their content relevance.
This is why the
sneaky Google, whose business model is
based on giving users what they are looking
for, came up with RankBrain.
2. RankBRAIN
What is it and why does it matter?
RankBrain is a machine-learning based
algorithm, whose mission is to analyse,
understand, and categorise the meaning of
any word it founds on the web.
The role of RB is to interpret the usersâ search
intent, and consequently match their query
not with single keywords, but with the pageâs
semantic context.
It does that with a mathematical calculation.
What are the implications?
The main consequences of RB are:
– KW stuffing is no longer possible
– semantic variations of the same KW are no
longer needed (video – videos – audiovisual)
Most importantly, RB force website owners
to produce content that is truly valuable for
users rather than for potential clients.
3. Keyword seed
Your keyword research starts here
Seed keywords (or KW seed) are the 1-2
kw that better embody the main topic of a
website (and the core of a SEO strategy).
The seed is the point of departure of any
keyword research.
It aims to identify and inspire a wide range
of related topics, which the websiteâs single
pages will tackle and develop.
The KW seed is relevant to the business.
It is by adding related kw, subtopics, long tail kw, and modifiers, that the seed becomes relevant to what the users search on Google.
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4. Educated guess vs data-driven search
Don’t overestimate your instinct
Once it has conducted a first kw research,
based on its seed, a business must expand
its kw list.
There are infinite ways to do this.
The first method, and the easiest, is to use
the expertise and knowledge of its own
market to brainstorm about topics and lines
of businesses, which are related to the seed.
A second method (time-consuming but
more rewarding) is to ask Google and similar
platforms for data about the seed and related
searches.
This is how one avoids creating
content that people are not really looking for.
Nonetheless, this task can be particularly challenging for niche
markets and, in general, for all B2B markets.
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5. Search volume & competition
Are you sure it matters?
The best keywords, among the relevant/
related ones, are those with the biggest
search volume and the lowest competition.
The cheapest method to check a kw search
volume and competition is Google Adsâ
Keyword Planner, plus a double check on
Google Trends.
These tools are not always generous with
data and details.
Other platforms, such as Ahrefs, Moz Pro or
SemRush, help to find relevant keywords and
refine a kw research.
Again, for B2B related topics, search volumes can discouraging: this is why it is important to find related topics that bridge user interest with business objectives.
6. Search intent
This is why keywords can even damage you
The simple targeting of a single kw not only
is of little help to increase traffic, but it can
also do harm to the authority of a website.
The reason is that a company wants to attract
to its website only those users, who are
genuinely interested in what the company
has to say.
Otherwise, these users will leave the website
after a few seconds, with a 100% bounce rate,
which will tell Google that they did not find
what they were looking for on that website.
In order to match usersâ search intent, one must group kw into categories (see tab next page), associate them to a funnel and add modifiers (what, how, best, etc.), which outlines their authentic search intent.
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7. Keyword categorisation
You need order if you want your keyword research to succeed
After expanding its list of keywords as much
as possible, a b2b company must start
mapping and grouping them by clusters of
related keywords.
Which will ensure greater kw density and
make easier to start producing relevant
content around a focus keyword.
We know the 1st parameter is search intent.
However, a company may have different lines
of business, brands, departments, products,
locations, spoken languages.
Its website may host category pages, product
pages, blog pages.
The more consistent and well organised a keyword list is, the easiest it will be to use it and to expand it further.
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8. Longtail keywords
Beat competiion with strategy
The best kw are those with the highest traffic
and the lowest competition.
Easier said than
done, in particular in the B2B market.
For most of the terms, which are relevant to a
small business, there is a lot of competition.
By expanding a single kw to a longtail kw,
one can boost its kw competitivity.
That will result in lower traffic queries, but by
cumulating many longtails, the total traffic
will be (hopefully) high.
Little by little, by producing compelling
content on very specific topics, a website
will gain traffic and backlinks, consequently
authority and more competitivity.
It will also make clearer to RankBrain what
value the website gives to users.