saidnawrass
New Member
Researching keywords is a fine art and even people that have been doing it for years it can at times get confused as to the best way to implement their keywords strategy and their SEO. When it comes to planning a campaign the keyword research part is one of the most important elements and it pays to take the time to get it right. This article will outline some of the most common mistakes people make when conducting keyword research:
(1) Going Big: Of course you want to be the biggest and the best but you need to be realistic when you start out. You are unlikely to be the top dog for the high volume keywords which bring in massive numbers, at least for a while. These keywords have massive competition and are not worth aiming for. Rather, you will see much greater benefits and results if you go after the keywords with slightly less traffic and slightly less competition. Think of it like this – a percentage of something small is better than no percentage of something big. And once the site is doing well you can slowly build up to those bigger terms too.
(2) Going Small: Conversely, a lot of webmasters and site owners will then go on and make the opposite mistake, targeting those keywords that have hardly any search volume at all. Everyone now knows that long-tail keywords are extremely useful for traffic generation and conversion rates but some of those long-tail keywords are so small as to mean even their traffic is not worth it. Look out for niche keywords that sit somewhere in the middle – getting decent volume but which are not as competitive.
(3) Get an Exact Match: This is a silly mistake to make but a lot of people don’t click the box in the Google Keyword Research Tool that makes the results you see exact match rather than broad match. Broad match search results will lead to false search results, particularly when you are exploring two word searches.
(4) Singular or Plural: Often site owners and webmasters will target the plural of a keyword when in fact the singular form is way more popular. There are of course exceptions to this rule – words such as shoes or socks, but on the whole most people when searching will type in the singular version. If you want to be certain, simply make sure you research both the singular and the plural of a word every time you perform your keyword research.
(5) Make Sure You Go Back and Review Those Keywords Every Month: SEO is not a one time deal. There is no switch you flip and suddenly your site is optimized and ready to go. You need to maintain and update your website all the time, with the internet and internet traffic being a constantly changing entity. This includes keyword research. What is popular one month might have changed the next. Make a habit of regularly checking in and seeing how words are performing and how well you are doing for traffic, search engine ranking and conversion rates. If something is not working, change it.
(1) Going Big: Of course you want to be the biggest and the best but you need to be realistic when you start out. You are unlikely to be the top dog for the high volume keywords which bring in massive numbers, at least for a while. These keywords have massive competition and are not worth aiming for. Rather, you will see much greater benefits and results if you go after the keywords with slightly less traffic and slightly less competition. Think of it like this – a percentage of something small is better than no percentage of something big. And once the site is doing well you can slowly build up to those bigger terms too.
(2) Going Small: Conversely, a lot of webmasters and site owners will then go on and make the opposite mistake, targeting those keywords that have hardly any search volume at all. Everyone now knows that long-tail keywords are extremely useful for traffic generation and conversion rates but some of those long-tail keywords are so small as to mean even their traffic is not worth it. Look out for niche keywords that sit somewhere in the middle – getting decent volume but which are not as competitive.
(3) Get an Exact Match: This is a silly mistake to make but a lot of people don’t click the box in the Google Keyword Research Tool that makes the results you see exact match rather than broad match. Broad match search results will lead to false search results, particularly when you are exploring two word searches.
(4) Singular or Plural: Often site owners and webmasters will target the plural of a keyword when in fact the singular form is way more popular. There are of course exceptions to this rule – words such as shoes or socks, but on the whole most people when searching will type in the singular version. If you want to be certain, simply make sure you research both the singular and the plural of a word every time you perform your keyword research.
(5) Make Sure You Go Back and Review Those Keywords Every Month: SEO is not a one time deal. There is no switch you flip and suddenly your site is optimized and ready to go. You need to maintain and update your website all the time, with the internet and internet traffic being a constantly changing entity. This includes keyword research. What is popular one month might have changed the next. Make a habit of regularly checking in and seeing how words are performing and how well you are doing for traffic, search engine ranking and conversion rates. If something is not working, change it.
