Ranking well for highly competitive keywords is extremely hard for a small business owner. That’s why it’s well advised by Search Engine Marketing experts to target specific and less competitive ones (long tail keywords).
There are many benefits to targeting long-tail keywords. If you’re running PPC ads, the keywords are a lot less expensive. In SEO, the keywords are more likely to rank sooner than their shorter counterparts. Here are 5 effective ways to identify the kind of keywords that will keep the traffic flowing to your website:
1. Google Suggest
All you have to do is to type your primary keyword into the Google search box and check out the variations that Google suggests. Longer-tail keywords that Google suggest are phrases that their users are searching for. You will certainly find some surprising combinations you never thought possible.
2. Google Analytics/ Webmaster Tools
Your analytics and Webmaster Tools accounts will identify many more, if not all keyword phrases that lead visitors to your website. By going through the keywords you’ll find a number of long-tail queries that are already providing you with quality traffic. If you haven’t already included them in the contents of your web pages, now is your chance.
3. Keyword Planner
The keyword tool has improved a great deal in the last few months and is actually quite useful for businesses preparing to tackle SEO and paid advertising. It’s important to remember to use the correct settings. First include a few keywords to base your research on. Then, make sure to exclude every term that you do not want in your keyword list and help Google exclude irrelevant suggestions.
4. Borrow from the Competition
Run keyword checks on competitor URLs. Whenever you run a website through the Keyword Planner, you will get a list of keywords that Google considers is good for the particular website. You may end up finding a keyword you never thought of before.
5. Third-Party Software – SEMrush.com
The cool thing about SEMrush.com is that not only you get a list of keywords which are driving traffic to your competitor’s site but you can also find out:
• Local search volume for each keyword.
• The average CPC of each keyword.
• Number of Google search results and seasonality of each keyword.
• Webpages of the website for which the keywords are ranking for.
You can easily export SEMrush.com reports to Excel and PDF, sort columns, separate branded keywords from the non-branded once and much more.
About iRISEmedia
iRISEmedia.com is a Toronto digital media agency and SEO company, specializing in search engine optimization and internet marketing. Our team helps clients increase their reach and profitability by developing and implementing customized and targeted online and social media marketing strategies. We service clients in Toronto, Ontario, the GTA and throughout Canada as well as globally.
