When it comes to writing an online article, it’s not as simple as merely hammering away at the keyboard. Although technically you can simply write and click publish, if you want anyone to read what you’ve written you’ll need to use keywords so that search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo (but mostly Google) can serve that content to the right audience. But how do you go about selecting the right keywords? Learn how to find keywords for SEO, from what search engine optimization is to the difference in long-tail and short-tail keywords!
What is SEO and Why Does it Matter?
Search engine optimization or SEO is the process of tailoring content such that search engines can better understand it. The way search engines like Google understand your website and its content is by crawling and indexing it. As such, you’ll need to create your content such that search engines can readily identify the topic and thus serve it to the right audience. SEO is important because the if search engines can’t tell what your website and individual articles are about, it’s tough to display those in search results pages properly. Better SEO translates to higher rankings in results pages.
On-page vs. Off-page SEO – What’s the Difference?
For search engine optimization, there are two main areas of focus: on-page SEO and off-page SEO. Simply put, on-page search engine optimization can be controlled since those factors look at what’s on your website or page. Off-page factors analyze external factors that, when taken together, determine how popular and authoritative your website is. While you can somewhat influence off-page factors, those are more difficult to control than on-page SEO.
On-page SEO factors include your header tags such as H1s, H2s, H3s, and so forth, URL structure, and alt text for images. Additionally, page load speed is important as is mobile-friendliness. Internal links are great, and implementing schema markup can help Google identify what type of content is on a page, such as a recipe or a review. And the actual content of your page is critical.
Off-page SEO factors mostly focus on backlinks. Although the number of backlinks, or links back to your website from other websites, is important, quality is essential. It’s better to have fewer backlinks from more authority sites than tons of low-quality backlinks. The number of referring domains or websites is key as well. Breaking down backlinks, elements such as anchor text, or the hyperlinked words associated with a backlink to your site. You’ll want relevant backlinks too. For instance, if you’re a food blogger, a backlink from another food blog or a culinary industry company holds more weight than a backlink from a tech website. Ideally, you want a high number of quality backlinks from relevant, authoritative websites. Outside of links, brand mentions, Google My Business listings, and social media shares are all important factors.
On-page SEO: Factors that relate to your actual website or page
- Page content
- Header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.)
- URL structure
- Internal linking
- Schema markup
- Page load speed
Off-page SEO: External factors that determine the authority of your website
- Backlink quality
- Quantity of backlinks
- Number of referring domains
- Link authority
- Anchor text
- Social media shares
- Brand mentions
- Google My Business listings
Why are Keywords Important?
Keywords are critical for on-page optimization. Essentially, keywords operate like SEO breadcrumbs and signals that let search engines easily understand the topic of your page. When implemented correctly and included in your page title, headers, alt text, and your meta description, keywords provide a roadmap that search engines can follow. Since off-page factors are decidedly more difficult to control, it’s best to focus your energy on optimizing for on-page SEO. My strategy is concentrating on creating high-quality content that’s well-researched and with top-notch on-page SEO rather than spending most of my time attempting to obtain backlinks.
Long-tail vs. Short-tail Keywords
Keywords can be broken down into long-tail keywords and short-tail keywords. A short-tail keyword consists of one or two words while a long-tail keyword is comprised of three to five (or more) words. Short-tail keywords are typically more general while long-tail keywords are increasingly specific. Usually short-tail keywords yield tons of results whereas long-tail searches are laser-focused.
- Short-tail keywords: One or two words in a search string
- Long-tail keywords: Three to five or more words in a search string
How to Find Profitable Keywords for SEO
So how do you find the right keywords? Since keywords aren’t all equal, you’ll want to target the right phrases. This means finding the most profitable keywords. Like writing an essay, it’s best to start general and then get specific. Paid keyword research tools are awesome, but if you’re just starting out and don’t have the budget to shell out cash for a premium SEO tool, there are some good free keyword research methods as well.
Finding the best keywords for your website means concentrating on two different factors: search volume and keyword difficulty. Keyword difficulty tells you how hard or easy it is to rank for a particular keyword. Search volume gives the average monthly searches over a period of time, often a year. While this isn’t always the case, most short-tail keywords will have a high search volume and high keyword difficulty. Contrastingly, search volume is generally lower for long-tail keywords, though it can still be pretty high, and keyword difficulty can be lower for long-tail keywords than short-tail counterparts. Nevertheless, there can be some extremely competitive long-tail keywords. Finding keywords with a high search volume and low keyword difficulty isn’t unheard of, though these unicorns are tougher to come by.
- Keyword difficulty: How easy or hard it is to rank for a certain keyword
- Search volume: The average number of searches for a particular keyword over a given time period
How to Find Keywords for Free – Keyword Discovery With Google, Keywordtool.io, and More
Luckily, there are some effective means of finding keywords for free. One of the best keyword discovery methods is using Google. Since search engines like Google attempt to personalize search results using browsing data, you’ll want to use an incognito or private mode window for this method of choosing keywords. Head to Google and begin searching for a phrase. As you’re typing, Google auto-complete kicks into action. Many of these autosuggest keywords can be incredibly lucrative.
Then, on a Google search results page, you’ll find even more free keyword research information. The People Also Ask section is a veritable goldmine. Often, this can give you ideas for sub-topics to include on a page. For example, if you’re writing an article about how to brew the perfect cup of coffee, you might need to include information on different types of coffee or a comparison of french presses, pour overs, coffee makers, and percolators.
Additionally, the related searches section is a treasure trove of potential keywords for SEO. Not only can you use these related searches as keywords, but you can check out the results for those searches and analyze the results for additional inspiration on keywords to include and topics to cover in an article.
Keywordtool.io is a fantastic free source of keyword research. Basically, Keyword Tool taps into autocomplete, but it’s great for searching at scale as it can display far more autosuggest entries at a time than Google. In addition to Google, Keyword Tool lets you search across a host of other platforms such as YouTube, Amazon, Bing, eBay, Twitter, and Instagram.
Once you run a search, you can browse keyword suggestions that are populated via Google’s own auto-complete. Alternatively, Keywordtool.io lets you sort by questions as well as prepositions. There are a ton of other free keyword research tools that work such as Keyword Generator, Wordstream Keyword Tool, Keyword Surfer, and Google Trends.
Choosing Keywords Using Premium Keyword Research Tools
If you’ve got the budget for it, by far the best way to discover keywords for SEO is using a paid keyword research tool. With a premium keyword research tool, you’ll unlock benefits such as information about keyword difficulty and search volume. That way, you can find the most lucrative keywords for search engine optimization and improve your ranking by targeting keywords with a lower difficulty. You’ll find tons of options including SEMrush, Mangools, Ahrefs, and Moz. Ahrefs even offers its free Keyword Generator that includes up to 100 keywords and 50 questions for a given keyword. Personally, I use Mangools since it boasts the best cost-to-features ratio of any SEO suite on the market.
With a paid keyword research tool, you’ll unlock access to valuable metrics about keywords including search volume, keyword difficulty, the average cost-per-click of a keyword, and pay-per-click competition.
How to Find Keywords for SEO – Final Thoughts
When it comes to search engine optimization, there’s a lot to consider between on-page and off-page elements. While you can and should have a backlink strategy, since you can control on-page SEO factors it’s best to focus on those. And keywords are an easy win. By discovering keywords and analyzing qualities such as search volume, keyword difficulty, cost-per-click, and pay-per-click, you can target the right keywords to help you rank in Google. Even if you don’t have a budget for paid keyword research tools, there are some incredibly effective free methods for choosing keywords.
Your turn: How do you go about picking the right keywords for your site?
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