Keywords

What is a keyword?

As users, we communicate with Google or other web search engines using words or phrases. We type-in some words in the search engine’s query box and then wait for results related to our query. The medium of communication between a search-engine and a user is words. With new technological advancements, speech also serves as a way to interact with search engines. Though human speech can also be viewed as just words in verbal form but speech can also convey tone and mood of the user which search engines may take into account. There are also other factors and signals that search engines rely on to decipher the intent of a user query such as location data, the device the query is initiated from, history of the user’s prior queries, etc., but the overwhelming and traditional input for a search engine is user-entered (or spoken) words.

A keyword is a single word or a string of words that when searched for by a user should list our website, product or app as ideally the first result or among the results in the first page.

If our product or website lists on any page after the first one, chances that users will navigate to our website are low. The further out from the first page our website/product is listed, fewer the chances a user lands on our website from the search engine.

Keywords make it possible for users to find our website through search engines. By optimizing our page for the right keywords, relevant to what our audience is searching for, we can increase their chances of finding our content among millions of other pages.

Importance of keywords

Keywords are a primary element of SEO. They form a bridge between user’s search queries and the content present on our website. As a website owner, our goal is to research the search queries of people who are in need of our product or services and use the results to make it easier for our audience to find us. If we fail to do so, they will land on one of the several other websites that offer similar products or services. Implementing keyword SEO is the key to driving organic traffic to our website.

At the same time, we also want the right traffic to land on our web page. The keywords that we wish to rank for are cues for our audience. Make sure we give the right cues. For instance, if we sell chocolate chip cookies, ranking for "chocolate chip cookies recipe" may bring the audience to our website but it will fail to generate revenue because the conversion rate will be low.

The traffic coming to our website is in search of recipes to prepare chocolate chip cookies at home. They are unlikely to make purchases on our website. In contrast, we might benefit if someone who searches for "buy chocolate chip cookies" finds our website.

In short, we will benefit from attracting traffic that needs what we offer. Keyword research is primarily about what the people who are in need of our product or service are searching for on the internet.

A deep insight into the search queries of our target audience and optimizing our content for these queries increases the chances that the right audience will land on our page. When the right audience finds our website, the conversion rates are higher, and bounce rates are lower, contributing to a stronger online presence.

Because keywords are the cornerstone of all our SEO efforts, keyword selection is a complex, but worthwhile process. This section will guide us on the principles of keyword research which gives us highly relevant and effective SEO keywords, which when put to work, can help increase our Search Engine Result Page (SERP) ranking.

The tail of the keyword

There are different types of keywords. They can either be composed of one or two words, referred to as head-term keywords, or a combination of three or more words, called long-tail keywords.

Head-term keywords often have a high search volume, but don’t be too tempted. They’re also usually very competitive and, consequently, difficult to rank for. Also, head-term keywords are often vague. If we own a website that sells cactus, it may seem like a good idea to rank for cactus. However, someone typing cactus into Google may be interested in learning facts about cactus, exploring cactus varieties, pictures of cactus, or buying a cactus—we never know. Despite high traffic, head-term keywords are less likely to generate sales.

Instead, by ranking for a long-tail keyword, such as buy cactus online we know that someone typing this search query into Google is likely to be interested in our website. Other than being more specific to user intent, long-tail keywords are also less competitive. Simply put, it’s more realistic and productive to rank for buy cactus online than for cactus.