I specialize in finding the right keywords that will help your business rank higher on search engines, attract more organic traffic, and improve conversion rates. My keyword research process involves identifying the search terms your potential customers use and mapping those keywords to the most relevant pages on your website to optimize visibility and effectiveness.

What is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of discovering the words and phrases people type into search engines when looking for products, services, or information. By understanding these search queries, you can optimize your website to better match the needs of your target audience, driving more traffic and improving your website’s rankings.

Keywords in SEO are the ideas and topics that define what your content is about. When a user types a query into a search engine, they are using keywords to find content that matches their needs. By selecting the right keywords, you can help search engines understand and rank your website appropriately.

Types of Keywords

When performing keyword research, you need to consider various types of keywords:

1. Seed Keywords: These are the broad, high-level keywords that represent your business or the main themes of your offerings. Seed keywords provide the foundation for discovering more targeted keywords.

2. Long-Tail Keywords: These are more specific, multi-word phrases that target niche searches. Long-tail keywords tend to have lower search volume but are easier to rank for and generally lead to higher conversion rates due to their specificity. Example: Instead of “running shoes,” a long-tail keyword could be “best running shoes for marathon training.”

Understanding Search Intent

Search intent is the reason behind a user’s search query. Understanding the intent allows you to match the right keywords with the appropriate pages on your website. There are four primary types of search intent:

1. Navigational Intent: The user is looking for a specific website or page (e.g., “Nike official website”).
2. Informational Intent: The user is searching for information on a particular topic (e.g., “how to train for a marathon”).
3. Transactional Intent: The user is ready to take action, such as making a purchase (e.g., “buy running shoes online”).
4. Commercial Intent: The user is researching before making a purchase decision (e.g., “best running shoes for marathon training”).

For SEO, I often prioritize commercial and transactional intent keywords, as they are more likely to result in meaningful actions like purchases or sign-ups.

The Keyword Research Process

My keyword research process is data-driven and tailored to your business needs. Here’s how I conduct it:

1. Identify Seed Keywords

The first step is identifying broad seed keywords that represent your business. For example, if your business is an online store specializing in athletic footwear, seed keywords could include:

• Running Shoes Men
• Athletic Footwear Online
• Sports Shoes Women

These seed keywords are essential for discovering related keywords and variations that can drive traffic to your website.

2. Analyze Keyword Difficulty and Search Volume

Using tools such as Google Keyword Planner and Ubersuggest, I analyze each keyword’s search volume (how often the keyword is searched) and SEO difficulty (how challenging it is to rank for that keyword).

• SEO Difficulty: A measure of how competitive a keyword is. Lower difficulty scores indicate easier opportunities to rank.
• Search Volume: Keywords with higher search volumes are more popular, but long-tail keywords with lower volumes often convert better due to their specificity.

For example, I might find that “best trail running shoes” has a lower search volume but a high conversion potential, making it a valuable keyword to target.

3. Choose Keywords Based on Intent

After analyzing keyword difficulty and search volume, I prioritize keywords based on the intent of your potential customers. For example:

• Informational Keywords: “how to choose running shoes for trail running”
• Transactional Keywords: “buy trail running shoes online”

These types of keywords are mapped to relevant pages on your website, ensuring that users are guided towards making a purchase or completing a desired action.

4. Utilize Keyword Research Tools

To gather accurate data, I rely on tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, SEMrush, and Ahrefs. These tools provide insights into search volumes, SEO difficulty, competition levels, and keyword suggestions, helping me create a well-rounded keyword strategy for your business.

What is Keyword Mapping?

Keyword mapping is the process of assigning each keyword or keyword group to the most appropriate page on your website. This ensures that search engines can easily understand the relevance of each page, improving your chances of ranking higher for those terms.

1. Match Keywords to Pages

Each page on your website should target a specific seed keyword or theme. I avoid targeting the same keywords across multiple pages to prevent keyword cannibalization, which occurs when multiple pages compete for the same search queries. If necessary, I recommend creating new pages to target unrepresented themes.

2. Optimize for Search Intent

I carefully match keywords to the pages that best align with the user’s search intent. For instance:

• Informational Pages: Target keywords with informational intent (e.g., “best tips for running faster”).
• Product/Service Pages: Target transactional or commercial intent keywords (e.g., “buy trail running shoes”).

3. SEO Silo Structure

I use an SEO silo structure to organize your website’s content. This means grouping related content and keywords together in a hierarchical structure, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site.

4. Avoid Keyword Cannibalization

I ensure that each page targets unique keywords to avoid keyword cannibalization. This prevents confusion for search engines and optimizes your site’s ranking potential.

Best Practices for Keyword Research and Mapping

• Limit to 5 Keywords per Theme: I typically recommend using up to 5 closely related keywords per theme or page. This keeps the content focused and relevant.
• Create New Pages for Unrepresented Themes: If a certain keyword theme isn’t covered by your existing content, I may suggest creating a new page to target that theme.
• Monitor Keyword Performance: Using tools like Google Search Console and Ubersuggest, I monitor how well your targeted keywords perform over time, adjusting strategies as needed.

Effective keyword research and mapping are essential to ensure your website ranks for the most relevant search terms and attracts the right audience. By carefully selecting and organizing keywords based on search intent, difficulty, and relevance, I help your business capture valuable traffic and convert more leads.