To compile a list of keyword phases to target for search engine optimization, you need to think about these 3 things first:
- Search Volume
- Geographic Location
- Your Competition
Obviously, there are other factors that are important, but keeping these items in mind are essential for making your SEO strategy successful, where the goal is to get more quality traffic to your website. For a business, quality traffic doesn’t mean getting a bunch of clicks with high bounce rate. You want traffic that comes, and stays on your website, which can be measured by time on your website and the number of pages viewed.
Keyword Popularity: Search Volume
There are a number of ways to find statistics on the search volume of keywords. You can easily come up with a short list of phrases that you can search Google with, where people will find the product, service or information you are trying to promote. Taking these keyword phrases and getting alternative suggestions is an important step in finding the search volume of every quality target. Once you have your expanded list with the search volume statistics, sort them by volume and concentrate on the top half of the list. Keep in mind that the more vague the term, the harder it will be to break into the first page (top ten) of the results. This is where location comes into play.
SEO Near Me: Geographic Location
The more your business relies on foot traffic, the more you need to prioritize local search. Large markets are easier to research because of the volume of search traffic. When researching search volume for small markets, try comparing your local results to large markets (big cities or entire states) to see if there is much correlation. If there is, then you can safely use the larger area for your search volume prioritization. Make sure your location is prominent on your website and consistent among your profiles on social media and other websites.
Copy Their Homework: Your Competition
It might sound like cheating. Maybe it is, but imitation is the highest form of flattery. At least that’s what you can say if asked. See who is coming up on top of the search engine results page (SERPs). Look at how they’re using the keyword phrase. See what websites are linked to their website. Analyze the site in every way you can think of, and try to copy as much of it as you can without plagiarizing and as much as is practical. Copying content in chunks can get you put in Google’s penalty box, which is SEO death.