Why keyword research is so important

Assuming you know what your keywords are can be a very slippery slope indeed. Keyword research allows you to identify optimisation opportunities from both an SEO and PPC perspective as you wave goodbye to guesswork and let the data do the talking.

Essentially, if you want to get your brand noticed and earn those oh-so-special clicks, you’re going to have to consider keyword research. There is no question that keyword research is at the heart of attracting not just lots of traffic, but the right traffic. In this article we’ll share some of the top reasons why keyword research is important for any business and how the keywords you choose can make or break you - yes, they’re that powerful!

What is keyword research?

Keyword research involves thorough research into the search terms users are actively entering into search engines (such as Google or Bing) when they’re looking for information, products or services. The keywords themselves are relevant to the queries and by identifying them, you can optimise your content to boost organic traffic or decide which keywords are best to bid on for PPC campaigns.

Specialist tools such as Semrush and Google Ads Keyword Planner are commonly used to gain an insight into valuable keywords and you can get a summary of your keyword metrics to monitor your rankings or ad campaign performance if using Google's Keyword Planner. It’s also worth noting that keyword research for SEO and PPC will look very different (especially because PPC involves bidding which means you’ll also have to take into account your budget), nevertheless, keyword research is important for both for similar reasons.

Here’s the top reasons why keyword research is so important

You can target keywords people are actually searching for

By neglecting keyword research, you run the risk of not making your business visible enough or worse... missing your market completely. If your website or ads contain keywords that nobody is even searching for, how can you expect to benefit from them? It will be very difficult to attract new customers when you don’t appear to be offering exactly what they want. Keyword research allows you to discover precisely how users are searching for something, so you can phrase your content or ads more effectively in order to reach them.

You can compete...cleverly

Some keywords are more competitive than others, so, whilst you may identify a keyword which is relevant to your offering, it still might not be the best option if you’re up against a significant number of competitors.

This is particularly important when you consider who your competitors are and if you realistically could outperform them. For example, let’s say you are a company selling shoes. It’s critical for you to consider your unique selling point (USP) as when you search for the term ‘shoes’ in Google, well-known brands such as Schuh and Asos are at the top of the SERP (this is the same case for organic results) and it will be hard to compete, especially if you are a SME online retailer.

The hard fact is there are bigger fish in the sea with bigger budgets and audiences who are already familiar with them; the good news is that you can rank high in the SERPs, you’ve just got to do some keyword research and find a better angle. In the case of retailers of shoes, you could look at ‘long tail keywords’ (which usually consist of a higher number of words so are more niche). For instance, the keyword ‘vegan friendly shoes’ could help you see more success in rankings and securing paid ads with vegan specific keywords as it is a less crowded market and not as broad a term as ‘shoes'. In fact, longtail keywords tend to be more conversion driven and if they reach the right people, you have a chance of securing someone who is further down the purchase funnel.

Essentially, it’s usually best to target keywords with medium to low competition if you want to be in with a chance of scoring a spot on the first results page.

You can understand trends and get ahead of the game

It’s also useful to know when users are searching for certain keywords so that you can take advantage of any emerging or seasonal trends. For example, if Christmas is coming and you have some new products that will make the perfect gift, ensure to create content around them using the right keywords to attract more traffic and increase your sales!

You’ll be able to use your budget wisely

Following on from understanding trends, when it comes to PPC, you’ll have to keep revisiting your keyword research because keywords and their bids will fluctuate daily. When your keywords become more relevant, bid prices can increase but at the same time, if you win your bids you could see more conversions and a better return on investment (ROI).

You can get more ideas for your content strategy

When you spend some quality time with your keyword research tools, you may stumble across some interesting ideas for fresh content. Even if it’s not something you have time to work on at that moment, it’s always worth making a note of any good keywords or queries that you could use to build your content marketing strategy in the future.

Tips for keyword research

• Find keywords that people are actually searching for (don’t guess...ever!)
• Ensure your keywords are relevant to your services or products...you might master the PPC bidding war and reach the number one spot on the SERP but what good will that be if the users who land on your page can’t get what they’re looking for?
• Ask yourself if the keywords you’re optimising for will help your business to reach its goals. For example, are you pushing the keywords for your top selling products? Just because your shoe business sells Crocs with heels doesn’t mean you should focus your PPC and SEO budget into those pages...there is such a thing as too niche.

To wrap up, keyword research is important for any business looking to optimise their ads to earn more clicks or improve their online visibility and attract the attention they deserve. Not only will keyword research enable you to actually find the words your audience are searching for, it can find the words which will have a positive impact on your site and help to outperform your competitors.

Looking to develop your keyword strategy?

If you’re looking to propel your business up the rankings and gain more visibility to increase your traffic and revenue, we can help! Here at Adido, our SEO specialists and PPC experts put keyword research at the forefront of what they do to ensure that the right words are targeted to achieve your brand’s goals. Why not get in touch and see what we can do for your business or learn more about our keyword strategy services?