This is the thing: without keywords, the entire concept of SEO, or search engine optimization, would be without purpose. Whenever we “google” something or call upon a bevy of proprietary digital assistants ready to answer any and every query, we are hoping to get the most relevant results that match our query, no matter how misguided it may be at first.
The three most common types of search queries tend to be:
Navigational - the intent of the query is typically to either navigate to a specific webpage or learn more about the entity that operates the webpage in question.
Transactional - the intent for these queries is to purchase a product or service.
Informational - the intent is purely for research purposes, and not for commercial or navigational means..
All of these queries have their own purposes and rely on keywords to reach their intended audiences. To better understand how search engines like Google continually tweak their respective algorithms in an effort to deliver more relevant search results for your most pressing queries, here is an introduction to keywords, where to find them, and how to target them.
Focus on and Study the Vernacular of Your Target Niche
This could be as simple as prowling the social media profile of a known expert in the field of interest or going to an event where fans of that niche will be. In order to understand the niche, you need to understand how the people behind it talk. Pay particular attention to terms, phrases, slang, etc. Anything that can be picked up in casual conversation or read in a timeline could potentially be a keyword you will definitely want to target later.
Find Free SEO Keyword Tools and Use Them
Once you have some choice keyword phrases written down, try plugging them into free versions of online tools such as Moz or SEMRush to check their monthly search volume. Do they get a lot of traffic? How about a lot of competition? Some of these tools may even provide you with other choice keyword phrases within your target niche that may be of interest, as well as competitor insight, under their paid plans, but much can still be gleaned from reputable free SEO tools, as well.
Create Valuable Content with Intent
Any content that you create for your target audience must employ these keyword phrases in such a manner as not to appear stuffy or overused. Google frowns upon and will deindex content that engages in any of the following:
keyword stuffing
cloaking (hiding links)
scraping/duplicating content
Some content creators have recommended AI tools that create a majority of whatever content the writer chooses, but as with most machine-driven technology, it is not perfect and can lead to a manual action, i.e. deindex, by Google if left alone untouched.
In the end, high-quality content created for humans by humans that employs a healthy blend of expert and novice level niche keyword phrases is the best way to gain long-lasting results that do not hearken back to the times of spammy lime-green links on a black background.
How Little Egg Solutions Can Help
We are white hat SEO experts who can not only help you track down those niche keyword phrases that will help you better connect with your target audience, but can also help with other SEO and SEO-adjacent tasks, like site-wide SEO audits, infographic creation, title/meta description optimization, and more. If you would like to learn more about how Little Egg Solutions can help your business target keywords and get you on the SERPs, give us a call. We’ll be more than happy to help.