Setting up a blog is pretty easy but making it rank higher on search engines is one bit of a challenge. Most of us have probably done a good amount of research on search engine optimization and have our own strategies we like to use. Since the Google updates, there have been a lot of different rumors flying around about how keywords no longer play any part in SEO, which is completely untrue. Search engines might not use keyword to rank us higher like they have done in the past, but keyword are always going to be a necessary part of how they index our pages and how they are relevant to search terms. To help clarify how you should be using keywords in your SEO strategies, we are going to be covering how to proper keyword research will help achieve a successful SEO campaign.

Understanding Your Competition

If you have ever attempted an SEO campaign, you have probably noticed the incredible amount of competition you are up against to rank high for keywords. Well, this aspect of SEO will never go away. There will always be other people and businesses who want to take control of the traffic for certain search terms, so be prepared to take time and effort to make your SEO strategy successful. While you may wish there is an easy way to just jump to the number one spot, there isn’t.

The more keyword research that you do, the more information you will get about your competition and how they have achieved their rankings. Needless to say, once you have figured out how they did it, you can find a counter strategy much easier. There are plenty of SEO tools out there that assist with getting all of the information you will need to make good decisions based off of your competition’s campaign. If you find a keyword that you want to rank on, but there is too much competition, it’s probably best to move to the next keyword to save yourself a lot of time and effort.

Analyzing the Statistics

With each keyword, you will be able to see how many people search for it each month, what previous months looked like, trends, and plenty more. While you may not think that this information is much, it is an extremely essential part to keyword research. Targeting keywords that don’t have much traffic can make your efforts pointless, while targeting extremely popular keywords will make you run into a lot of competition. The key is to find the right balance for your campaign. Some people will be able to handle harder keywords, so depending on how much time and resources you are willing to spend, will determine which keyword is best suited for you.

Trends are also another thing to keep in mind. If you notice a keyword is only popular during a certain time of year, has been consistently increasing, or has been decreasing, you may want to base your decision off of that. Seasonal keywords are usually due to holiday events or something that is attached to that part of the year, so if your niche can benefit from it, it can be much easier to rank on.

Don’t Focus on a Few Keywords Only

Once you have gotten the hang of reviewing the general information of a keyword, don’t just stop there. Plenty of successful businesses target thousands of keywords at a time, so this strategy doesn’t stop with just 1 or 2 successful keywords. The more you have, the most chance at increased traffic you get. The more traffic, the more successful your website is. Although keyword research takes a lot of time, it will be well worth it in the end when you find yourself ranked 1 on multiple search terms, getting an unbelievable amount of traffic. Massive brands such as Amazon.com, have millions of targeted keywords, and they continue to target more and more. If you have a business and plan to continuously expand, then SEO and keywords are going to be a major part of your campaign.

These are only a few of the major reasons why keyword research is essential to targeting the right keyword and having a successful campaign. Remember, no matter what rumors you hear, keywords are always going to be a big part of how SEO works.