{"id":8589,"date":"2020-09-15T15:10:32","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T13:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.combell.com\/en\/blog\/?p=8589"},"modified":"2020-09-28T16:45:51","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T14:45:51","slug":"keyword-research-the-foundation-for-successful-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.combell.com\/en\/blog\/keyword-research-the-foundation-for-successful-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"Keyword research: the foundation for successful SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

The optimisation of your website stands or falls on the keywords you integrate into your pages. They are the keywords by which you will be found in search engines, but first you need to know what your potential customers are searching for. We will show you how to conduct a good keyword research and then select the correct search terms so that your page ranks high for the correct search.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The secret: not one keyword, but the \u2018long tail\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Our previous article showed you why SEO or Search Engine Optimization is so important<\/a>. By optimising your website, you ensure that it ranks higher in search results and will thus be visited more often.<\/p>\n

A good optimisation of your website starts off with a keyword research, in which you define the search terms that are important for your business, and which you anticipate will be entered into a search engine by your existing or future customers for them to find your site \u2013 hopefully.<\/p>\n

However, it is important to realise that this process will seldom involve just one word<\/strong>. If you are offering a product or service on your website and wish to optimise it based on merely the generic name of that product or service, then you will have a whole array of competitors who are also focusing on that term. This will make it much more difficult to get your website to the top of the search engine results.<\/p>\n

And, from another point of view, your visitors will not key in that term on its own in the search engine, precisely because they know that the results will be too vague. They will combine that keyword with other words like \u2018buy\u2019, \u2018rent\u2019, or a specific attribute of your product.<\/strong> If you optimise your website using search terms consisting of 2 or 3 words and your site ranks high in search results when someone enters those 3 words, then there is a much greater chance that the person will visit your website \u2013 and become a potential customer!<\/p>\n

\"Keyword<\/p>\n

This phenomenon is referred to as the long-tail strategy, i.e. search terms that are less frequently entered in the search engine, but which do give a higher \u2018conversion rate\u2019 (the chance that those who visit your website will also purchase what you sell).<\/p>\n

But how do you establish which words you can combine to come up with a good search term? We are going to give you a few tips for a good keyword research.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Get out your business plan as the starting point for your keyword research<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"KeywordGet to the heart of the matter: what does your business do, what product or service does it provide? And importantly: what is your target group \u2013 who or what are they looking for and what matters to them?<\/p>\n

Go on your gut feel: which words should your customers key in to find your company? Have a brainstorming session about this, and make a list of the keywords. This will be the starting point for your keyword search.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Supplement the keywords with research and special tools<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You can now start your actual keyword research \u2013 you are looking for keywords you have not thought of yourself. In the first place, use your browser to carry out a few simple commands <\/strong>that will give you a good deal of inspiration. Note down the data each time, e.g. in a spreadsheet, for later analysis.<\/p>\n

Google Autocomplete<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Go to Google<\/a>. Start by entering your product or service as a keyword in the search box. As you key it in, watch the drop-down menu that is now displayed under the search box. Google will provide suggestions for some other words automatically (autocomplete). In other words, these are search commands that others have specified with these terms in the past. And which you could also utilise.<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Related searches<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Perform a search on Google or Bing for your keyword, whether or not in combination with one of those suggestions. Below the list of search results, you will find suggestions for related searches. Click these and investigate them further.<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/h3>\n

Wikipedia<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Wikipedia, the famous online encyclopaedia, can also be useful: here you may find synonyms for your keyword, alternative spellings, the different kinds of your product, etc. The bottom of the page has a \u2018See also\u2019 section. There you may find further related words. These are all things you can note down for later use in the selection of your search terms.<\/p>\n

\"Use<\/p>\n

\"Wikipedia<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Competition<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Pay a visit to your competitors\u2019 sites. What they tell you on their websites can give you fresh ideas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Google Keyword Tool<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You can also resort to tools that deliver yet more combinations of keywords. Google has a really handy tool for keyword search: the keyword planner<\/strong> Google Keyword Tool<\/a>. You will need to have a Google Ads account for this; you can create and use this free of charge, but the information provided will not be as complete as with a paid-for account.<\/p>\n

You can discover new keywords here via Settings \/ Tools. Enter a maximum of 10 keywords or combinations (e.g. a combination with \u2018buy\u2019 or a specific attribute of your product), and choose the region you want to target and the language. You will then be given the search terms, plus their monthly search volume<\/strong>, so that you can see which keywords are most popular and then target those.\u00a0Google will even add its own suggestions.<\/p>\n

\"Zoekwoordenonderzoek<\/p>\n

\"Zoekwoordenonderzoek<\/p>\n

You can download the whole report as an Excel file. You can then set about organising your list of search terms into a clear overview.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Answer The Public<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The operation of the English-language tool Answer The Public<\/a> is equivalent to Google\u2019s Keyword Planner: you enter your keyword, choose country and language, and are given an attractive star-shaped grid. Here you get suggestions for questions that potential visitors might pose: which, how, who, what, where + your keyword. And also combinations with prepositions.<\/p>\n

\"Zoekwoordenonderzoek<\/p>\n

Whereas with Google you get only results when they reach a certain level of popularity, here you also get search terms that are less popular, e.g. ones that are searched for just 5 times per month. The \u2018long tail\u2019 in other words, which can also be of interest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other tools for keyword research<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Some other tools that can help you define and track keywords:<\/p>\n