SEO is an essential part of the success of any website and if you know anything about the basics of search engine optimisation, you’re likely to have heard of the term ‘keywords’.

Keywords are one of the most vital parts of SEO, but there are many questions you might find yourself asking – “What are keywords?”, “How many keywords should I have?”, “Do I need this many keywords?”, “How do I know if these are the right keywords for me?”, “How do I choose my keywords?” These are just a few of the questions that website owners should think about when starting out on their SEO campaign.

What Are Keywords?

When somebody is looking for information online, it is likely they will use a search engine, such as Google. In the search engine, the user will type in some words in order to find what they are looking for. These words are known in the SEO world as keywords. When the user types these keywords in to the search box, the search engine returns a number of WebPages based on what it deems most relevant to that search query, the more relevant the search engine believes a website is, the higher it will rank it in the search engine result listings.

Keywords are important in SEO as if done correctly and used successfully, search engines can provide your website with highly targeted traffic – those people who are directly searching for your product or services. For success in SEO, the right keywords are fundamental.

How to Choose Your Keywords

Now that you understand the importance of keywords for SEO, you should think about choosing the keywords you want to target – keyword research. This is something many website owners find difficult and it can take some time and thought to get right.
You should start by understanding your customers. What words would you type in to the search engines if you were looking for a product or service like yours? Make a list of these keywords. You should also list the keywords that you identify with your business, as you know your business best.

Once you have composed a list of keywords, it is important to analyse these keywords further. Understanding the profitability and competitiveness of each keyword is also essential.

Are Your Keywords Profitable?

Your keywords need to be profitable by increasing the number of sales or conversions your site produces, by driving relevant, targeted traffic to your site. Rather than going for extremely broad keywords or single keywords, which are likely to be highly competitive, also consider more specific keywords.

For example, the keyword ‘hats’ is very broad and would be extremely difficult to rank for due to fierce competition, not only this, but very broad keywords are less probable to convert your visitors as these types of searchers are likely to be in the ‘research’ stage of the buying process.

A more profitable keyword might be ‘ladies hats’ or ‘red ladies hats’, these type of keywords will have less competition and are more likely to bring a good conversion rate as visitors are more targeted. These longer, more specific keywords are often referred to as ‘long tail keywords’. Shorter, broader keywords are referred to as ‘short tail keywords’.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both long tail and short tail keywords, so it is important to explore all options based on what is best for your business. Choosing keywords can be a tricky process and is sure to require a lot of thought and keyword analysis. Once the right keywords for your business are set, your SEO efforts are sure to be more successful and rewarding.

For more information on SEO, contact the leading SEO Manchester company UPSearch on 0161 236 7161.