One of the main prerequisites for people to find your website while browsing the web is for your site’s content to match the queries searchers use.
Even with all other ranking factors emerging, such as mobile-friendliness, site speed, the quality of UX, etc., good keyword optimization remains among the top factors in SEO.
Optimizing your site’s content for the specific phrases your target audience searches for begins with in-depth keyword research.
In this article, we deal with the whys behind the importance of keyword research for your website’s search engine optimization efforts.
What is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is the process of discovering and analyzing search terms people enter into search engines.
Internet users type (or speak) these words or phrases into their preferred search engine (Google, Bing, etc.) to find specific information of interest.
From the perspective of a website owner or a marketer, keyword research is used for SEO purposes to uncover queries to target, their popularity, ranking difficulty, and more. Those queries are later used to create SEO content like blogs or landing pages, for link-building purposes, or for setting up Google Ads campaigns.
Why is Keyword Research Necessary for SEO?
Keyword research, to some, may seem like a redundant activity. After all, we are all Internet users – we know how we search for things that interest us.
In addition, many business owners will regard keyword research as a waste of time and resources. This is mostly the case because they understand their products/services to the core, leading them to believe they know the right vocabulary to use in SEO.
However, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. In many cases, businesses opt for too technical terminology and completely disregard the everyday vocabulary used by their target audience – and thus, their SEO efforts fail.
#1 Keyword Research Leaves Guessing Out of the Equation
The biggest advantage to integrating keyword research into your SEO strategy is the fact that you don’t need to mull over all the possible user queries.
Instead, you can resort to keyword research tools and different techniques (such as a Google search or competitors’ analysis) to uncover relevant search terms with reliable statistics.
Through keyword research, you get instant feedback on whether your content idea is worth the effort, i.e., whether people are using that specific phrase to find information online.
#2 Keyword Research Uncovers Market Trends
Feeling the pulse of your market – both target consumers and competitors – is vital for effective search engine optimization.
By conducting keyword research, you can gain valuable insights into current trends within your industry.
Plenty of user queries are seasonal (like Valentine’s Day gift ideas or the best air conditioners), or even change depending on the day of the week (Monday morning routine and Sunday jams live), or even part of the day (best brunch places near me and 24/7 pharmacy).
Understanding how and why people search the way they do will help you center your website’s content on topics and keywords relevant to your audience.
#3 Keyword Research Improves Website Performance & Drives Traffic
Keyword research is not blowing smoke – crafting data-driven content that corresponds to search queries is proven to yield fantastic results.
Stats suggest that 68% of online experiences start with a search engine. Thus, bringing traffic to your website requires you to meet the needs of your target audience.
Researching and integrating keywords works on both fronts for your website. On one hand, Google sees your keyword-optimized content as more relevant for a searcher’s query and ranks it higher in search results; on the other, your content accommodates users’ intent, boosting their engagement, thus signaling to Google that your content piece provides great UX for users.
Keyword research is essential in identifying popular keywords that are often searched by many users. However, it’s equally beneficial to dig up some less-searched keywords with low competition, as these content opportunities increase the odds of your content ranking better and attracting more visitors and organic traffic.
#4 Keyword Research Improves Understanding Between Brands & Customers
For your target audience to find you, fall in love with your offer, and ultimately convert, you need both your website and customers to be on the same page.
One of the key steps to ensuring that is to speak the language of your customers.
As we mentioned earlier, it isn’t uncommon for businesses to entirely miss the mark when presenting their brand, products, or services to customers.
Too much technical jargon, professional yet bland language, and meaningless marketing buzzwords are some ways your website content may fail to spark interest and engagement in prospective clients.
Luckily, keyword research helps you gain a sense of what the people are searching for, and, as a result, allows you to provide content that meets their requirements.
With quality keyword research, your website content can fill the gap and assist potential leads at the perfect moment – right when they are seeking a remedy for their problem.
Using a language familiar to users will make them feel understood, and more importantly, your target customers will be able to understand how you can help them meet their needs.
