Phoenix Website Design – The 4 Mistakes to Avoid when Conducting Keyword Research (Part 2)
According to Advanced Web Ranking’s 2017 SEO Stats Report, the top 3 most challenging tasks in SEO are the following: content creation, link building, and then, keyword research.
Perhaps, one of the reasons why it is such a daunting task because 66% of the participants admitted that they did keyword research on their own. An in-house researcher was preferred as compared to hiring a third-party personnel. Plus, nearly 44% shared that they only perform keyword research when necessary.
Turn mistakes into successes
Having knowing this, I have decided give tips in order to not over complicate an already tough task. Below are 4 mistakes to avoid doing:
5. Not talking to your team.
If there are people who know very well the problems your customers are facing, it should be marketing, sales representatives, customer service, and help desk. Keyword research is not always about SEO tools and performance metrics. Remember, there are things that SEO tools cannot tell you. In order to know more about your customers’ buying journey, you have to talk to your staff. They can give you data on what your customers are experiencing. Only the front liners of your business can provide you with such important information.
Know what the customer problems are, know the questions they are asking, and answer these issues through your website.
6. Doing a keyword research when the content is already done.
Research always come first! No SEO professional can magically insert keywords and phrases when your article is done. When a content is already done, how can one alter it? There’s no potion to revert such action. So, keyword research should be part of the initial stage, and it should NOT be after the content creation stage.
SEO practitioners can’t just intervene and insert keywords to your already done article. No, that is not a good SEO practice. In fact, adding a keyword multiple times is a bad SEO strategy. More on this topic: Outmoded SEO Practices You Shouldn’t Do
7. Not searching on other platforms.
People don’t just rely on search engines. Users also look for answers on their queries on other searchable areas. For instance, when one looking for restaurants, people run to Yelp for reviews, or check Facebook for restaurant’s official business page.
So, look for keywords on popular platforms like YouTube, Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and many other. Do not concentrate on Google alone! Go where your users are, and try to assess their journey by being on their shoes. More on: Reasons Why Social Media Can Help Your Businesses
8. Adding too much keywords.
With BERT being in place, it aims to understand natural human language. Hence, there is no use to fill your content with many keywords. Plus, other people squeeze in similar keywords into the equation. Nope, that’s not necessary. To learn about BERT, read the article on: What Problems will BERT Aim to Solve?
Just think of it this way: imagine explaining a topic to a friend. Of course, you would not repeat the same words. So, write your article as natural as possible, and avoid repeating your points. It would seem unnecessary and redundant.
Back? The 4 Mistakes to Avoid when Conducting Keyword Research (Part 1)
Next? The 4 Mistakes to Avoid when Conducting Keyword Research (Part 3)
