SEO Keyword Research

SEO - Finding the words people search for

The starting point of SEO is to figure out which words and phrases people will be using to search for your product. This is called keyword research, and there are a number of tools we can use to end up with a list of phrases, usually grouped according to topic.

All of the tools return a list of words, with figures telling us approximately how many people searched for the phrase in the last 3 months, and possibly over longer time periods if the product is a seasonal one. It's important to target the keyword research at your target location, as different words are popular in different places.

You will have guessed at many of the popular keywords on the list - the real benefit is finding and comparing all the other keywords you didn't think of. We can also compare the popularity of the keyword and how many web pages already contain the keyword.

This allows us to target keywords which may have fewer searchers, but also appear in fewer pages. This gives us a better chance of getting high rankings than choosing a phrase which appears in 50000 other pages.For example, SEO, and Web Design, are very competitive keywords, however SEO New Zealand, or Web Design NZ, while still popular, are less competitive.

Often these phrases we choose will be more specific, so will be actually be more targeted to your customers.

Competitor Keyword Research

Depending whether the keyword research is being used for SEO or for Cost per Click or Pay Per Click (CPC or PPC) advertising, we may do more research to find out how many other campaigns target this keyword, or which words your competitors are targeting in their PPC advertising.

Using keyword research

Keyword phrases are used to:

  • Provide the information viewers are looking for

  • Indicate to search engines that the information you have provided is appropriate for the keyword

  • Target searchers directly with paid search engine advertising

This case study on WordTracker.com provides more information about how keyword research is used to form content.

Comparison research

This research compares your website ranking and that of several of your competitors for each of your keyword phrases.

Ranking is compared on the main browser used by your target viewers: so for websites aimed at New Zealand viewers Google.co.nz is used.

We repeat this comparison and use it to track progress as the SEO or PPC campaign develops.