How To Use Effective Keywords, Part 2

Please see How To Use Effective Keywords, Part 1 if you're not sure what keywords are or how to change them in the app.

If you've mastered Part 1, you're well on your way to becoming a keyword ninja.

But now you might be thinking, How do I know what target keywords to use for a particular product or page? Remember, SEO Optimizer sets default keywords that may work well, but often it's possible to improve on the defaults by following these steps:

  1. Brainstorm based on your expertise.
  2. Conduct keyword research.
  3. Choose a target keyword phrase to enter into SEO Optimizer.

1. Brainstorming

Pretend you are your potential customer. What phrases are you going to type into Google to find the products that you want? To put together a list of possible keyword phrases, start your phrases with the services or products you offer, then add descriptors, your location, or your customers' location.

Example: For espresso beans, a list of brainstormed keywords might include:

  • dry roasted espresso beans
  • Colombian espresso beans
  • organic espresso beans
  • freshest espresso beans
  • espresso beans in [your state]

To expand your list with even more ideas, try some Google searches. Search for your product or service and see what comes up in the results. Are there any other names that your service or goods go by? Include these synonyms in your brainstorming list.

When you start typing your product or category into Google, you can also see what pops up Google's autocomplete feature that recommends search terms as you type.

If you scroll to the bottom of the results page, you will also see a list of related searches that may help you brainstorm.

2. Keyword Research 

You've already gotten into research by Googling your keyword phrases, but here are a few more sophisticated tools that can help you expand and refine your brainstormed list. See the resources at the end of this article for a few guides that go into more detail on how to use these tools.
  • UberSuggest: This free tool gives you not only a list of related keyword phrases, but a few other helpful statistics for each one:
    • Volume: how often people use the keyword phrase in web searches
    • Value: how likely it is to lead to a sale
    • Competition: how crowded the search results are with your competitors

  • Google Analytics: Another free tool, this one gives you insight into what web searches are already leading people to your website. This can give you a better idea of what kinds of keywords to focus on.

3. Choose a Target Keyword Phrase

Once you have your list of keyword phrases for a particular product or page, eliminate any that you think are not worth focusing on: whether they are not closely related to your product, or they have to have low volume, low value, or high competition.
From the keyword phrases that are left, choose one to enter into the audit page in SEO Optimizer:

  Note:  Do not enter more than one keyword phrase! 
For example, "organic espresso beans, chocolate covered espresso beans" may sound like it would give you better coverage of different keywords, but the app's audit page is designed to help you optimize your product or page for one keyword phrase only.

However, that doesn't mean that you can't include other good keyword phrases into your meta description, description, and content—you can, but you will have to include those additional keyword phrases manually, without the help that the audit page gives relating to the primary keyword phrase that you've entered at the top of the page.

Once you've optimized your product for effective target keywords, and once you've waited for Google to recrawl your site, you can expect an increase in traffic from people searching for those keywords!

Other Resources

If this whole keyword research process is confusing or difficult to grasp, try these more detailed guides.

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