Which Keywords Are Best To Target In An SEO Strategy

Accurate keyword targeting is the foundation for a successful SEO strategy.

If you are new to SEO or if you are optimizing your small business website yourself, here’s a short guide on how to find the best keywords to target.

Let’s start with some keyword fundamentals.

What Is Keyword Targeting?

In SEO, keyword targeting is the process of optimizing your website’s content for different user queries.

Your aim is to make your content reach top positions in search results for your targeting keywords.

The selection of the best target keywords is based on keyword research and depends on a variety of factors, like the type page, your industry, keyword competition and search volume, etc.

What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing data on various search terms that people use or can use to reach your website.

Keyword usage data helps you assess which keywords are suitable for your pages and how to add them to your content to achieve high rankings.

What Is Search Intent?

Search intent defines the actual need a user seeks to fulfill when conducting a search.

To get further insight into user intent, semantic SEO analyzes the semantic meaning of words used in every search.

So, before venturing into your quest for the perfect keyword, look at its search intent first.

In SEO, each keyword belongs to one of the 4 main types of search intent:

Commercial

The user wants to buy something and researches available market options. For example, “best running shoes for women 2024.”

Navigational

Users look for a specific web page they already know about, commonly login pages. For example, “facebook login.” This is a ‘clean-cut’ intent, so you don’t need to consider it.

Informational

Users want to find information on something. For example, “how to make a good SEO strategy examples.”

Transactional

A user wants to buy something. Queries here can include keywords like: “where to buy,” “discount,” “with free shipping,” etc.

Always check the prevailing search intent of your selected keywords. Then, adjust your content and page title accordingly.

Which Keywords Are Best To Target In SEO?

There are many smart ways to find your most effective target keywords.

Here’s a comprehensive list:

Find The Best Keywords To Target: A Comprehensive List

To target the best keywords for your SEO campaign, you should analyze:

1. Keyword Gaps
2. Search Volumes
3. Keyword Trends
4. Local Keywords
5. Semantic Keywords
6. User Experience
7. Low Search Quality

Let’s look at each one in more detail.

Keyword Gaps

A keyword competitor analysis shows you which terms are ‘free’ for you to target with greater ease (and less competition)!

By auditing industry keywords, you can also identify content gaps in your own website and thus create new pages with keyword-focused articles.

Search Volume

Keywords with a high search volume offer high traffic potential. Yet, they can be very competitive and hard to rank for.

How To Shape Your SEO Strategy For High Search Volume Keywords

To rank for highly competitive keywords, you need to work slowly and strategically.

Build a solid SEO roadmap and start by targeting less competitive topics related to high search volume keywords - especially if you have low topical authority.

Once you gain some decent ranking, publish content with the competitive keyword and link it to your related pages by adding some SEO-rich text.

Keep watching your coveted keyword’s competition to detect emerging content gaps and ranking fluctuations.

Also, keep on optimizing your competitive keyword page: add new information, include new visuals, and try to get relevant backlinks as part of your off-page SEO strategy.

Why Choose Keywords With Low Search Volume

Low-search keywords don’t bring a lot of traffic, but they can do pretty well for specialized searches.

Keywords with low search volume benefit your website in various ways:

• Bring more targeted traffic
• Set the foundations for your topical authority
• Rank in position zero faster and easier
• Offer quality internal links for future topics

Keyword Trends

It’s worth checking how your selected keywords have been trending over time.

This helps you cross out “fading” words and focus on “rising stars,” staying ahead of your competitors.

Keywords with a steady pace make good candidates for evergreen content that you can update and keep relevant year after year.

Local Keywords

For your local SEO, remember to target local keywords (i.e., names of places). Especially if you have a local business or different branches in various areas.

Also, add local keywords if you are into B2B wholesale or offer remote services, across the country.

Semantic Keywords

As part of your semantic SEO, use semantic keywords and related terms throughout your content.

Doing so amplifies your chances to rank for your target topics. Plus, it can complement your SCO marketing efforts.

User Experience

Above everything else, your target keywords must help your users and (future) customers find expert information or a solution to their problem.

So, choose the best keywords that resonate with your industry.

Remember that keywords with low search volume enhance trust and credibility for prospects and leads.

Low Search Quality

Spying on competition is a must for a successful SEO strategy.

But you can also spy on SERPs!

After narrowing down your keywords, google search them one by one. This rather tedious, manual process is an SEO secret that many SEOs tend to ignore, as they rely exclusively on automated keyword reports.

As a result, you can find more ranking opportunities for your pages.

To star with, examine page 1 for any quality flaws in search results and/or ranking sources.

Here are some signals of low search quality results on page 1:

Multiple Results From Forums

Some searches include results from general-interest forums like Quora or Reddit. Or, posts from social media that don’t typically rank for your niche.

Besides product-specific queries or similar, Google typically ranks forums if there are no other decent articles.

Results With Disparate Topics

Some specialized keywords apply to different concepts and industries. In this case, Google often lists websites with dissimilar topics.

This is your chance to decipher the prevailing intent of your keyword within your niche and lead Google to rank your page.

Topical Gaps

When all (or most) information on Google’s page 1 is irrelevant to the search term, optimize your keyword and content in a way that fills that gap.

Page Titles With Search Intent Mismatch

You may notice ranking pages with titles that don’t align with the keyword’s search intent. This means that your keywords have (nearly) zero competition!

Low Domain Authority

When the domain authority of 1st-page websites is lower than yours, you can easily tweak your page SEO to rank at the top.

Low Page Speed

Check competing websites in Google Page Speed insights and evaluate whether you can race them out.

Poor Content

You can also target keywords that rank with low-quality content.

Look for competing pages with:

1. Outdated content (older than 6 months)
2. Poor content quality (e.g., copy content, shallow information, etc.)
3. Short text (under 800 words).

Then, publish some new and shiny content to rank them out.

All these SEO hacks will help you discover some special keywords to target with confidence.

What Makes A Good Keyword?

During the research stage, you can tell a good keyword if it’s relevant to your brand and aligns with user intent.

Good keywords have medium/high search volume combined with medium/low competition.

At the same time, a good keyword has conversion value and matches the marketing funnel stage of your respective content.

After implementation, keyword monitoring allows you to assess the real value of your keywords.

To do that, compare target keywords with content relevancy, by analyzing:

• How often your page shows up in search results vs. other sources that target the same keyword.
• How many users click on your page vs. other results.
• How long users stay on your page and consume your content.

If numbers are in your favor, then you have chosen some really good SEO keywords!

Professional Keyword Research

Selecting the right keywords and creating relevant content are the keys to a successful SEO strategy.

At Atropos Digital, we work with you to find conversion-rich keywords that attract potential customers and then combine them with great content that keeps them coming back.

Our premium SEO services cater to any optimization your website needs; from competitor analysis to technical SEO, we have your back. Call us today.