Some critical areas where keywords matter:<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a critical factor for long-term success for most websites.<\/p>\n There is a wide variety of ways to do\u00a0keyword research<\/a>. If you do anything with SEO or have a subscription to any blogs relating to SEO or content marketing then I\u2019m sure you aren\u2019t short on information about keyword research.<\/p>\n The goal of this article isn\u2019t to rehash over \u201cHow to do keyword research\u201d. I\u2019ll cover a couple methods but the main focus is how to use your keyword research for designing your website and content structure to help improve the ability of your website to rank.<\/p>\n If you want to learn about different strategies and tools for keyword research below is a few of my favorites:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Keyword research for\u00a0Search Engine Optimization (SEO)<\/a>\u00a0purposes is the exploration of topics and terms that are related to a subject. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s an article or website structure. Keywords are the foundation of good SEO.<\/p>\n Keywords makeup search strings that users enter into search engines. This can be a single word or a string of multiple words. Search engines use these search strings to try to understand what the user\u2019s intent is and serve the user the information they seek.<\/p>\n For example, say a user enters the title of a movie \u201cStar Trek Beyond\u201d. This creates an issue for search engines because the user hasn\u2019t clarified their intent. What information is the user looking for? Reviews, trailers, soundtrack, etc.<\/p>\n Example Of Generic Query \u201cStar Trek Beyond.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n This is what search engines try to figure out. Google has become the most popular search engine because it does the best at serving up content that is relevant to the search query.<\/p>\n Search engines do this by crawling sites and scanning the content for words that best describe the content on the site. These are known as keywords.<\/p>\n They take into consideration everything from what your site is about to what type of articles you write.<\/p>\n For example, if your site is about \u201cRecipes\u201d and you write a movie review for \u201cStar Trek Beyond\u201d would you expect to rank very high for this keyword? With movie sites like IMBd and CinemaBlend you have zero chance. These sites have thousands of movies listed and sites that link to them. Your site wouldn\u2019t be very relevant to this search query.<\/p>\n Remember that search engines’ primary function is serving up the most relevant results. To do this they look at more than just one page. They look at the keywords associated with the home page, categories, internal and external links, etc.<\/p>\n Mastering keywords alone won\u2019t guarantee you first page but get this wrong, and you\u2019re guaranteed an uphill battle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Articles on keyword research have been\u00a0overdone. They usually focus on\u00a0different strategies<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0tools used to do keyword research<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some of the reasons we have seen the proliferation of keyword research articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n The problem with these articles is they focus on the tools and strategies, not on the end result. Keyword research isn\u2019t that complicated. Understanding how to properly use keywords when structuring your articles, website, etc. is more complex.<\/p>\n To understand keyword research we must think about it in the context of our goal. Keyword research is also an excellent way to generate ideas.<\/p>\n So first let\u2019s ask a simple question.<\/p>\n How are the keywords going to be used?<\/p>\n This is a very important question because where the keyword is used is going to dictate how we do the research.<\/p>\n For example, if you already have a website you might be looking for ideas for content or resources. A good way to get ideas is to look at what is working for your competitors. In this example, you might want to use a paid tool like\u00a0SEMrush<\/a>.<\/p>\n With SEMrush you can scan your competitor\u2019s website and get an idea of what keywords are ranking. Some valuable information you can get from this tool:<\/p>\n Example Keyword Analysis For Wordstream<\/strong><\/p>\n Click \u201cView full report\u201d and it will give you a massive list of keywords your competitor ranks for along with other metrics related to the keyword.<\/p>\n Example Keyword Research Full Report For Wordstream<\/strong><\/p>\n There are many ways you can use this tool to analyze your competitor\u2019s keywords. To learn more read:\u00a0Distilled\u2019s \u201cHow to Use SEMrush for Competitive Keyword Research<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.5″ min_height=”4580px” custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.7″ min_height=”4511px” hover_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n What is your goal? Do you have a website already? As I stated earlier questions like these will dictate how to approach keyword research.<\/p>\n For this exercise, I\u2019m going to use the material I created for a client with their permission.<\/p>\n They wanted to create a \u201cVape\u201d e-Commerce store with no brick and mortar locations. They didn\u2019t have a website, so my goal was to create a site structure based on keyword research.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t matter if you want to design a website or write an article you want to identify your\u00a0core keywords<\/a>. \u00a0The best way to do this is by looking at what the top competitors are currently doing and build on it.<\/p>\n There are many keyword tools that could be used. Any tools used in this article will be free so it will be easy for you to replicate what I\u2019m doing.<\/p>\n Since this is an eCommerce store I\u2019m going to start by entering \u201cbuy vapes\u201d and \u201conline vape stores\u201d \u00a0into Google and list some of the top results. You could substitute other keywords. The object is to identify top competitors.<\/p>\n For this article, I have picked these 4 sites.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.vaporworld.biz\/ SEOQuake<\/strong> Let\u2019s open the first one\u00a0https:\/\/www.vaporworld.biz\/. Next, click SEOQuake\u2019s extension \u201cicon\u201d and choose \u201cDensity\u201d. Density will give you a list of keywords found on the web page and how often used. Here I will look for keywords that I find relevant to my client\u2019s website.<\/p>\n The first section you see is \u201cone-word\u201d keywords. On the right side you can click on 2,3, and 4-word combinations for ideas or just scroll down the list.<\/p>\n When I start my keyword research I look for \u201cshort tail keywords<\/a>\u201d. These keywords are made of 3 or fewer keywords. They are generally high traffic keywords that are very competitive.<\/p>\n Example of Short Tail Keywords:<\/p>\n When creating a keyword strategy for a site I start with a top-down approach. I\u2019m looking for top-level keywords my client wants to rank for then work my down by relevance, volume and competition.<\/p>\n Manufacturers, suppliers and specific products will be \u201clong-tail keywords<\/a>\u201d. Long-tail keywords are usually more than 3 words and have less traffic. These are generally less competitive but can have higher conversion rates.<\/p>\n Website Structure: Short vs. Long Tail Keyword Uses<\/strong> So to begin let\u2019s just look for 1 and 2-word phrases\u00a0excluding<\/strong>\u00a0manufacturers and suppliers.<\/p>\n These short-tail keywords will be used for seeding the keyword list by using tools such as Google Keyword Planner. What we are searching for are keywords that will make up the category headings and also ideas for further content creation such as \u201cvape reviews\u201d.<\/p>\n Top Level Keywords (1-2 words)<\/strong>\u00a0 The results give us some good ideas on categories and even content to create for the site.<\/p>\n Possible Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n Possible Articles\/Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n These are just ideas from a few keywords. Now let\u2019s use a different technique to get more keywords so we can begin structuring the site.<\/p>\n Google Keyword Planner<\/strong><\/p>\n Now open up the\u00a0Google Keyword Planner<\/a>\u00a0click on the box \u201cFind new keywords\u2026\u201d. It is the first choice.<\/p>\n We have several options here. We are going to focus on the section labeled \u201cYour landing page\u201d. We are going to enter one of the competitors from the list we created earlier.<\/p>\n This will give us a list of keywords associated with this site. Now I\u2019m going to re-sort the list by Avg. monthly searches so the highest volume is listed first. This is where we can really start picking up good ideas. Remember we are looking for short-tail keywords\u00a0not\u00a0associated with manufacturers since I don\u2019t know the exact products being offered yet. If we were looking for products we can see \u201chereakles tanks\u201d\u00a0would be a great opportunity.<\/p>\n Some of the keywords I\u2019m looking for here are:<\/p>\n Depending on the size of the site and what is offered these could each be categorized. The full list has over 700 keywords. If you would like you can download the whole list or click \u201cAdd to plan\u201d next to the keywords you want to download. Once you have completed reviewing the keywords you can download the list you created.<\/p>\n Now you can open it with excel or add them to a Google Doc. Repeat this process for each website. Once you have them in your spreadsheet remove duplicates and any rows that you don\u2019t find relevant. I only keep \u201cvolume\u201d, \u201ccompetition\u201d and \u201cextracted from\u201d.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.5″ custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.5″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.5″]<\/p>\n Now that we have a large list of keywords to work with we need to start organizing them. The first thing we want to do is insert them into an Excel or Google Doc so we can easily sort and filter them.<\/p>\n Remember the goal of this keyword research is to design a keyword strategy for an eCommerce site targeting vaping products. The final products haven\u2019t been decided so I\u2019m just designing the short tail keyword infrastructure.<\/p>\n I start by visualizing the page (structure) of the website. It might help to look at the competition and what categories they have to get an idea of how to group my keywords.<\/p>\n For example, we\u2019ll use\u00a0http:\/\/www.vaporbeast.com\/. I specifically picked it because I like the initial structure of this site.<\/p>\n The first thing we want to look at is the navigation bar.<\/p>\n \u00a0 I\u2019m going to ignore things such as \u201cBrands\u201d since I don\u2019t know exactly what brands my client will offer yet. We will worry about the long-tail keywords later.<\/p>\n Now hover over each one and look for sub-categories. Below you will see the subcategories for \u201cAccessories\u201d.<\/p>\n So now I create a tab for \u201cAccessories\u201d in my spreadsheet and make sure these keywords are listed. Then I will review my keyword list for any other terms that would go under this category. This gives me an idea of traffic potential for the keyword \u201caccessories\u201d in regards to vaping.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that each sub-category will have the ability to create its own traffic followed by each brand. For example, look at the category \u201cChargers\u201d. Notice the first product \u201cefest LUC S2\u201d. Efest is a brand name and could be a missed opportunity for this site. \u00a0If they sell different types of Efest charges they could benefit by having an optimized page for the brand \u201cEfest\u201d.<\/p>\n Now I will review the 4 sites I originally looked at when creating the core keywords. I will review them looking for sub-categories just like we did with vaporbeast.com.<\/p>\n After reviewing the other sites I found that they really didn\u2019t have much to add to this list. I don\u2019t want to take the time to go over each site and category so let\u2019s create a simple graph and look at some ideas on how the site structure will start to look.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Remember that my goal is identifying keywords for my site structure. How well these categories will rank and for what keywords depends on competition, content and links these pages have.<\/p>\n With this approach, I will be able to optimize multiple pages for my keywords plus it gives me the opportunity to rank for much more.<\/p>\n Imagine if the sub-category \u201cchargers\u201d was the last subcategory page and had multiple brands listed. At best I could hope to rank for keywords such as \u201cvape chargers\u201d. When someone is searching for a vape charger they usually have a specific one in mind. An eCommerce site that had a dedicated page to that brand would be more relevant to the query since it would have information and content specifically targeting that brand.<\/p>\n So what are some of the keyword opportunities?<\/strong><\/p>\n As you can see there is a lot of opportunities to optimize at different levels. Think of short-tail and long-tail keywords as time-based strategies. Long-tail keywords are short-term goals. They have less volume and usually less competitive. That isn\u2019t always the case with eCommerce. Short tail keywords are long term goals since the keywords usually have more volume and competition.<\/p>\n Something I believe SEO\u2019s overlook is the effect that long-tail keywords have on short-tail keywords. The longer tail keywords have a positive effect on short-term keywords (categories). There are several reasons. For example, when you build links to the lower pages the increase in the\u00a0Page Authority (PA)<\/a>\u00a0of these pages increases the authority of other pages associated with these pages.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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What is keyword research and why it\u2019s important?<\/h2>\n
![\"Example](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/example_different_search_results_for_generic_query.jpg\")
<\/p>\nKeyword research today.<\/h2>\n
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![\"Example](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/example_semrush_keyword_research_tool.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Example](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/example_semrush_view_full_report.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHow to do keyword research.<\/h2>\n
Create a core list of keywords.<\/h3>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.vapes.com\/
\nhttp:\/\/www.vaporbeast.com\/
\nhttp:\/\/www.madvapes.com\/<\/p>\n
\nNow I\u2019m going to open each one and use\u00a0SEOQuake\u2019s Chrome extension<\/a>. If you\u2019re using another browser check to see if they have the extension available. It is available for Firefox, but you will have to check for other browsers.<\/p>\n
\n![\"SEOQuake](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/seoquake_extension.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Example](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/example_keyword_density_using_seoquake.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
\n![\"Short](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/short_tail_keywords_vs_long_tail_keywords.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Keyword](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/keyword_list.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
\n
![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/google_keyword_planner_tool.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/google_keyword_planner_results.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/download_keyword_list_google_keyword_planner.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHow to organize your keywords.<\/h2>\n
![\"Vaporbeast](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/vaporbeast_toolbar.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Vaporbeast.com](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/vaporbeast.com_categories.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Example](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/example_simple_site_structure_using_keywords.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
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Conclusion<\/h2>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/screenshot_associated_keywords.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.structuredseo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/screenshot_associated_urls.jpg\")
<\/p>\n