Keywords have always been central to search engine optimization, though over the years their importance has evolved a lot. In the early days of SEO, picking the right keywords was vital for driving up your SERP ranking and it was possible to consciously boost rankings for specific keywords and also monitor the performance of the keyword with a great deal of accuracy. However, keywords definition and placement have undergone rapid transformation and are now quite complicated, especially with the launch of Google’s Hummingbird update that radically altered the way the search engine looks at keywords and content. Now, instead of specific keywords, Google focus more on the semantic context of the query fired by a user. This makes it far more difficult to optimize content for specific keywords.
Rank determination is all the more compounded due to the relative absence of reliable and accurate ranking information. While Google does not provide any details, there are third parties who do, but compensating for the many aspects of user personalization such as preferences, search history, the device being used, and even the location of the searcher can be next to impossible. The ranking volatility interferes with the potential dependability of a keyword strategy; not only does Google keep on changing it methodologies constantly but also you need to factor in competitor optimization activities.
Even though a strong keyword focus can affect user experience and customer loyalty, keywords remain an important SEO and content marketing tool. Researching keywords can give you valuable insights into what the target audience is looking for as well as their search patterns. It can help guide content development and the focus of the content marketing campaign and also provide metrics for benchmarking your performance.
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Some Handy Keyword Research Tools:
Google’s Keyword Planner
Highly recommended by experts in social media marketing in Mumbai, this is perhaps the first tool that SEO practitioners start off their keyword research with. The advantages are numerous; not only it is a Google product but also delivers very accurate information. It is also free. The only issue is that it is designed to work better on paid online advertising campaigns rather than pure content SEO; however, the limitation can be easily worked around. Feeding in brand-relevant keywords and phrases allows you to not only determine the specific search volumes but also the extent of competition that’s battling over them currently.
Moz’s Keyword Explorer
Moz lives up to their reputation for offering exceptional SEO tools, and the Keyword Explorer follows the same tradition. Some of the metrics that you can obtain are similar to that of Google’s product but according to experts, the results are more precise, as Google purportedly rounds off the data and is not so great at competition rating. The Moz product delivers keyword recommendations that are more detailed and also rates each keyword’s cumulative value.
Ubersuggest
A pure keyword research tool, Ubersuggest is not something you would want in preference to either Google’s or Moz’s products. However, the product’s real strength lies in its ability to help you to find alternatives for the keywords that you enter. While the keyword recommendations will not be based on search volume, potential value, or even competition usage, the tool will assist you to come up with alternative keywords that may be more relevant, specific or even diversified for making your campaign work harder. It’s a really great tool to have around, especially if you are new to the game.
Soovle
Adopting an approach that is akin to that of Ubersuggest, Soovie scores because of a single critical difference; it takes into account the auto-suggest features of multiple search engines and social media platforms simultaneously, such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Answers. The number of recommendations will be less than what you would get from Ubersuggest but for sure, the diversity will be far more. The tool is especially great if your content or brand marketing strategy includes multiple platforms.
SpyFu
SpyFu is another great tool for analyzing the competition that you face in the market, especially if you are lagging behind. Instead of feeding in your own website address, you directly enter a competitor’s URL and the results will allow you to analyze the keywords it is using in terms of their strength and focus.
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Conclusion
By applying some or even all the tools, you will be able to have a far better understanding of the keywords you need to use and how to cope with the competitor activity. By having access to this information, you will be able to optimize your content and strategically target it to your principal audiences for better traffic, sales conversions, and ultimately an improved ROI.
