Finding the right keywords boosts your online visibility.

When you say SEO, you say keywords. Optimizing keywords is extremely important for ensuring your website can be found. By finding the right keywords, visitors will actually notice your website. How do you do that? We give you five tips for effective keyword research.

Tip 1: Determine the purpose and target audience of your website

First, consider what exactly you want to achieve with your website and who you want to reach. Do you want to sell products? Do you want to offer visitors more information? Or do you mainly want to improve communication with your existing customers? The purpose and target audience of your site play a role in finding the right keywords. So make sure you have a clear idea of this before you dive into the keywords.

This gives you different search intentions.

Buying
The goal or intention of the website visitor is to actually purchase a product or service. You then use transactional keywords such as "buy black shoes size 39." Respond to this by offering your products directly on a landing page so that the visitor can buy with a single click.
Knowledge-
Website visitors sometimes search for additional information about a specific topic, product, or service. Think of "cold symptoms." It would be wise to write a blog on your website about such informative keywords within your industry. This way, visitors will end up on your site via that blog.
navigation Consumers use navigational keywords to get somewhere online. For example, they type in "Instagram" or "Facebook" to get to that site. When they type in your company name, they should find (one of the pages of) your website.

Tip 2: Focus on long-tail keywords

You are a swimming pool salesperson and want to use your website to bring people water fun. You check the keyword "buy swimming pool" in a tool. This word is searched more than 20,000 times per month. Check! Your swimming pools will fly off the shelves like hotcakes.

But that's not how it works. Because the volume is so high, competition for this keyword is fierce. The chance of you appearing on the first page of Google is virtually zero. Avoid short-tail keywords: words with high volume and fierce competition. Focus on so-called long-tail keywords: search terms that consist of multiple words. Think of "buy swimming pool around" or "buy inflatable swimming pool."

This helps users know what they are looking for, making it much more likely that they will actually add a swimming pool to their shopping cart. Long tail keywords are the rule rather than the exception. TheSearch Demand Curvefrom SeoMoz and Experian shows that over 70% of all search queries consist of long tail keywords.

Then, make sure your long-tail keyword appears on your website. Include it in titles, plain text, and your meta titles and descriptions. But be careful not to overdo it. We will explain more about this later.

Tip 3: Take a look at the competition

Take a look behind the scenes at your competitors' SEO. Tools allow you to examine your rival's website and find out which keywords they are found on. You can use this to inspire your own keyword research. It also tells you which keywords are highly competitive, meaning you need to look for other keywords. Otherwise, it will take a lot of time and effort to rank well on that particular keyword.

Tip 4: Utilize tools

Google can help you a long way in finding the right keywords. When you type in a keyword, the search engine itself will give you a list of keywords. But to find out the exact search volume and competition for keywords, it's smart to use a tool. Think ofGoogle Ads,Ubersuggest, orSERanking. What's more, these tools also allow you to monitor the growth of your online visibility with your keywords.

Some of these are free to use, while others require a fee. However, strong keywords are essential for the findability of your website. That's why it's definitely a good idea to invest in one of these tools.

Tip 5: Don't stuff keywords

Do you have a list of strong keywords on paper? Then it's time to incorporate them into your web texts. By repeating them as often as possible. Incorrect. That's not how it works. If you repeat the keyword in every sentence, Google will quickly see through your intentions. And the search engine will punish you by banishing your website to page fifty. Incorporate the keyword regularly in your headings, plain text, and alt tags, but don't overdo it.

**Leave finding those keywords to us**

Not familiar with keywords or search engines? We are happy to take care of that for you. Call on us for comprehensive keyword research. Is your entire website in need of a refresh? We will take care of the keyword strategy and incorporate it into your brand-new website. Want some tips on what not to do with your SEO?You can read themhere.