As brands compete for attention and top search rankings, one question matters now more than ever: how can you leverage SEO to drive traffic and engage your audience?
The answer lies in keyword relevance. It is essential to understand the keywords that best align with your audience’s search intent and how those keywords impact your SEO efforts.
In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of keyword relevance for better SEO results and how businesses can thrive in a digital landscape.
What is Keyword Relevance - The Basics
Before we jump into how to examine keyword relevance, it is important to understand what "keyword relevance" means.
Keyword relevance refers to how closely and accurately a keyword matches with the objective of your target audience and the content being provided. Keyword relevance is not just about selecting a phrase or word that has high search volume, but it is the one that aligns with the intent of the potential readers.
For example, a public safety website that deals with house fires would target the keyword "house fire” or a long-tail keyword such as “common causes of house fires.” Whereas a travel agency specializing in eco-tourism in Hawaii will focus on the keyword “eco-tourism Hawaii.”
Why Keyword Relevance Is Important
When choosing keywords for the website, it is important to focus on how applicable and related the word is to the website, not just search volume. Relevant keywords help improve a website's visibility, ranking, and authority on search engines.
Search engines like Google prioritize content that answers users' queries. So, understanding what the audience is searching for is the key. If the content matches customer intent, it is more likely to rank well.
Google’s algorithms keep on evolving and have become smarter, now focusing on the meaning behind search queries, not just exact keywords. If you've noticed, tools like Google Search Console have started providing related searches that can help reveal what people are truly looking for.
By using words or phrases that align with customers' objectives, the content will be more useful and will rank better. This will drive more traffic to the website, and in return, will lead to more conversions and revenue.
For example, let us say you have a linen business. You sell towels online, so "towel" seems like a logical keyword.
But the issue with the keyword "towel" is that it is too broad and vague, and it does not describe any of your specific products, which will make it extremely hard to rank.
On the other hand, if your brand sells microfiber face towels, you should use the keyword: “microfiber face towels,” respectively. Even though this word or phrase might have less search volume, it is much more accurate and describes user intent very well. So, you will have a better chance of ranking higher on search engine results.
Instead of focusing solely on high-volume words or phrases and broader terms, you can target keywords more specific to your product that answer what your users are searching for. This helps Google better understand and rank your website.
To explain more why keyword relevance is crucial, let us consider the following benefits:
- Increased Engagement and Conversions: By choosing words and phrases that align perfectly with the people's intention, you are attracting the right kind of traffic to your website. This will lead to more activity on your website, and there will be a better chance of turning visitors into customers or clients.
- Improved Search Engine Rankings: Search engines like Google or Bing want to deliver the best and most accurate results for any user’s query. When you use keywords that are extremely relevant to what users are looking for, your content will show up higher in search results.
- Improved User Experience (UX): Relevant keywords and phrases help visitors to find exactly what they need. When your content answers their query perfectly and meets their objective, it not only makes the user experience better but also encourages search engines to rank your site higher.
How to Vet Keywords for Relevance
Now that we understand why keyword relevance is so important, let us look at how you can choose the right ones. Here is a step-by-step guide:
1. Understand your audience and what they are searching for.
To select the right keywords, we first must understand what an audience is trying to find. This can get a little tricky at the start, but with the right tools and a better understanding of who your audience is, it is manageable.
There are four main types of search intent to consider:
- Navigational Intent: The user who is looking for a specific website or page (e.g., “LinkedIn login”).
- Informational Intent: The user who is looking for answers or information (e.g., “what is keyword relevance”).
- Transactional Intent: The user who is ready to buy something (e.g., “buy cleaning robot online”).
- Commercial Investigation: The user who is comparing products or services before making a purchase (e.g., “best keyword research tools 2024”).
It is important to match content with the user’s intent. For example, a blog post titled "How to Vet Keywords Relevance for Better Results" matches informational intent, while an eCommerce page like "Buy cleaning robot online" targets transactional intent.
2. Use Keyword Research Tools
Keyword research tools are extremely helpful when it comes to keyword planning and research. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ubersuggest, Ahrefs and Moz are equipped with features which can show search volume, competition, related keywords, and ideas.
When looking for keywords, always focus on:
- Relevance
- Search Volume and Competition
- Long-Tail Keywords
3. Check What Your Competitors Are Doing
Always check what keywords your competitors are using. This is a wonderful way to discover valuable keywords. This also tells for what keywords your competitors are ranking. Using tools like SEMrush or Ubersuggest, you can enter your competitor’s website’s URL and see what keywords are used on the pages.
This will give you a clear picture of what is working in your industry and will help you find keyword opportunities you might not have considered.
4. Track How Keywords Are Performing
Planning and selecting keywords are just the start. The key is to monitor how well they are performing. Once the keywords are chosen, you need to track them using Google Analytics and Google Search Console to see their performance. Look for the key performance indicators (KPIs) like traffic, bounce rates, and conversion rates.
If you find some keywords are not performing well, you can always go back and make changes by improving your landing pages and trying new keywords.
5. Align Keywords with the Right Content
Every content must have a separate set of keywords. In other words, every page of a website has a different purpose, so they should have specific keywords for every page. High-competition, broad keywords should be used for homepages or main content, while more specific, low-competition long-tail keywords are great for blog posts, product or service pages, or FAQ sections.
The main aim is to match the right keyword with the content to get the best results for SEO.
Conclusion
Keyword relevance is a critical component of a successful SEO strategy. So doing in-depth keyword research before you even start to write content is important. By understanding user search intent, researching competitors’ keywords, refining your keyword list, and optimizing content accordingly, you can target keywords that are not only relevant but also highly effective in driving traffic and conversions.
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