Welcome back. Last time we talked a lot about some technical aspects of SEO. Hopefully, you don’t feel too overwhelmed. That was probably the longest part of this SEO audit eCourse, and now we’re at step three which is keyword analysis.

Sometimes people’s eyes glaze over when it comes to keyword analysis, because they don’t think it matters that much. And it’s true that some people have managed to build high-traffic, productive websites without ever doing any keyword research. But, this is rare. In fact, they are probably naturally using keywords that attract their audience without even realizing it.

Are You Targeting the Right Keywords?

Each keyword that you choose to target with your content should have a reason for being. The keyword should match up to a goal that you want to achieve. This means that you need to be very specific when it comes to choosing keywords so that you can measure how each keyword is performing.

Pick ten keywords to start with. You can move up to 100, but if you’re trying to use a list of so many right off the bat, you’ll be too broad with the terms. And when you choose your keywords, make sure they’re realistic.

If you have a diet site but a small budget, you shouldn’t use the keyword “diet”. Instead, focus on keyword phrases (long-tail keywords). If the keyword is too competitive, it’s going to be too hard. Finally, you want to give each keyword a deadline to perform before you move on to a new set of keywords. This takes a lot of practice.

To find good keywords, use a keyword tool to help. There are many to choose from. There is a great blog post from HubSpot that has a list of nine keyword research tools.

(https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/22842/4-helpful-tools-for-identifying-the-right-keywords.aspx)

Next time, we’ll talk about how to find good ideas and keywords to help you improve your SEO through competitor analysis.