Keywords are words entered into an internet search engine in order to find specific information (e.g. specific products or services).
Among them, several types can be distinguished:
- informative phrases (typed in to search for specific answers, e.g. “author of book X”),
- advertising phrases
- brand (company name),
- general keywords (most often one or two-word phrases that the user most often enters in search of a specific service, but not having specific preferences yet, e.g. “part-time studies”),
- Long-tail keywords (keywords consist of more than two words, entered by Internet users who already have certain preferences, e.g. “extramural studies computer science Warsaw”).
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Why is choosing the right keywords important?
The selection of the right keywords is extremely important because these phrases are the basis of the positioning strategy – their proper selection will directly impact the subsequent traffic on the website.
What mistakes to avoid when selecting keywords?
Internet users should frequently search a properly selected phrase. It is a common mistake to choose passwords with very few searches and are easy to position.
The most common mistakes when choosing keywords are:
- wrong selection (selected phrases should directly relate to the content of the page, so it is not worth choosing those that do not accurately describe what can be found on a given subpage),
- inadequate amount (it is not worth choosing too many, because each subsequent issue requires additional work on optimization, text creation and linking),
- High competitiveness of keywords: (popular phrases usually have a lot of competition, so it is sometimes better to choose a less popular word, thanks to which it will be possible to be included in the initial search results).
The best tools supporting the selection of keywords
Google Keyword Planner
This is the basic tool that we should use when determining the main phrases. Thanks to it, we can obtain information about the number of monthly searches for a given password. It also shows the projected bids for clicks in your Google Ads advertising campaign.
The second important function is suggesting approximate and similar passwords. Thanks to filtering, we can narrow them down by, for example, phrases containing the word “kraków”. The results can also be filtered by location.
The tool is free (an active Google Ads account is required).
Ahrefs Keywords Explorer
Keywords Explorer is one of the features of the very popular Ahrefs tool. It allows, like Keyword Planner, to obtain data on the number of monthly searches and help us find additional keywords.
Another useful tool is the “questions” tab, which presents questions related to the search term that is popular in the search engine.
Google Trends
Google Trends is a tool that allows you to check changes in the popularity and range of phrases entered into the search engine. A clear graph illustrates the change of interest in a given topic over time.
It is useful for checking if the popularity of our keywords is not falling, it enables a quick graphical comparison of many at once.
Below we also have the popularity distribution shown on the map of Poland. Suggestions for similar queries are also available.
The tool is free of charge and can be extremely valuable in verifying your own business ideas and analyzing consumer preferences.
Answer the Public
Tool for generating long-tail phrases.
We get a list of the most popular questions containing a given phrase in a form resembling a mind map.
Answer the Public allows you to find the right keyword and proven ideas for new content.
Google Search Console
In addition to the basic functions used in SEO, Search Console also provides us with a list of phrases after entering which the user of the search engine viewed or clicked on our website.
It is especially useful when we are already conducting SEO activities on previously selected phrases, and we want to check their current performance and introduce changes.
The tool also shows us the average position of a given keyword in the selected period.
