No Keywords? No Problem!
No Keywords? No Problem! 3 ways to help you find keywords when you’re stumped
Nowadays it seems like it is more and more difficult to find the right keywords to target. The competition is crazy fierce and unless you have a huge budget for PPC ads, you may feel it's impossible to get the traffic you want to your website. And with the unknowns about Chat GPT and how that will affect our current seo efforts, you might not know where to begin. In this blog post, we'll share three tips for finding keywords that you can rank for in the search engines. So if you're ready to learn more about SEO and how to uncover the right keywords, read on!
1. Look at your competitor's websites - what keywords are they targeting that you could also target?
When you go to start an SEO campaign and you just can't find keywords to target –don’t let that stress you out. A great tactic to remember when you’ve got “keyword block” is to take a look at a few of your competitors’ websites. What are the keywords they are targeting that you might be able to use as well?
If you'd like to dig in even deeper on competitive tricks and technical analysis check out our blog with 5 tips for creating a competitive website!
Now obviously you do not want to copy exactly what your competitors are doing. You want to think of ways to utilize the same target words, but make it your own using creative and unique ideas on how to make your website or blog stand out from the others.
Let’s look at an example, shall we?
For this example, we will say we are a new house painter in Denver, CO. Let’s look at the top 3 search results (not counting the ads) when you google “house painter Denver, CO.”
Quick tip: If you want the results to be less dependent on your curated Google view we recommend searching in incognito mode.
Top 3 Google results (after ads and not including directories):
- Imperial Painters
- CertaPro Painters of Denver
- Paint Denver
Keywords (taken from services page):
Quick tip: We're showing you the x1 results, it is extremely important to look at 2 word and 3 word phrases too.
- Imperial Painters
2. CertaPro Painters of Denver
3. Paint Denver
After researching the competitors’ service pages we can identify some keywords to go after might include: commercial & residential, interior & exterior or home & house. You could even combine a few of the words. For example, target the keyphrase of Denver Exterior painter or Residential painter of Denver. The other competitors touched on those keywords, but if you were to really focus on those target words and make your content even better, you will have a greater chance to rank for them, too!
So, no keywords huh? If you have competitors you can always discover some target words to focus on. Taking note of what your competition is doing can be a great way to get inspiration for new seo strategies for your company.
2. Use a keyword research tool like Semrush or Ahrefs Keywords Explorer to find related words
No keywords and no clue where to begin? Utilizing a keyword research tool such as Semrush or Ahrefs can be incredibly helpful - especially if you are just starting out. Tools like these have so many benefits and can be extremely useful when you feel stumped for words. For example, these tools can generate a list of related words that may have not shown up initially in your searches, making it easier for you to begin creating content on your website.
Let’s try it out with our examples we came up with after researching what keywords our competitors are using.
Keyword(s): residential painter denver
From this keyword tool in Semrush we notice that the search volume for “residential painter denver” is 170/month and a difficulty score of 46. This means that it is possible for you to rank with this keyphrase, but if you are just starting out you will want to find keywords/phrases with a lower difficulty score.
This is where the related keywords tool comes in to save the day! As you can see from the picture above we are looking at a broad match for the keyphrase we entered. Let’s see what we can discover when we look for related words/phrases.
BAM! We now have a bunch of different options to choose from. If you are just starting out, it is wise to target keywords/phrases that have a lower keyword difficulty. That means if you notice a green circle, go after it and go after it hard!
From the related search results I would choose to target the phrase “interior painting denver.” As you can see from the list, it has the highest monthly search volume (480) and the keyword difficulty is only 23. If you create quality content that is focused on the keywords’ intent, you will be able to rank and get some nice monthly traffic to your site.
Utilizing these tools will come in handy when you think there are no keywords left to rank for. Being able to identify all of the useful metrics like search volume, keyword difficulty and competition will allow you to tailor your SEO strategy much more effectively. Just choose the right keyword research tool for you, so that optimizing your website for search engines will become less of a chore!
3. Try doing a Google search for your topic and notice what words come up in the autocomplete suggestions
If you are in a pinch and feel as if there are no keywords relevant for targeting for your SEO efforts, we have one final tip for your search! Simply try doing a Google search for your topic and take note of what words show up in the autocomplete suggestions in the search bar. This could give you a few ideas for latching onto potential target words or phrases related to your topic that might get you some good SEO traction.
Again, let’s stick with our examples from above. I am a new house painter in Denver and I am looking to target some keywords to generate traffic to my site.
Keyphrase entered into Google: interior painter denver
When looking at the results you will want to pay extra attention to the bolded words. The words in bold are the keywords you can use to your advantage! As you can see, the word “cost” has come up more than once, so I would definitely target that in my content. You can also take any of these bolded words and plug them into one of the keyword research tools we talked about earlier. That way you can really get a feel for the search volume, difficulty and competition for each phrase.
Let's utilize our keyword research tool again!
Keyphrase entered: house painter denver
As you can see, nothing looks that great to target under the broad match. But when we check the related keywords……
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! A slight change of a phrase is sometimes all it takes to discover keywords that will be great to focus on. In the example above we would target the phrase “denver house painters.” This phrase is extremely relevant to what you offer, it has decent search volume and most importantly, it has a lower keyword difficulty. Again, if you create quality content that is focused on the keywords’ intent you will be able to rank and drive your traffic up!
The quick Google search tip is truly a great one for generating a lot of ideas with little effort on your part. Let Google tell you what words your potential customers are looking for! It is worth a try and only takes a few minutes of your time to test out. What’s there to lose?
You’ve Found Rankable Keywords, Now What?
Once you have finalized your list of keywords and created quality content, it is important to note that there are several strategies that can be used to help you boost your website’s rankings and drive traffic. Utilizing social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter will help you reach more people who may be interested in the topics you are writing about, potentially leading to increased traffic for your website. Additionally, creating content with a variety of keyword variations could result in even better rankings if done correctly. Finally, using link building tactics such as guest blogging on authoritative websites and obtaining backlinks from other high-quality sites can also improve search engine results pages (SERP) visibility as well as keyword rankings. Taking the time to implement these tactics could greatly improve your website’s online presence and ensure that it reaches the largest possible audience.
I also want to highlight that staying up-to-date on changes in search engine algorithms is essential for any successful SEO campaign. Search algorithms are constantly changing, so it is vital to stay on top of the latest trends and incorporate any necessary changes into your strategy. Additionally, tracking keyword performance over time can help you identify which keywords are working best and which ones need adjusting or replacing altogether. Monitoring metrics like organic traffic, page views, bounce rate, and keyword rankings can give you insight into how effective your website’s SEO strategy really is. With this data, you can make the necessary changes to improve your SEO performance. A business owner can track all of this information themselves (if they have the extra time), or hire it out to a company with monthly seo packages that includes everything needed to drive traffic to their website.
Conclusion
Overall, when it comes to finding rankable keyphrases for optimizing your website for search engines, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. By taking a few proactive steps such as looking at competitors’ targeted words and further researching with tools like Semrush or Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, you will be able to get an abundance of ideas of top-performing keyword phrases that apply to your website. Furthermore, incorporating related keywords from a quick Google search into the content on your website can help you to improve visibility for a large number of queries within the SERP. In the end, if you are able to do enough research into which keywords are best suited for your industry, it will yield great success when trying to rank on search engines. Good luck!
About The Author
Amanda Deering is a Co Founder of SAASY CLOUD and website designer/content creator. Connect with her on LinkedIn!
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