Advanced Keyword Research Techniques for Niche Domination

Advanced Keyword Research Techniques for Niche Domination

fIn today’s age of overproduction of content, about 7.5 million blogs are published every day. And with everyone competing for attention, finding the right keywords that your target audience uses to search for things is the key to dominating your industry. This guide will walk you through everything keyword-related so that you can achieve a higher ranking on Google. When executed right, it will allow you to get more traffic, more conversions, more money, and more everything. 

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Types of Keywords

Google handles trillions of searches every year. Not knowing what type of keywords should you rank for would cost you a lot of opportunities. Here’s a list of the types of keywords along with examples. 

 

Long Tail keywords

4+ words seeking a solution to a specific problems

Examples:

  • How to fix a broken iPhone cable
  • How to get rid of back pain with exercise 
  • Asian restaurants with vegetarian options 
Short Tail keywords Short, 1-2 words

Examples:

  • Macha tea
  • Work table
  • Vegan recipes
Primary keywords The central idea that you want your website to be known for

Examples: 

  • Healthy recipes 
  • Digital Marketing
  • Skincare and makeup
Secondary keywords Subdomain of primary keywords 

Examples: 

  • Healthy breakfast recipies
  • Tips for starting a digital marketing agency 
Seed Keywords Generic and short words related to your business, much like short tail keywords

Examples: 

  • HAVC
  • Garage
  • Online store
Commercial keywords Used when a user is looking to buy a service or product 

Examples: 

  • Best phone under $500
  • Best Nike shoes for running
  • Affordable flights to New York
Informational Keywords Queries of a user when they intend to learn something

Examples: 

  • Benefits of exercise
  • Pros and cons of a keto diet
  • How to find a good car mechanic 
Geo Targeted keywords Include a place (country, city, neighbourhood) or the phrase “near me”

Examples:

  • Locksmith in New York
  • Best accountant in Geelong 
  • Best Italian restaurant near me
Navigational keywords A keyword people use to find a specific page 

Examples: 

  • Youtube
  • Facebook login
  • Gut supplements on Amazon

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But How Does Keyword Research Help Your Website Ranking?

Keywords are a bridge between what your target audience searches on Google and the content you create. 

For example, a user doesn’t know how to use a gadget. So, they put their query on Google: “how to use XYZ.” 

Your blog post should be an in-depth answer to that. The more original and high-quality content you create, the more you tell Google what your website is about, which eventually helps with better ranking. 

Below are a few more reasons why keywords are vital for your business. 

  • Competitor Analysis: Study what your competition is covering and find the missing gaps. Your product should fill those gaps and you’ll eventually dominate the market. 
  • More Traffic: Using the right keywords will improve your ranking on Google and will skyrocket organic traffic to your website. 
  • Content Planning: A killer keyword strategy will give you a ton of ideas on what to write about. No more staring at a blank screen not knowing what to write about.

Well, now that you know the importance and benefits of keyword research, let’s get to advanced keyword research techniques.

Advanced Keyword Research Techniques

  • Utilize Long-Tail Keywords for Niche Targeting

They’re specific words and address a pain point or user intent to do something. Since users are already in a certain mindset of seeking a solution, and if your product does the job for them, they’re more apt to turn into your customers.  

Marketing done right.

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Nuance: Long tails address precise user needs, therefore, they’re not the most searched phrases. That’s why they have less competition than other types of keywords and are easier to rank for.

However, half of Google searches consist of four or more words, which means they dominate the search engine. So, your best bet is to use a mix of them plus other keywords to improve your ranking and eventually boost your organic search volume. 

How to Identify Long-Tail Keywords

  • Use Google Autocomplete

Type a primary keyword in the search bar and take note of all the suggestions you see. Those are the most popular searched keywords. 

  • Forums

Visit forums like Quora, Reddit, and Facebook groups to find frequently asked questions and hot topics in your industry. This will give you enough idea of the keywords you should use. 

  • Answer the Public

Enter any keyword in the search bar of this tool and it will generate loads of questions and phrases that people search in real time.

  • Use Semantic Search Techniques

As the A.I gets more advanced, Google has adopted semantic search techniques to cater to its users’ needs. 

Semantic search is a language processing program that doesn’t take a user’s query at its face value and gives search results by understanding what they’re trying to convey. 

For example, when you type in something and Google improves your search and says:

“Did you mean —–?”

“Search instead for —–”

Like this…

Here, I purposely misspelt the whole thing just to give you an idea. Google’s software understood the context of my query and offered me suggestions on what to look for. 

So, now the question is…

How to Leverage the Semantic Search for Best Results?

  • LSI Keywords

Use Google’s “Searches related to” (as shown in the image above) feature or tools like LSIGraph to discover relevant keywords to rank for. 

  • Context 

Make sure you answer a specific question that a user asks and don’t forget to include relevant terms. For instance, if your website is centred around vegan recipes, you should include phrases like ‘healthy eating habits, plant-based, and vegan meal preparation’ throughout your blog post. 

  • Use Keyword Research Tools Effectively

Having a ton of keywords is only half the battle. Knowing which ones to use and how to use them strategically is the real art and can make or break your business and online presence. 

Below are a few keyword research tools that will make a difference in your business growth. 

  • Ahrefs: Even though it’s known for its exceptional backlink analysis, it also provides top-notch keyword research features. For better results, use the “keyword explorer’ option to find relevant keywords along with their difficulty levels. 
  • SEMrush: Provides keyword suggestions, search volume (the number of times a keyword has been searched), and competitor’s analysis. 
  • Ubersuggest: It’s a free, beginner-friendly website that helps you find keywords and also search volumes. 
  • Moz Keyword Explorer: It’s similar to all other tools except that the “priority” score helps you spot the right keywords in no time. 

4. Make the Most of Google Trends

Don’t sleep on the massive opportunity Google Trends can offer for your overall business growth. Here’s how to make the most of it. 

  • Seasonal Trends are what’s trending during a particular time of the year. For instance, thanksgiving, independence day, etc. You should map out content around this time to get as many eyeballs on your websites as possible. 
  • Regional Insights are popular things about a particular place. This is a solid start for local businesses and can supercharge their marketing efforts. 
  • Related Queries are similar to a user’s original concern and are a fantastic way to generate new keywords and content ideas. 

5. Conduct Customer Surveys

Businesses that listen to their prospects and implement their feedback are immeasurably different from those who sit on this goldmine. At the end of the day, you’ll only make loads of money if one-off buyers become your returning customers. 

So, surveying them regarding how you can improve your product or services for a seamless buying experience is your key to unlocking huge success. Here’s how you can gather and utilize this data. 

Comments: Read all the comments on your social media and under blog posts respond to all of them. If you don’t have the time to do this yourself, hiring an assistant is a great option.  

Survey: Create surveys for your existing customers and ask what they liked about your brand, what their expectations are from you, and what changes they think you should make. It sounds insignificant but this data will take you miles ahead of your competition.  

Direct Customer Queries: Your customer service department gets your audience’s questions all day long. It’s literally a goldmine of keywords that you should use to amplify your keyword generation process. 

7. Optimize for Voice Search

Given its convenience, voice searches are becoming more and more prevalent, especially among 50+ folks. This type of search mostly includes long-tail keywords and is conversational in nature.

To take maximum advantage of this feature, you should consider writing in a conversational tone, especially mimicking natural speech patterns. 

Secondly, featured snippets usually appear in voice results and are an excellent way to get more visibility on any search engine. 

However, to get featured up there, make sure you’re using numbered lists and bullet points. Like this…

You should also consider adding geotargeted keywords as voice searches are usually location-based. 

8. Collaborate with Influencers and Experts

Influencer marketing is the new cool these days. All you have to do is do a paid collaboration with a social media influencer with a big following and they’ll endorse your product or services. 

You can also partner with an expert to write a guest post for your website and have them share the post with their audience as well. Videos get more eyeballs than a written post so if you’re not camera shy, interviewing experts and industry leaders would be an excellent option. 

9. Keep Evolving Your Process 

Lastly, the world is changing at a rapid pace, especially after the advent of A.I. And to keep up with that, you’ve to continuously improve your keyword strategy. 

The most efficient way to go about it is to be aware of your niche’s trends. Follow others in your industry, go to events, and attend webinars to stay updated about new changes to create relevant content. 

Relevancy = money  

In a Nutshell

When done right, keyword research can take you miles ahead of your competition and allow you to dominate your niche. But it’s never a one-time process. For long-term success in your industry, you have to rigorously evolve to stay relevant in the eyes of search engines and your audience.

Don’t be Nokia when you can be Apple.

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