Finding the right keywords is critical in the early stages of building an eCommerce website. SEO can be a time-consuming endeavor, so you don’t want to waste time on excessively difficult or poorly converting search terms. For many site owners, though, they already have an existing website with a lot of published content. Various posts could be ranking for certain keywords, while others only require some extra promotion. Established sites can still benefit from a good keyword strategy, but the method you follow will vary from a brand new property. Before you begin, it is important to look at existing rankings. The following techniques can form the basis of your keyword strategy.
Find the Keywords You Are Currently Ranking For
Finding your current search rankings will let you prioritize your workload. There are a number of paid tools that offer detailed keyword information at the push of a button. Mondovo, Moz, SEMrush, SpyFu, and KeywordSpy allow you to input a URL and gain access to every keyword and their current and historic positions. There are various other rank tracker tools, but you may need to add your own keyword list and manually check your analytics data. For large sites with frequent content updates, ranking for a great deal of long tail terms is highly likely.
Look for the Best Opportunities
From your keyword list, decide which keywords are worth pursuing. You may have a limited number of options, but larger keyword lists can require further research. Using one of the keyword tool options, or by accessing the free Google Keyword Planner, look at the search volume for each keyword. The first page of Google, particularly the first few options, will gain the bulk of the traffic, so analyze whether you stand a good chance of beating the top ranked sites. You could install Chrome or Firefox plugins like SEOquake, MozBar, or Majestic Backlink Analyzer to study page authority and backlinks for the top listings.
Discover Long Tail Keywords
While you should find many keywords your site is ranking for, there could be various other long tail keywords you could benefit from. The Google Keyword Planner will provide a number of options, but you might need to look deeper. UberSuggest is a free tool that uses data from the Google Suggest service. There should be forums within your niche that can be helpful, with some of the questions readers ask providing titles for posts. Finally, your search facility should feature a number of less obvious search terms people are looking for,
Monitor Events Related to Your Niche
While most niches will have a number of popular keywords, there are often events that lead to new searches taking place. A news or current events story could lead to a number of new searches, providing targeted traffic with low competition in many cases. You can use the Google Trends tool to look for new activity, but it is also important to stay on top of events using industry blogs, forums, and social media accounts. These trending keywords won’t always bring long-term traffic, but can lead to a burst of activity.
While a new site allows the opportunity to develop a keyword strategy from scratch, established sites also have their own benefits. The initial research stage might uncover articles ranking for desirable keywords. Some additional promotion could then lead to one of the top search positions for a number of keywords. A new site can be more focused, but it will usually take longer to attain any prominent search terms. Selecting the right keywords can make or break an SEO campaign, so it is important to follow a strategy that works for your individual website.
Do you have anything to add on targeting keywords for an established site? Comment below.