Back to basic: even today we take a step back and focus on a basic theme of online activities and SEO work. To be precise, the topic that we will face what a keyword is, trying not only to understand the meaning of the term but also what is the importance of keywords within an SEO Strategy and what are the types and varieties of keywords that can be intercepted and used to try to obtain positioning on Google, conversions and concrete results.
What are SEO keywords for?
The keywords are therefore the first signals read by the search engines to scan a site and its pages, as well as the tool with which Google indexes and positions the contents based on its ranking factors. The keywords, therefore, play a fundamental role in the SEO optimization of a site, because they are useful for intercepting the traffic coming from the organic search on the search engines and the clicks of the users interested in consulting the information related to the query of interest.
The relationship between keywords and search engine queries
In SEO, there are various theories regarding the keyword and the importance of finding the exact match, or the perfect match between the user query and the keyword contained in the text, which in the past often led to force the hand on the creation of contents, inserting in the article exact strings of terms in a programmatic way in order to intercept the keyword.
Today this aspect still has a strong relevance, but thanks to the evolution of Google’s algorithm it is possible to position itself also with related keywords, synonyms and semantically related to the search if they respond to the search intent of the person who executes the query.
All keywords, a guide to discovering the types of keywords
In our insights, we have already encountered a series of types of keywords that can be intercepted by search engines in content. The best known is the specific one, called focus keyword, consisting of a single term, which has a high search volume and an equally high level of competition: these are very specific and dry keywords, which however risk producing the desired effects in terms of site performance.
Knowing SEO keywords: vanity keywords
The so-called vanity keywords also belong to this first group of keywords: these are SEO keywords generally composed of one or two terms at most, which have a very high average and monthly search volume and appear attractive only in appearance.
These keywords describe the topic of the site and the products sold in eCommerce in a generic way, attracting low-qualified traffic and therefore generating a low conversion rate: positioning with a vanity keyword does not offer concrete benefits to converting into sales or increasing readers of the site, but only serves to satiate vanity of the site (and of customers who commission SEO jobs) with large numbers that do not translate into great economic results.
Medium tail keywords and long-tail keywords
In an SEO strategy planned for keyword optimization, therefore, it is advisable to focus on the longest strings of keywords, or on the “tails”: despite having lower search volumes than the headwords (which in this case we can define “short tail keyword”), competition is also lowered and the page topic is better defined, intercepting the users’ search intent and their purchase intentions more specifically. Wanting to make a further distinction, we can distinguish the long-tail keywords, which we have already described in our insights, and the medium tail keyword so mid-tail keywords, consisting of three or four terms.
The keywords on a page: main, secondary and related
In order to optimize the performance of a page and content, then, it is important to know and recognize the role of the keyword: the main keyword is the heart of the whole strategy, the primary intent of the article that must have the characters of relevance and relevance with the contents of the website and the page itself.
The secondary keywords derive directly from the main one, which is often accompanied by the addition in general of only one term (before or after) and represent a semantic delimitation of the priority, defining a specific aspect or a sub-topic of the main keyword: secondary keywords are also relevant and relevant, but only for a specific detail of the content.
What keywords to use for SEO strategies
Going even more specifically, there are at least 5 large categories in which keywords can fall, with various nuances and meanings. The first classification system is based on the user’s intent, and therefore informational keywords, navigational keywords, and transactional keywords are identified, to which are added the local keywords that define a specific geographical area and the branded keywords, referring exactly to the name of a brand or person.
The classification of keywords based on user intent
The informational keywords are the most generic keywords, those referring to a query that serves to inform yourself about a certain topic and that are generally performed when the user is at the beginning of his customer journey; they are informational and informative keywords, perfect to be used in guides or pillar articles to acquire relevance on a certain topic in the eyes of the search engine.
The informational, navigational and brand keywords
The navigational keywords are typically keywords that are the main term and an additional word linked to a name or a trademark: the intent navigational response to the user to obtain specific information about a line produced exclusively from that company or to reach that particular official website.
The branded keywords can be considered a shade of these keywords navigational: they are dry keywords that relate directly to the brand (trademark or personal) and often appear in the name of the official domain, which in fact gets (almost) always the first positions SERP for these specific searches.
Transactional and local keywords
Even more specific is the intent that moves the interest of a user who performs a transactional search, which represents an advanced stage of the purchase process and generally concludes the process of searching for information: the person has collected the necessary data, found the news she was looking for, and she is ready to take action.
The transactional keywords are typically used to enhance the content and pages of sites meant for the online sale of goods or services and the SEO activities is crucial to getting a good placement that can increase the rate of conversions.
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