Do you know that your competitors are wasting 76% of their budget on targeting the wrong keywords? Are you repeating those mistakes too?
If yes, then it’s time to pay attention and stop following wrong strategies that lead you to nowhere. We all know that keyword research is extremely important in SEO. Without finding and targeting the right keywords, it’s hard to win your SEO game and rank your website at the top.
That’s the reason, there are tons of tools to help. Yes, there are lots of keyword research tools that help you explore the right keywords and have been frequently used by the target audience. It’s all because, targeting and choosing the wrong keywords is extremely costly for the site owner because he won’t get any ranking, leads, or conversions if he misses out on the opportunity to focus on the right keywords.
So, when it comes to SEO, you need to figure out the right keywords so you avoid the mistakes your competitors are making.
Targeting Short Tail Keywords, and Neglecting Long Tailed
One big mistake many SEO experts do today is, that they target short-tail keywords and neglect all the long-tailed ones. They assume that when they target short-tail keywords, they will get quick results. But that’s wrong. Targeting short tail keywords is an absolute failure because you cannot rank them as they are not specific and are used by many people.
But when you target long-tailed keywords, you can experience more desired results. Long tail keywords are the ones that comprise 3-4 words in a phrase. For example, “the best SEO agency in New York” is a long-tailed keyword, and “best SEO agency” is relatively a short-tail keyword which does not highlight the exact user intent.
There could be lots of best SEO agencies out there, how could you ensure that your website ranks at the top? These keywords are hard to rank and take a lot of time. That’s the reason, long tail keywords are best to target in all regards.
Targeting High-Volume Keywords Only
This is another big mistake every SEO expert needs to avoid.
If you are an SEO expert, what metrics do you prefer to check first when it comes to targeting keywords?
If you are only targeting high-volume keywords and you think they are the right ones your audience is looking for, then you are missing out on a lot of good options. Why?
Because high volume usually ignores the user intent, which I have talked about above.
Moreover, high-volume keywords are extremely competitive. You cannot rank them easily and quickly. You can stand out if you target the same keywords everyone is using. Instead, you need to start from low or mid-volume keywords that are easy to rank. You need to bring traffic through those keywords and then gradually target high-volume keywords.
Not Talking to the Customers
Generally, the terms you use talk about to explain your products and services are not the exact ones your customers use to talk too. You think that people will search for “the best SEO agency in New York” but they are looking for “the affordable SEO agency in New York”. Now there is a big difference in the meaning and context of this keyword. You need to check first that people also use the same keyword that you are targeting.
That’s why I always recommend my audience to use keyword research tools as they help you get an idea about what people are looking for.
Pay attention to the search intent of users, how they prefer to find solutions, or what kind of products they are looking for.
You can even check reviews, and social media posts, and then observe customer calls to find the phrases they use the most.
Without knowing anything about your customer’s search, you cannot target the right keywords and may miss out on several leads and conversions.
Not Knowing What Other Channels Your Customers Use
When it comes to SEO, many times, we only talk about the biggest search engine called Google. And I think this is the basic problem here.
We all need to know that; Google is not the only search engine we have.
And no, I am not pointing to other search engines like Bing and Yandex. I am simply talking about different channels that your audience might use as search engines such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and even TikTok.
Yes, people use these channels a lot. And this is why I call “search engines”. All the brands use these channels and hence convert massive customers every day. that’s why people use them and search for different products on Instagram and Facebook. All these channels have a different algorithm and multiple major preferences we all need to consider when targeting keywords.
Now just because your keyword ranked well on Google, doesn’t mean that it will do the same on Facebook and Twitter as well. You need to study differently while using these channels so you can target all the keywords effectively across every platform.
Targeting Awkward Terms in Keywords
How many times you have targeted awkward terms in your keywords?
Sometimes we get a list from our clients that feature tons of awkward key terms. For example, “best SEO agency New York” or “Travel agency New York.”
You need to stop trying to cram these kinds of awkward phrases into your content and ads. There is literally no meaning to target these keywords that have no meanings and proper context.
There is absolutely no harm in adding “in” or “of” to make it a proper meaningful word. Google has become quite picky about choosing the exact match keywords. It can easily understand the words with “in” and definitely rank these terms well.
Conclusion
Targeting the right keywords is primarily the backbone of your SEO. If you target the wrong keywords, you might not get good results, and hence your website won’t rank anywhere in search results. That’s the reason, you need to avoid these costly mistakes while targeting keywords. Alternatively, you can get the help of an SEO agency that can help target the right keywords that your audience is looking for. Consult the professionals, share your needs, and let’s get started.