How to Find the Best Keywords to Rank #1 on Google

Finding the best keywords to rank #1 on Google is considered to be one of the most important aspects of both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and content optimization. However, it can be very challenging to choose the right keywords to rank #1 on Google.

This is mainly because there has been a rapid evolution of search analysis and behavior, and search guidelines in recent times.

So if you want your web pages and content marketing to provide the optimal results, then it is important for you to learn the proper way to perform research and use relevant keywords.

What are Keywords?

Keywords are simply words and phrases that identify what people from around the world are searching for and describe the topics that you write about on your website.

Generally, these keywords serve as a link between the content in your website and your audience while also helping them find the site.

Keywords research is the method of looking for the keywords that people enter into search engines like Google so that they can be used for your web pages, content creation, and marketing. Keyword research is considered one of the most important parts of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Google considers Keywords a very important factor for SEO ranking when they are ranking website content in the Search Engine Result Page (SERP).

Having a proper keyword for your content will enable Google to understand what it is about and make it possible for it to display the website in the Search Engine Result Page at the right time in response to a search query.

Keyword research enables you to know what kind of topic the people like to search on the internet and take that into consideration for your content strategy.

By getting the precise topic your target audiences are looking for, you will be able to optimize your content to give them their desired result. The following steps should be followed in order to find the best keywords to rank #1 on Google;

Step 1: Perform Inital Keyword Research

Even if you already have some keywords in mind to use for your website, it is still important to fact-check your ideas. You can start by using many keyword research tools to determine the exact search volume for the keywords as well as the competition before you make the final keyword choice. The factors to be considered before you choose a keyword for your website;

Select a keyword with good volume, but not too much volume: When you are looking for the best keywords for your website, you need to avoid keywords that have low relative search volume and look for keywords that are much more popular. For instance, if you find a keyword with a certain search volume but you find another with twice that search volume, you should choose the one with twice as much search volume as the other. However, it is important to know that you should not always choose the keyword with the highest volume because some keywords may be too competitive and take too much of your time.

Selecting a keyword that is relevant to your niche or business brand: There is a greater chance of you getting a better ranking if the keyword you are using is relevant to your website and business brand. Also even if you are able to get a good rank for a keyword that is irrelevant to your website and business brand, you will not get a lot of conversions (that is, people will leave the site if they find out the content is not one they are interested in). For instance, a website for a party planning business might decide to target a “how to cook for a party” keyword but not “how to cook rice” because it is not really relevant to their target audience.

After these steps, it is also important to make a list of close variations of your primary keyword because these will help you when you are writing and optimizing your content in the future.

Step 2: Take the Intent of Users into Consideration

Generally, the more specific the keyword, the easier it is for you to determine the searcher’s intent and the easier it will be for you to provide the searchers with their desired result. User Intent is simply a term used to describe the best guess at what the person using the search engine is really looking for. For instance, when considering two keywords, phones and iPhones, you will find that it is much easier to determine the user intent for iPhones than it is for phones. This is mainly because there is a wider range of phones than iPhones. So when you are choosing a keyword, it is important to determine the one the type of content that serves the keyword best. So if you are selling iPhones, the best keyword to choose would be iPhones and not phones.

Step 3: Research Your Competition

After you have selected a keyword for your website, try to search for that keyword on Google and a few of the other search engines available to see what your competitors are already using. When doing this, it is very important to take note of;

The domain and URLs: The first step is to find out the number of exact match domain. You should also check if every URL in the top 10 includes the keyword.
The titles: You should also check to see the way your competitors integrate the keyword with their title tags.
The category of content that is ranking higher: This involves checking to see the type of content that is ranking for that keyword on Google. This may be Blog posts, Videos or Products pages.
The type of businesses that are ranking: This involves checking to see if the types of businesses that are ranking high for your chosen keyword are big brands, small businesses or media sites.
How much authority do the sites that are ranking high for the keyword have: This involves using various methods and tools like plugins to check the age of the sites in the top 10 of the search engine result page, see the size of their link profiles and so on.

After doing all this, you should look for a way to differentiate yourself and make your website look unique. You will need to get your website to be on the same level as your competitors in order to do better.

Now you should have a firm understanding of how to perform keyword research that skyrockets your rankings! If you need any help with keyword research or other topics, please email us or join us on facebook! We’re more than happy to help!