Keyword strategy in SEO is a practice to rank your webpage content in the search results pages. Have you ever tried searching for something on Google and wondered how some of these websites are shown at the top while the rest are at a much lower rank? Well, the difference is more prominent because of the optimized content and well-planned keyword Strategy.
Simply, Keyword strategy is all about using the right keywords at the right time and at the right place. Here, we will learn how to plan an effective keyword strategy in SEO to get better visibility on Google Search pages and increase your site engagement, leads, traffic, as well as lead conversions.
What Is A Keyword Strategy?
- Keyword Strategy is a complete SEO optimized plan that is responsible for identifying, analyzing, and finding specific terms and phrases with good search volume, less competition, and content relevance.
- These words and phrases, also known as keywords, are used by visitors to enter into a search engine and find a relevant source of information through web pages.
- A well planned keyword strategy can help you connect your content with the right audience.
- To build a keyword strategy plan for SEO, you need to have a deep understanding of the Audience along with SEO knowledge.
- Keyword Research Tools are very helpful in identifying potential keywords while analysing search volume, competition, relevancy, and more.
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How to Create a Keyword Strategy?
Let us learn how you can create a well planned master keyword strategy in SEO to boost your search engine traffic and conversions.
1. Start With Your Existing Rankings
You can take a full analysis of your site’s existing ranking on Google Search Console, as it might give you details on which parts to improve on your site, which blogs are performing better, and more. Also, check for the following
- You must be familiar with the objective of your company.
- Also, what unique products or services does your company provide to its audience?
- On which ground do you want to be visible on the search engine result pages?
- Check why anyone would want to visit your webpage.
You can check your site search rankings using a simple two-step process.
- Go to the “Performance” tab in Google Search Console.
- Now, click on the “Search Results” to check your content ranking in the past few days. You can select either 7 days, 28 days, 3 months, or more.
You can check the queries you ranked for; this will also show the keywords you ranked for. You can collect data like clicks, impressions, CTR, position, and more.
- Analyse which page has more potential for improvement or ranking on search result pages.
- You can import keywords and the target page to Semrush On-page SEO Checker to find which pages have more potential to rank.
Read More: What Is Keyword Ranking? How To Find Good Ranking Keywords In 2025
2. Check your Content Intent & Market Goals
You need to be familiar with the goal you want to achieve for your brand. Keyword strategy is an important part of the overall development plan, whether you are looking to launch a new product or want to increase your visibility and gain more audience.
- Keyword intent is the purpose behind what audience searches on Google, and it helps a business identify which keywords they can focus on to get their product and services to real users.
- Keyword intent must match the audience you are targeting.
You need to understand why people make searches and what they are seeking. Whether they are only looking for information or they want to make a purchase.
- You need to be looking at the words or phrases your audience uses while making a search query. This is where your keyword strategy starts.
- You need to tap into popular search queries made by users on the internet.
- You also need to be familiar with your competitors and what they are doing to perform well on search result pages.
Read More: Keyword Cannibalization: What It (Really) Is & How to Fix It
3. Look For Keywords With Traffic Potential
In your SEO strategy, you have to find keywords having high search volume i,e. Traffic potential. Keywords having high traffic potential are more likely to rank on Google and are also searched by users on Google.
- You need to have a balanced approach while searching for a keyword i,e. Proper search volume, content relevance, and keyword difficulty
- High search volume indicates a keyword with high traffic potential, but you need to make sure it matches your niche or the business you are planning to run or already running.
- Highly competitive keywords are tough to rank, especially for small websites with low domain authority and backlink support, but they have a large traffic potential.
- You also need to keep long tail keywords in consideration as they are more specific and conversion-friendly.
- Analyse your competitors for better insights into potential keywords to rank for.
When you are targeting a keyword with high competition, suppose you want to rank for “Digital Marketing Courses”. However, the keyword difficulty for this keyword is very high. So you can start by considering some keywords with decent search volume and less competition. Long tail keywords generally offer low competition and are more specific.
4. Know your Ranking Potential
You can’t straightaway pick a keyword with high search volume and all other metrics in your favor and expect a quick ranking on search result pages. You also need to be familiar with some of the metrics of your site i,e. Domain authority, page speed insights, backlink profile, and more, before getting ranked on highly competitive keywords.
- You can use keyword research tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and Google Keyword Planner to check keyword difficulty and how difficult it is to rank for a keyword.
- Backlinks and domain authority are important because it tells how trusted your website is among online users on the internet.
- Ensure that your content matches the quality or insights covered in top-ranking webpages.
5. Analyze Data Is Important
The internet is filled with enormous data that you can analyse to take yourself ahead in the game. Many keyword research tools, like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, give you a lot of insights that you can use to refine your keyword strategies. Let me give you a simple insight that will help you understand how Google Search Console can help you.
You can check the top queries for which your site is ranking. You can also check the query list for a specific page. These queries can make a good refinement in your keyword strategy.
6. Long Tail Keywords
These keywords are generally phrases with more than 3 words, more specific to users’ queries, and higher chance of conversion. They typically offer lower competition, which makes them more effective for gaining search traffic and conversions.
A balanced keyword strategy with mixes of short tail and long tail keywords can maximize your search rankings as well as long-term conversion goals.
7. Leverage Synonym Keywords
As Google tracks the intent of the content you are covering. You can maintain the quality of your content by using the synonyms of the primary or secondary keywords to gain visibility and avoid over-repetition of the targeted keywords.
Latent Semantic Indexing Keywords are terms that are friendly with search engines, and they can parse the intent of the content easily. This can also increase your content relevance and ranking.
Keyword Placement In Webpage Content
It is important to be familiar with how to use your keywords in SEO. Check some of the major points below.
- A meta description must contain the primary keyword or secondary keyword, if possible.
- Keywords generally primary keyword must be used in Title tags to boost visibility on search engines (SERPs). It help Google understand the intent of the topic you are covering.
- Keywords must be used in headings and subheadings of the content to increase relevance and quality of the webpage.
- Your content must be properly optimized based on the topic and keyword you are targeting. Do not overstuff keywords without proper matching, as this might create a red flag in the eyes of Google.
- It is also advised to use primary keywords in the first 200 words of your content to help capture Google search bot attention while indexing or ranking.
- You can also place your keywords in the alt section of images to help search engines better understand your content, even with images.
- Your keywords must be evenly spread throughout the content. Overstuffing keywords must be avoided. A natural keyword placement practice should always be adopted to gain better results in Search rankings.
Common Mistakes In Keyword Strategy
There are some practices you must adopt while framing a keyword strategy or while using it in your content.
1. Prioritize Keyword Density
Keyword density is a ratio that tells the number of times a keyword is used compared to the total number of words in the content. It is recommended to keep KD between 1-2% in the content. If Google suspects you of keyword stuffing, it might not index or rank your content or might also red-flag your site for content quality and recommendations.
2. No Keyword Stuffing
Many writers and SEOs prefer stuffing keywords to increase their ranking probability. This practice is also known as keyword spamming, which can lead to many penalties from Google itself and impact your overall visibility in the search engine.
Your content keywords must be evenly spread out throughout the content and must feel natural.
3. Lack of Research
Many professionals just find a content ranking on the top for the queries they find relevant and start covering content without any proper research or brainstorming. As a result, no visibility is enhanced nor can ranking be seen.
A proper analysis and keyword research plan is important even today, when Google is smart and it uses semantics and intent behind the content before ranking on Google search results.
Keyword Strategy In SEO FAQs
Q1. What is a keyword strategy?
Ans: Keyword strategy in SEO is a planned approach on listing some specific keywords to rank on Google Search Result pages.
Q2. Is the Long tail keyword important?
Ans: Long tail keywords are generally less competitive and are more specific and conversion-friendly. You can keep them in your keyword strategy to get better conversions, better relations with users, and more.
Q3. How can I make a keyword strategy?
Ans: You can make a keyword strategy using a keyword research tool like Semrush, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and more. Keep every metric balanced in your approach, including search volume, keyword difficulty, content relevance, and more.
Q4. What is the goal of keyword strategy?
Ans: The end goal of the keyword strategy is to ensure your chosen keywords rank for queries on search result pages increasing your traffic, leads and conversion counts.
