Keyword Research: The Backbone of SEO

Because every website, business, and industry is different, search engine optimization strategies vary from campaign to campaign. All campaigns, however, start in the same place—with keyword research. Keyword research is the practice SEO professionals use to identify what terms consumers are searching for in search engines. By researching and identifying these terms, SEO professionals (like me!) are able to put together detailed optimization campaigns that can target highly competitive keywords while also identifying areas of opportunity that competitors may have missed.

What is a Keyword?

A keyword, in SEO jargon, is a phrase that people search for on search engines in order to find a good or service. To use as an example, if you were looking for a company to design and develop your website, you might search “web development”. That entire phrase is considered a keyword.

If you were looking for the best web design company in Toronto to develop your site, you might search “best web development Toronto”. This is considered a “long-tail” keyword. “Web development” is the base term, while “best” and “Toronto” are the long-tail qualifiers. For most businesses, targeting long-tail keywords with local qualifiers is the best strategy.

Identifying Keywords

There are hundreds of online tools that SEO professionals and business owners can use to conduct keyword research, but the most commonly used is the Google Keyword Planner. The Keyword Planner is designed for planning and purchasing keyword for pay per click (PPC) campaigns, but the information it provides is hugely beneficial for organic SEO, as well. The “average monthly search” number is the most important stat when identifying a good keyword, but the “competition” and “suggested bid” columns can also help to give you an idea of how easy/difficult it would be to rank highly for a certain term.

SEO with A Nerd’s World

Here at A Nerd’s World, our SEO experts work in tandem with our clients to formulate a keyword plan that is custom tailored to their business. By targeting a mixture of high, medium, and low competition terms, we put our clients’ websites (and our own) in a position to rank relatively quickly, while also trying to take down some of the “big fish”.

If you’re looking for the best SEO in Toronto, look no further than A Nerd’s World. Give us a call today at (647) 726-2020 or stop by our 986 Bathurst Street location during our new extended hours. We’re open from 7:30 AM – 8 PM Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and 7:30 AM – 6 PM Tuesday and Thursday. See you soon!

Charlie Ford