The depth, quality and insight derived from thorough keyword research makes the difference between delivering an effective strategy which wins search results and consumers, versus just chasing the pack. Jono explores some approaches to taking your keyword research wider, deeper and more granular than you’d have ever thought possible (without losing weeks in the process!), and provides actionable approaches to applying the learnings to your websites, brands, content and consumers.
8. So…
good, comprehensive,
effective keyword research
underpins good strategy
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
9. But the process is broken
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
10. Stakeholders often confuse
keyword research processes with
defining a 'ranking wishlist'
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
11. “ Top 10 ‘golden’ keywords.
100 commercial priority terms.
Primary, secondary. Attack, defend.
This quarter’s tactical opportunities. ”
Easy to report on, to understand, to
challenge.
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
12. This is a
TRAP.
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
13. You don’t know
what you don’t
know.
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
14. There is
money left on
the table.
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
15. It breeds
bad behaviour.
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
17. 1.
Lack of education,
experience or alternatives
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
18. 2.
Lack of tech, tools or
processes to utilise more
sophisticated approaches
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
19. 3.
The primary responsibility of senior
stakeholders to be in control, to
object, to push back
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
20. And so…
“Keyword research” rarely
resembles research
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
21. How do we fix this?
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
22. • Get all the keywords in the market
• Categorise and classify by everything
• Slice and dice to identify the opportunity
• Get the buy in
• Monitor the results
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
23. Getting all the keywords
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
45. Stop thinking about
individual keywords!
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
46. Start thinking about…
Topics, intent and need
groups
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
47. Some of the world’s biggest
brands, doing the most
sophisticated marketing only
track a few thousand keywords
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
48. But this is only step one.
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
49. about stumbling across a
hidden gem; it’s about
already having found and
classified them all, and
tactically picking
opportunities
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
71. Use SEMrush, Linkdex, or your
favourite platform (and a whole
lot of Excel) to explore.
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
72. “Phrases relating to our core
strengths, where visitors are early in
their buying cycle, where we don’t
have highly performing content”
Identify gaps which can be easily filled
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
73. “Topic groups where we’ve got top 10
rankings, where are competitors are
weak, and where consumers are
actively researching with questions”
Use existing strengths to win
consumers
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
74. “Types of language which indicates
high purchase intent, where we’re
outranked by competitors who don’t
rank for longer-tail queries”
Disrupt/intercept competitor buying
cycles
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
75. Track & react over time
Refine your understanding of ‘the market’
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
77. It’s really easy to improve
performance for a group
of keywords which
everybody else is
ignoring, just by creating
content.
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
90. Process
historical
performance
Model to
compensate for
seasonality
Normalise
outliers
Plan activity to
generate results
Predict impact
Set targets, get
buy-in
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
97. Build capitalising on
small scale, tactical
opportunities into a wider
strategy
Advanced Keyword Research @jonoalderson
Notas del editor
My role is about understanding and solving for challenges and problems faced by practitioners
Linkdex is loosely similar to SEMrush, comprehensive platform for discovery, analysis, task management, etc.
Myopic, limited, dangerous. Unknown unknowns.
What happens if there’s a cataclysmic shift outside of the stuff you’re tracking?
You’re still culpable?
Illogical!
Illogical!
SEMrush or Linkdex (your own and/or competitor sites/rankings), AdWords, keywordtool.io, Wikipedia, synonyms, etc.
No competitive advantage here…
Taxonomies like colour, price range, target audience.
Everything which is a question.
Everything which is for a specific gender.
Don’t limit your keyword research and strategy to aligning with your site’s vertical structure!!!
Carmen Mardiros (@carmenmardiros)
Where specific intent returns the homepage, or content which doesn’t answer the question.