Over the last couple of years, search engines have become more intelligent and made many basic changes to their algorithms. These days, Google is emphasizing on the overall quality, authority, and reliability of websites and pages, and this has made many wonder if more traditional SEO practices, such as keyword optimization strategies, are still relevant.
The short answer is YES. Without finding the right keywords and optimizing the content for them, how do you expect search engines to index your content for relevant search queries? However, we should make some changes to our traditional methods.
In this article, we focus on keyword search optimization and keyword research in SEO ranking in 2024 and recommend the best strategies you can adopt to improve your website’s ranking. On our way, we’ll also introduce some of the best keyword research tools.
So, if you’re planning your keyword strategy to adapt to new Google algorithm changes, this is a must-read article.
The Importance of Good Keyword Optimization Strategies in 2024
Search engines have been trying to become smarter, with the use of natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, etc., to be able to identify user intent and context better. And, as we can see nowadays, they’ve been really successful on that front.
That’s why, unlike before, there’s no need to repeat the exact matches for keywords and keyphrases in the content but it doesn’t mean they’re not important. Using the right keywords/keyphrases, their synonyms, and related concepts naturally in your content is necessary for being seen by search engines and appearing in search results for related queries. Besides, when you incorporate these keywords and keyphrases naturally in the content, it means better content quality (relevance and readability), which is important for achieving user satisfaction and trust. So, by practicing the right keyword optimization strategies, you improve
- your website’s visibility,
- content quality,
- and user experience.
Now, let’s go over the best keyword search optimization practices that can help you please both the users and search engines.
Effective Keyword Optimization Strategies to Improve SEO Ranking and User Experience
These strategies are useful for 2024 SEO, and my guess is, they’ll remain useful well into the future.
Good Keyword Research Techniques to Identify the Right Target Keywords
Whenever you want to create some content, the first step is to select the most suitable keywords to target. The first step is normally using tools, like Semrush, to get some keyword suggestions for the term you wish to rank for or improve your rank. However, you usually get hundreds of keyword suggestions and you don’t know which one to go with. Most of us narrow down our options based on the difficulty metric, the search volume, etc. Although it’s a good strategy to go with the ones with the lowest difficulty, it’s not enough these days. Here are some other factors and techniques to keep in mind when choosing your target keywords:
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Perform SERP (Search Engine Results Page) Analysis:
This means searching the keyword in Google and analyzing the results.
- Do you see low-authority websites on the first page?
- Does the term you search for not exactly match any of the titles on the first page?
- Do these top-ranking pages include outdated or thin content?
- Are these sites not mobile-friendly?
If the answer to the questions above is ‘Yes’, it means that there’s no high-quality content for this keyword and it’s a good opportunity for your website to shine! Of course, the keyword should be something that people actually search for, otherwise, what’s the point of targeting that keyword?
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Relevance and Intent-Based Keyword Targeting:
These days, user intent has a higher priority for search engines than keyword matching. That’s why keywords are also categorized into four groups based on user intent:
- Informational (to find information)
- Transactional (to make a purchase)
- Commercial (to know about a brand/product)
- Navigational (to find a specific website)
So, you’d better make it a priority as well when it comes to choosing target keywords. In other words, consider what kind of people and with what motivation you want to attract. Let’s say you’re running an affordable online music studio and you wish to rank for your mixing and mastering services. Now, there are a lot of beautiful and catchy keywords about mixing and mastering, such as
- ‘free music mixing and mastering’,
- ‘affordable mixing and mastering services’,
- ‘difference between mixing and mastering’,
- ‘how to mix and master your music’.
Among these keywords, ‘how to mix and master your music’ and ‘difference between mixing and mastering’ are keywords that people who are looking for information would search for, not those who would want to hire you. So, they fall under the category of informational intent.
On the other hand, ‘free music mixing and mastering’ and ‘affordable mixing and mastering services’ are transactional and people who wish to hire you would search for them. However, do you actually offer ‘free’ mixing and mastering? If the answer is no, then it means this keyword isn’t related to what you offer. Therefore, the best choice would be ‘affordable mixing and mastering services’ that is not only related to what you offer but also target the people with the right intention. This means a higher chance of conversion.
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Semantic Keyword Research
To identify what other keywords and concepts are related to your target keyword, you can do semantic keyword research. This helps you to focus more on the actual meaning and context rather than traditional exact keyword matches. Here are some of its benefits:
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- It helps you understand the user’s intent and identify related keywords to address search queries better.
- It identifies synonyms, antonyms, and other related terms and concepts to your keyword that improves the relevance of the content, and eventually, its visibility.
- It helps you to understand the relation between different terms better and make correct, relevant, and more natural content.
- Your content will be more comprehensive, informative, and user-friendly.
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Long-Tail Keyword Optimization
To attract highly-targeted traffic with higher conversion potential, you should go with long-tail keywords (more than three words). These are very specific keywords that accurately reflect the user’s intent and preferences. For example, ‘white high heels for size 7’. Some of the benefits of targeting long-tail keywords include
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- targeting more specific user queries,
- low competition (you can rank high more easily),
- higher conversion rates,
- better user engagement and experience,
- improving content relevance.
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Competitor Keyword Research
No matter what your business is, the competition is high. So, competitor keyword research should be a part of your keyword research strategies to make sure you’re not falling behind. This means analyzing the keywords your competitors are targeting and their performance for those keywords. Then, it’s time for you to take action and try your best to target the keywords your competitors are ranking for but you’re not. Keep in mind that this is an ongoing process and you should keep monitoring and analyzing your competitors’ keyword strategies and performance.
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Local Keyword Targeting and Mobile Keyword Optimization
- Mobile keyword optimization targets keywords used by mobile users, such as ‘find a Chinese restaurant near me’.
- Local keyword targeting improves the traffic quality by targeting people in your service area. For example, ‘hardwood flooring repair in San Diego’.
- Voice search optimization helps to target keywords used in voice search queries, like ‘What’s the traffic like today in New York’.
Overall, all these keyword research strategies are here to help us find relevant keywords with the right intent to increase organic traffic and conversion rates. The time you spend on finding the right keyword is worthwhile because, in the end, you’ll have a website with high-quality and highly targeted content that can win users’ trust and guarantee a top spot on search results pages.
If it sounds too much for you to handle, partner up with Top Organic Leads and we’ll take care of it.
Keyword Strategies for On-Page Optimization
Now that you’ve chosen the right keyword, it’s time for some other keyword optimization strategies that are important to follow while writing a copy and publishing it.
- Place your keywords/keyphrases in title tags, meta descriptions, image alt text, anchor texts, headers, and slugs.
- Produce high-quality people-first content by following Google’s EEAT guidelines.
- Pay attention to the readability of your copy. This means that it not only contains correct spellings and grammatical structures but also it’s easy to read and comprehend and sounds natural. You can use tools, like Readable, to monitor the readability of your copy.
- Pay attention to keyword density (the percentage of the keyword/keyphrase used in a copy). The use of keywords should be natural (around 10% to 20%) and too many of them make your copy difficult to read. It also indicates that you’ve been writing to please search engines and didn’t care for your users. This is called keyword stuffing and it’s something you must avoid if you don’t want to be penalized by search engines.
- Make sure the content is actually reflecting the keywords/keyphrases you’re trying to rank for. In other words, relevance is key. Don’t promise something in the title and write about something else.
- Content length is another matter nowadays. If you analyze the first 10 spots on the Google search results page for a certain keyword, you can see that the articles are rarely less than 1900 words. So, expand your copy but don’t write useless or irrelevant content.
- To boost your website’s visibility, authority, and user experience, try to include topic clusters and pillar pages in your content strategy.
So, use the keywords wisely and naturally and always keep the users in mind while creating content.
Track and Analyze Keyword Performance
This isn’t over. You should always monitor and analyze the keyword performance to find out if you need to update or rewrite your previous content and what to do in the future.
Use tools like Google Search Console, Semrush, or Ahrefs to keep track of your keyword performance.
FAQs About Keyword Optimization for SEO
Before concluding this guide on new keyword optimization strategies, let’s answer a few common questions here.
Can I Use Artificial Intelligence in Keyword Research?
Yes. Actually, AI tools, such as Junia and Optimo, suggest keywords that are not specifically with the same words you searched for but have the same meaning. These tools get data from search queries and can recommend related keywords that you couldn’t get from traditional keyword research tools.
Is It Good If I Have Different Pages on My Website for the Same Keyword?
No. It’s not good and it’s actually harmful for your website because these pages technically serve the same purpose and they have to compete with each other to rank on search results. This is called keyword cannibalization. To prevent it, you should always check your website before creating new content to make sure you haven’t used the same keyword before.
What Tools Are Useful for Keyword Gap Analysis?
To do a keyword gap analysis, you should first identify your competitors and find out what keywords they’re ranking for and what you’re not. Then, you should analyze and prioritize the keywords and start creating high-quality content to rank for them. Some tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, RankingGap, and BiQ are very popular.
Final Words: Plan an Up-to-Date Keyword Strategy to Rank High in 2024/2025
We pretty much covered the most essential keyword optimization strategies that can help you improve your website ranking and overall performance. Just take your time to identify the best keyword opportunities. Don’t just rely on one or two methods. Use different strategies and a combination of them to stay ahead of the competition. Digital marketing isn’t as easy as before and this means we have to be open to new techniques and stay up-to-date. What’s more, keep in mind that the best keyword in the world won’t do anything if the content is thin, poor quality, not user-friendly, and doesn’t have anything new to say. If you need any help with your lead generation campaign campaign without risking your money, give us a call at 971-248-0953.
