You have done the groundwork in identifying and analysing possible keywords that are relevant to your website and business. Now it’s time to refine that list and determine the best terms to specifically target with your content and SEO efforts. Keyword targeting is a strategic process that involves prioritising certain keywords over others to focus your optimization efforts for maximum impact.
In this article, we’ll explore how to effectively target the right keywords to drive more organic traffic, leads, and customers.
What is keyword targeting?
Keyword targeting refers to selecting specific keywords and keyphrases to optimise for based on their potential value and relevance for your business. Rather than targeting a wide berth of generic terms, you’ll want to narrow your focus to more niche long-tail keywords that have sufficient search volume and competition to be worth targeting.
The goal is to identify the keywords that offer the best chance for your pages to rank well and generate traffic and conversions. This allows you to concentrate efforts on just those higher-priority keywords.
Why target keywords?
There are a few key reasons you should thoughtfully select target keywords:
Drive more qualified organic traffic – Targeting specific keywords allows you to create content and optimise pages tailored to ranking for those exact terms, facilitating more visibility in search results.
Focus efforts for better ROI – Trying to optimise for endless keywords spreads your efforts too thin. Prioritising target terms allows concentrated focus for better results.
Take advantage of the competition – Identifying keywords with less competition gives you a better chance to rank against them.
Align with searcher intent – Targeting precise keyword terms allows you to create focused content that directly addresses searcher needs and questions around those specific topics.
How to identify potential target keywords
The first step is taking a close look at the expansive keyword list you initially brainstormed and analysed to identify the top contenders to specifically target.
Here are some key criteria to help spot good candidates:
Search volume – Look for keywords with adequate search volume for them to drive sufficient traffic. Terms that are too generic can be highly competitive. Consider mid and long-tail keyphrases with decent search volume.
Competition – Keywords with low competition will be easier to target effectively. Look at keyword difficulty scores.
Click potential – Look for keyword groups with higher-than-average click-through rates.
Conversion potential – Spot keywords closely aligned with products, services, or conversions to help drive ROI.
Relevancy – Ensure terms are closely relevant to your offerings and content focus.
Intent match – Identify informational, transactional, or navigational keywords that indicate motivated user intent.
Tips for selecting the best keywords to target
As you analyze keywords and phrasing, keep these tips in mind:
- Target mid to long-tail keywords with low competition. Short generic keywords are likely too competitive.
- Spot high commercial intent keywords for business goals.
- Ensure you can create quality content around the keywords.
- Identify keywords that match different stages of the buyer journey.
- Look for keyword gaps competitors haven’t targeted.
- Keep the keywords within a consistent core focus or silos.
Keyword competition analysis
Evaluating the level of competition for potential keywords is crucial. Keyword competition compares how hard it may be to rank against specific keywords.
Use keyword research tools to analyze metrics like:
Keyword difficulty – Quantitative score predicting how hard it is to rank for a given term.
Cost per click – Shows how competitive Google Ads bidding is for keywords, indicating organic difficulty.
Number of ranking domains – The number of other domains currently ranking for that keyword.
Lower competition scores indicate easier keywords to target. But very obscure keywords may not have adequate search volume. Identify the “sweet spot”.
Search volume thresholds
When assessing keyword search volume to identify good candidates, use these benchmark thresholds:
- High volume – Over 10,000 monthly searches. Very hard to rank for.
- Medium volume – 1,000 to 10,000 monthly searches. Provides good traffic potential.
- Low volume – 100 to 1,000 monthly searches. Easier to rank for.
- Very low volume – Under 100 monthly searches. Too obscure for ROI.
- Look for mid-volume keywords in that 1,000 to 10,000 range for optimal targeting.
Click-through-rates
Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of searchers that click on a specific ranking result in SERPs when searching for a term.
Keyword phrases with higher than average CTRs tend to:
- Attract more motivated searchers
- Prompt more prominent featured snippets
- Indicate more buyer intent potential
- Prioritize keyword targets with higher CTR rates.
Cost per click
The cost per click (CPC), or how much Google Ads advertisers are bidding for keywords, often correlates with competitiveness for ranking organically.
Higher CPC indicates increased:
- Advertiser demand
- Commercial intent
- Competition
Identifying keywords with higher CPC can help spot profitable targets, just ensure the organic competition scores allow you to reasonably compete.
Creating an incremental keyword targeting approach
The best practice is to phase your keyword targeting efforts incrementally in stages:
1. Start with the “low hanging fruit”
Initially target easier, less competitive keywords in the short term to more quickly achieve some keyword ranking wins.
2. Expand from there
Use those initial rankings as a launching pad to then take on additional, more challenging mid-tail keyphrases over time.
3. Broaden targeting
Eventually work in higher competition, harder to rank for keyword targets. This incremental expansion allows measured progress while avoiding overreach.
Monitoring keyword performance
Once you begin optimizing content around specific target keywords, you need to actively monitor performance by:
Tracking rankings – See where your pages rank in Google for target terms and how they change over time.
Analyzing traffic – Evaluate organic traffic driven specifically from each keyword. Watch volumes over time.
Measuring conversions – Assess keyword conversion rates. Spot high-converting keywords driving ROI.
Use this data to refine and evolve keyword targeting.
Common mistakes to avoid
Some key missteps that can undermine keyword-targeting efforts include:
- Going after keywords that are too general with intense competition
- Selecting keywords completely unrelated to your offerings
- Targeting keywords with inadequate search volume and traffic potential
- Focusing on too many keywords without prioritization
- Not expanding keyword targeting to new terms over time
Conclusion
Effective keyword targeting is essential for ensuring your SEO content strategy directly aligns with high-potential search terms that can drive qualified organic traffic to your site. Rather than taking a generalized approach, prioritizing the right strategic keywords to target provides the focus and relevancy needed to rank well.
The process involves careful analysis to identify the best candidates with decent volume, buyer intent, and achievability. Group these terms into primary and secondary target keywords. Then create relevant, useful content optimized and tailored around ranking for those specific phrases.
