Keyword

What is a keyword? 

It is a search term that users enter in the search bar of search engines to get to the desired information on the search results page. (SERP – Search Engine Result Pages)

As a mnemonic for the term "keyword" you can remember that it is a word that "holds the key to your website" - Speak under this search term you can find web pages on the Internet.

The importance of keywords for search engines

For more visibility on the Internet and a steady increase in online presence, systematic keyword coverage is part of the classic SEO strategy. This means creating performance pages for your website and filling them with the appropriate content that is aligned with the right keywords. The goal is to achieve good rankings in order to gradually drive more traffic to the website. In the long term, you want to use keywords to Customer Journey of your customers.

However, it is not easy to find the right keyword - this requires an analysis and extensive research. For this purpose, keywords matching your product and content are searched, competitors are analyzed and the necessary information is collected. 

Types and categories of keywords

In the field of search engine optimization, keywords are divided into three categories:

Long tail keywords

"Long-tail" terms tend to have low search volume and are very specific, but they tend to have a high Conversion Rate. 

Mid-Tail Keywords

"Mid-tail" terms tend to be associated with average search volume and conversion rate. 

Short-Tail Keywords

"Short-tail" terms tend to have a high search volume, are more generic, and are usually associated with a low conversion rate. 

The search queries can have different search intentions - roughly, the search queries can be divided into purchase-oriented and informative search intentions - more specific, the keywords can be divided as follows: 

• Brand Keyword 
• Commercial Keyword
• Compound Keyword
• Informational Keyword
• Navigational Keyword
• Transactional Keyword

Which keyword is right for me? 

Apart from the fact that the search terms themselves must of course fit your product or service, other characteristics are important for the right keywords.

However, which properties are involved always depends on the desired goal and the planned application. 

Keyword - OnPage

For the right keyword of your website and its performance pages are mainly 3 criteria relevant: Search volume, search intention and the competition. 

With the help of different tools, the search volume can be determined. The search volume describes how often a term is searched for in Google - here you should always use the average of the last 12 months to avoid any fluctuations. 

The search intention describes what exactly the user is looking for with the help of this keyword. There are many different types of keywords, as mentioned above - but classically, search intent can be divided into purchase-oriented or informative search intent. 

Purchase-oriented keywords are suitable for the service page with a product in focus - informative ones for a blog or guide. 

The competition to some of these terms can be very large and the keyword accordingly highly competitive. This is where it makes sense to stand out from the crowd and take a different approach.

Because not always with every keyword a good ranking is possible - In the SEO field it is important to recognize the potential of the keywords and to create the SEO measures only after an analysis and research of keywords as well as of the competition. 

Keyword - OffPage

When talking about OffPage in SEO, there is always talk about Backlinks. The keywords in the said offpage area refer to the anchor text (link text, or anchor text). The link text is another strong signal for Google and can be an ideal lever for a good ranking. 

Keyword - Google Ads

In the context of Google Ads, another property of keywords is relevant: CPC value (Click per Cost) - The costs for Google Ads campaigns are determined according to a bidding process. The CPC value gives a guideline value, here the search volume plays an important role. 

Tools for optimized keyword research 

Extensive keyword research is essential in online marketing. Thanks to the information gained from this, the necessary steps can be taken to achieve a good ranking with your website for certain search queries. The keyword research and the resulting keyword mapping dictates which performance pages are to be newly created or which content of the website is to be optimized. 

Free Tools for the research

One of the following keyword tools can be used to find all possible terms:

• Google Suggest 
• Keyword-Planner
• Answer The Public

Paid tools for research 

With these keyword tools you can find out the properties like search volume or CPC value. 

• KW Finder
• Ahrefs
• Xovi

If you want to know the best way to go about keyword research, you should read our blog article in combination with this glossary article. Go to the blog article about keyword research.