A keyword analysis is a confusing area for many businesses new to SEO. It is one where many come unstuck early on in their SEO efforts. Novices who cannot rely on the help of an SEO consultant often think that it is just a matter of choosing a selection of keywords that they believe in making sense.
However, good keyword analysis involves far more than this.
Some people go further and use a keyword tool such as the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to generate more ideas. But even this is still the most basic form of keyword research.
To choose the right keywords from the start, you need to find out exactly how difficult it will be to rank specific keywords. This is where keyword analysis tools come into play.
What is Keyword Analysis?
Essentially, these tools help you to work out how competitive a keyword is. When you have a list of potential keywords following the brainstorming stage, you can turn to a keyword analysis tool to work out the chances that you will be able to rank for each keyword.
There are many tools available, some of which are free and require a fee. If you speak to an SEO consultant, they will probably recommend one or tell you which they are using.
SEOQuake for Firefox is an excellent free tool, and Traffic Travis, who works on Windows computers, is also famous. Still, there are many others to choose from. The good idea is to experiment and find out which is the best one for you.
How do Keyword Analysis Tools Work?
Keyword analysis tools work by providing you with the details of your competition for a specific keyword phrase. Your battle for SEO purposes consists of the first ten results in the search engines. These are essentially the only ones that matter because the second page of Google is the same as the fiftieth when it comes to generating more traffic to your site.
The first information that you will find regarding your competitors’ websites include:
- Domain age
- PageRank
- Backlinks pointing to a page
- Backlinks pointing to domain
All of these show the health of the pages and websites you are competing for a particular keyword. If there are many results on the first page with old domains and lots of backlinks, then that keyword will generally be harder to rank for.
In addition to this information, most keyword analysis tools will reveal the extent of these pages’ optimization, including:
- Web title tag
- URL
- Meta description tag
- Headline
This is where you can get ahead in your SEO efforts. It is the place where your seo consultant services will probably recommend starting. Some sites will have an old domain and lots of backlinks, but they will fail when it comes to SEO optimization. If you optimize all of these aspects of a web page for your chosen keyword, you can get a real boost in the rankings, even if you have a relatively new domain.
Use Keyword Analysis Tools to Find the Best Keywords
Keyword analysis tools should be used by anyone who takes their SEO seriously. If you want to find the best keywords with the best chances of ranking, make sure you analyze each keyword properly using a specialist tool, and talk to a good SEO consultant to find out what advice they can give you.
Focusing on the wrong keywords from the outset will lead to a lot of wasted time and effort, so it pays to use keyword analysis tools before you attempt to rank for any keywords.