Being a new blogger probably means you don’t know how to do keyword research for your blog correctly. Or maybe you do but you’re looking for more tips. This post is for you as I’m sharing with your how to perform keyword research for bloggers.
Ever since I started implementing these tips, my blog’s DA went from 8 to 14 in just 4 months. If you know DA you know that’s a huge increase. I’m still not even near where I want to be but if I keep doing things as I’ve been doing, I’ll be there in no time.
Performing keyword research for bloggers can seem daunting but it’s actually a lot easier than it appears.
If you want to increase your blog’s traffic and your DA, keep reading this blog post to find out how to do keyword research for bloggers.
According to conductor.com, “Keyword research is the process by which you research popular search terms people type into search engines like Google, and include them strategically in your content so that your content appears higher on a search engine results page (SERP). Keyword research is a fundamental practice in search engine optimization (SEO).”
By adding certain keywords to your posts, they will be categorized by Google (and other search engines)and rank for those terms.
Being bloggers, we can make use of these rankings to drive a ton (and I mean a ton) of traffic to our websites just by using simple keyword strategies.
The importance of the perfect keyword
Having the perfect keyword for a blog post is the difference between having it rank number 1 on search, driving you a ton of traffic and (hopefully) money, and having it on the very last pages of Google where no one ever goes to, so they won’t read your post.
How to find the perfect keyword
The key to the perfect keyword is good search volume plus a low competition.
You want to find a keyword that people look for so you can get some of them on your blog.
Then there’s the competition: the first 10 results are your competition. Ranking on the first page for a keyword with a lower search volume is much better than ranking on the fourth page of Google for a super searched keyword. 75% of people never scroll past the first page of Google results so what’s the point of ranking somewhere other than the first page?
Let’s suppose you want to write a blog post about the “best Korean skincare for oily skin”, but it turns out “best Korean serum for oily skin” is a much easier keyword to rank for. The content will still be about Korean skincare for oily skin, but it’s just a slightly different format that will bring you more traffic.
Keyword research tools
There are a ton of places you can perform your research, some paid and some free.
Ubbersuggest (if you want more than 3 daily searches)
How to perform keyword research for bloggers: step-by-step
Brainstorm
To start your keyword research for bloggers, grab yourself a pen and paper and write down as many keyword variations related to the topic you want to write about as you can.
Find your monthly search volume
Take your keyword research tool of choice and type in each keyword you came up with. Next to them, jot down the monthly search volume of each one.
I personally like to target keywords with a monthly volume between 200 and 1500 because they have a good search volume and usually low competition. As you grow your blog, you can aim for keywords with a higher search volume, but if you’re just starting out, I recommend these numbers as a base.
Check out the competition
Go incognito on Google Chrome and type in your keyword: the first 10 results are your competition as I mentioned before.
If you choose to use Keysearch, you can do all of these steps directly on their website.
Go through each one of them and ask yourself:
Are there any blogs on the first 10 results?
If the answer is no, scratch that keyword and move on. If yes, that one is still a good candidate.
Is there at least 1 blog with a lower DA than mine?
You need to have at least 1 blog with a lower DA than yours ranking on the first page to ensure you have a chance at, at the minimum, beating that article and replacing it on Google.
I’m gonna be honest and tell you I don’t always follow this rule. Not because it’s not helpful, but because I’ve found that, in my case, aiming for keywords where all blogs have a higher DA than mine has worked for me and I still managed to get into the first page of Google.
How good is the content ranking on the first page?
Can you write a better and longer post, with more information that lines up exactly with what the reader is searching for? If the answer is yes, congratulations: you’ve got your keyword.
“Wait, but what if I have more than 1 keyword that fits all the criteria?”
Well, you just need to choose the one that most benefits you. If they all do, write different articles for each one!
Where to place the keyword
Now that you’ve got your perfect keyword, it’s time to start writing. In order to rank for the keyword, it needs to be present in your article. What I found works best is to place the keywords on:
Title
URL
ALT Text
Headings (I usually go for heading 2)
Scattered (in a natural way) through the text. The amount depends on how big the article is.
What comes next?
After you hit publish your blog post, it takes a while for Google to pick it up and rank it. What I recommend you to do is wait about 6 months and re-evaluate then (but keep promoting the blog post on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc)
After six months, check your ranking on that post. If you’re still not on the first page, see what changes you can make to the post for that to happen: add more information, add more links, take out unnecessary things, etc.
So that’s how to perform keyword research for bloggers. Let me know how you usually do your keyword research in the comments!
Want to know how to update old blog posts to bring tons of traffic to your blog? You’ve come to the right place
One of my goals for the first quarter of 2021 is to a “content upgrade”. That means I want to update and upgrade ALL the old blog posts here on The European Closet by the end of March.
I’ve already updated about 30 old blogposts and let me tell you, I already see a HUGE difference. My traffic has increased quite a bit in a short amount of time and I know it’s from these upgrades.
You might be asking: “Why would you want to do that?”
The answer to that question is easy: updating your posts makes them relevant. What good does it do to you and your readers if you have out of date information on your posts?
Updating your posts also helps you to get more traffic to your site. Having your old content up to date and SEO optimized will surely help you get more eyes on your posts – new or old.
HOW TO UPDATE OLD BLOGPOSTS
Create a Spreadsheet Of All The Posts You Want To Upgrade
If you’re going to start a major blogpost upgrade on your blog, then you need to be organized. To do so, create a table or spreadsheet where you can keep track of the steps you need to take to upgrade on each post.
I do this in Notion as you can see in the image below:
I created a table where I add all the posts I want to upgrade and tick off the boxes as I do them.
If Notion doesn’t suit you, I’ve created a checklist of all the steps I think are important when you want to upgrade your old posts. You can sign up to get it below!
1- UPDATE IMAGES
The first thing you should update is the images on your post.
When I first started out, I had no idea stock photos were a thing so I just took my own photos using my shitty phone camera. They weren’t good. At all.
When I discovered stock photos and Canva it changed everything.
If you’re not comfortable with using Stock Photos then take new photos.
Images are the first thing people see when opening your posts so having a good picture or graphic can be the difference between them continuing to read or leaving your website.
Since we’re in the topic of images, MAKE SURE YOU CREATE GRAPHICS FOR YOUR POSTS.
Having a good graphic that people can share to Pinterest (link) will increase the chances of other people then seeing your graphic and clicking on it. Traffic!
If you’re not sure of how to create good graphics, I have 5 FREE templates you can use to create images for your posts. Sign up below to get them (I promise I won’t spam you with emails)!
2- ADD LINKS TO YOUR OTHER (RELEVANT) POSTS
Interlinking is extremely important for SEO. It will actually help you rank higher on Google search. It also helps you decrease your bounce rate. If people see there are other posts related to that one they’re reading , they are more likely to click on it, thus staying longer on your site.
This goes back to what I talked about in the beginning of the post. having outdated information on your blog won’t help anyone.
Always make sure the information on your posts is up to date, easy to understand and digest and can be understood by beginners as well as pros.
Maybe the information you have on your posts is still up to date. The what can you do?
There’s always something new you can add, whether that be a relevant article from another blogger, a quote, a statistic, anything. Make sure you add it.
4- OPTIMIZE YOUR POST FOR SEO
Having your old content SEO optimized can and will do wonders for your blog traffic. Doing that for old posts is just as important as doing it for new content.
If you are self-hosted (if you’re not, I highly recommend you do so – EasyWP is the self-host I personally use and love – you can use my link to get started and get a free month of hosting) then you can use YOAST SEO.
YOAST SEO give you pointers as you’re writing your posts to make them SEO friendly.
If you want a course that will help you optimize your website content to get the highest rankings and traffic online in 2021, maybe you should try out “Ultimate SEO Boss” (affiliate link). It’s super affordable (only 16.99$) and gives you a ton of useful information!
5. USE HEADINGS
Breaking your text with headings is super important. Why? There are a few reasons:
It makes your posts easier to scan. If the person reading your blog post doesn’t want to read it all and just wants to see what you have to say about a certain thing, they can go straight to that point.
It’s visually more appealing than having a huge block of text
Google picks up up keywords from your heading to understand what your article is about. It thus increases the chances of you ranking higher on search.
These are the top 5 things you should do when updating your blogposts, but there are a lot more you can do. If you want the complete list, sign up below to receive my free checklist in your inbox!
If you want to schedule your new posts on Pinterest easily and quickly, I highly recommend Tailwind (af). Also, How to Be a Highly Successful Content Creator (af) is a great resource for bloggers.
Some people think writing a blogpost is easy: you just get an idea, open your blogging platform of choice and write it down.
If you’re an actual blogger, you know that doesn’t cover even a third of what we do every time we sit down to write a post.
Writing blogposts is not easy and having a system to guide us through it makes things a hundred times easier.
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So, what exactly is a workflow?
According to the dictionary, a worklfow is “the sequence of steps involved in moving from the beginning to the end of a working process”.
In other words, a workflow is a series of steps you follow every time you want to achieve a certain objective.
Having a worklfow you can follow facilitates your work. You don’t have to think about the next step to take: it’s all laid out for you. You just have to follow all the steps.
Why should I have a blogging workflow?
There are two main reasons why I think you should have a blogging workflow:
1- It saves you time
How many times have you put off writing a blogpost because you didn’t know where to start? Probably one too many.
By having a worklfow, you will know exactly where you should start. Image how good it is knwoing exactly what to do and when to do it. There will be no need for you to strees over it: it’s all laid out for you.
2- You’ll be much more productive
Don’t we all want to be more productive? With a worklow that’s actually possible.
When you save time writitng your blogpost, you will automatically have more time to do other things that will help you grow your blog.
Besides that, after breaking through that resistance wall of getting to work, everything will become easier. The hard part is starting, right?
The more you refer to your workflows, the more you internalize them and the easier it will be to actually choose to work instead of scrolling mindlessly through instagram.
If you want to take your blog to the next level, I highly recommend you check out Ultimate SEO Boss (af) as well as Mastering the Art of Social Media – Scale, Grow and Monetize Your Business (af).They will help you a lot!
Sign up below to get access to my free blogpost workflow checklist
Pinterest SEO sounds like a crazy complicated process, right? Well, what if I told you it’s actually very easy? SEO is the base for improving your visibility on Pinterest. Without it, the chances of you growing within the platform are reduced significantly. Today I’ll show you how you can use SEO to your advantage in order to grow on Pinterest.
RELATED: HOW TO USE PINTEREST TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR BLOG
WHAT IS PINTEREST SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Now, you might be thinking “What does SEO have to do with Pinterest since it’s all about search engines?” Well, think about it: when you want to search for, let’s say, interior decor ideas, where do you go? That’s right, Pinterest. And what does that mean? It means that Pinterest is a search engine. Pinterest is a very different search engine from Google, though. Pinterest is a visual search engine while Google is more of an article-based search engine. With SEO your goal is to make the search engine happy. And how do you make your search engine happy? By following its guidelines. When you start implementing SEO on your pins and overall Pinterest account, the chances of you getting more visibility increase. And with more visibility comes more followers, more traffic and more clicks to your blog.
HOW CAN I USE PINTEREST SEO TO MY ADVANTAGE?
Pin frequently
The best way to get your pins and your profile to get noticed by Pinterest it to be an active user. If Pinterest sees that you pin a lot (especially your own pins), it will see you like someone it can ‘trust’ so your pins will appear higher in search. Now, this doesn’t mean anything if you don’t pin high-quality pins, so beware of that. These are the things you should be careful of when you’re pinning:
Pin everyday
Pin more of your content that other people’s
Make sure your pins have the right dimensions (2:3 ratio)
If there’s any text on your pins, make sure it’s easy to read
RELATED: HOW TO USE PINTEREST TO GROW YOUR BLOG
Set up rich pins
If you’re a blogger and you haven’t set up rich pins yet, you need to do it ASAP! Here’s how you can do it. Rich pins basically pull a ton of information from your blog helping you to create high-quality pins that will improve your chances of ranking higher on searches and to appear on more people’s smart feeds.
Now let’s take a look at your profile. First off, set up your profile as a business account. It takes only a few minutes and once you’re done you’ll get access to your pin analytics, which is extremely helpful.
Next up set up make sure you verify your domain on your profile.Here’s how you can do it. This will automatically associate any pins coming from that domain to your Pinterest profile.
The next step is to add keywords everywhere on your profile. Choose two or three keyowrds relevant to your content and place them (in a natural way, of course) on your bio, profile name, board names, and board descriptions.
Finally, make sure your blog’s board is the first one on your profile. This has nothing to do with SEO but it’s a great way for people to take a look at your pins when they first come in contact with your profile.
When writing a blogpost, something you need to pay attention to is which keywords you are using. Keywords are extremely important for the performance of your blogpost, as they help you rank higher in search engines.
Pinterest, being a huge search engine these days, is a great place for you to do your keyword research In this little guide I’ve put together, I’ll show you how you can use Pinterest for keyword researching in order to get more people to visit your blog.
RELATED: HOW TO USE PINTEREST TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR BLOG
HOW DO KEYWORDS WORK?
Keyword researching basically means you search for certain words within the topic you want to write about and see how they are performing. Your main goal should be to find keywords that people are actually searching for.
Keywords let search engines know that your blogpost is about a specific topic. For example, let’s say you wrote a post called ”How I made my first 1000$ blogging”, one of your keywords should be ”make money blogging”. When people search for that term, your post will be recommended.
HOW DO I PERFORM KEYWORD RESEARCH ON PINTEREST?
Keyword researching on Pinterest is actually astonishingly easy. All you have to do is search on Pinterest for something in your niche like for example ”how to style”. As you can see from the image below, there are a variety of different topics under the keyword ”how to style”. You can then browse through the pins and see what kind of content is ranking the highest on Pinterest.
If you want to get more specific (which you totally should), the dropdown menu is a great place to do so. As you type in your keywords, other combinations will appear. These combinations are what people are topics people are currently searching for so they could be great keywords for you to target.
Another great place you can look for is the little carrousel right above the pins. They also indicate what keywords are the most popular with Pinterest users. As you click on through them, your keywords will become more and more specific and will reach a point where the carrousel will just disappear. This indicates that Pinterest thinks that the keyword is already specific enough that you don’t need to dig deeper into it.
Let me remind you that the more specific your keywords are, the better the chances of your post ranking higher. However, that also means you will target a smaller audience. My suggestion would be to have a healthy mix of broader keywords and specific ones.
Your keywords should be in two places: your blogpost title and your blogpost description. Your pin description is the most important place in my opinion.
You have 500 characters to use to your advantage so use them wisely. Create the longest description (within that 500 character limit obviously) you can where you include your keywords in a natural way. Don’t just write something like ” How to style jeans; jeans outfits; how to wear jeans”. Write a small text previewing your blogpost. This is actually much more helpful for you as you can use keyword variations, and thus have a higher chance of ranking high on Pinterest. You can also add two or three keywords in the form of hashtags at the end of the description Here’s an example of how I write my keyword descriptions.
Do you use Pinterest to search for inspiration for your posts?
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