There is hardly a keyword in existence in today’s world of SEO that doesn’t have at least some competition. Because knowing which battles to pick and which to forego is a vital part of effective SEO strategy, it is important to know how to effectively research keywords. One element of that research pertains to finding which keywords will produce the most value for you – whether that is measured in profit or in clicks – and can be competitive within the realm of your efforts. In order to help make your overall efforts a bit easier, we’ve put together a summary on how you can extract the most beneficial keywords in your niche from a much larger list of possibilities.

Go For Long Tail Keywords

Fifteen years ago, it was relatively easy to rank well for one-word keyword searches. As time passed, SEO enthusiasts had to begin searching for two-word phrases, then three-word phrases, and so forth. Today, it is not uncommon to see webmasters and bloggers targeting seven-word phrases. This type of targeting is what we call long tail keyword targeting, and it can be quite beneficial when applied properly. While fewer people search for these precise long tail variations, there is also less competition. Because of this, pinging URLs to search engines for pages targeting long tail keywords can actually generate more clicks via search than targeting a much more common keyword or phrase.

Avoid Keyword Stuffing

Sometimes, the best way to rank for the best keywords is to approach the process from a holistic standpoint. Search engines are now quite efficient at determining what content is about without needing specific buzz words to identify it. While this can help and should be utilized sparingly, content that repetitively drills away at certain keywords will undoubtedly be perceived by search engines as spam (and by readers as marketing attempts). There are tools available for use that can comb your website and determine which potential keywords and phrases are the strongest among your existing content, which should help you to figure out at the same time more about who is most likely to care about your content.

Utilize Location-Based Keywords

This may not always be possible, but the new niche in keyword targeting definitely revolves around location-based keywords. With so many potential combinations of keywords and locations, many people who are pinging URLs to search engines have realized that there is a new gold rush of opportunity available to those who seize it. By being able to target specific geographic locations, you’ll be able to rake in traffic from a variety of sources within a given geographic area (as well as an increased number of mobile device users). Inevitably, the increase in mobile users – when combined with a mobile responsive website design – can help improve your overall search engine rankings across all keywords. Especially in the wake of Mobilegeddon and the impact that Google has had on websites that are not catering to mobile users, improving your standing in mobile search results is definitely a good idea.