If you’re wondering why your search engine optimization (SEO) content strategy hasn’t been serving you of late, that’s because SEO was never a cut and dry set of best practices. It’s always been a game of tennis, so to speak, between us and popular search engines (read: Google).

When companies discovered how web pages were being ranked in search results, they aimed to game the system, resulting in early strategies like keyword stuffing. Said search engines rightfully noticed that this was leading to content that was nigh unreadable and aimed to find new ways to deliver relevant content to their users. They updated the algorithms. We updated our strategies. And so it goes…

Granted, the real story is a shade more complicated than this and includes such additions as sponsored search results and AI overviews, but the theme is largely the same. Companies want to be seen. Search engines want to make money by simultaneously charging those companies for visibility and ensuring organic search results are relevant enough to keep users coming back.

The frustrating lesson here is that you should never be done evolving your SEO strategy. Even the things we tell you today may not hold true in a few years. But the present is all we have to work with, and it’s much easier to catch up if you’re not decades behind. So let’s get started.

Conduct Thorough Keyword Research

Not to be too on the nose about it, but the KEYWORD here is RESEARCH. No, throwing your favorite value props or a list of industry jargon into a spreadsheet does not qualify as keyword research. In fact, the inaccuracy of those results might surprise you.

True keyword research investigates terms and phrases based on volume, industry relevance, user intent, and more. It pairs with audience and competitor research, answering questions like “what does my buyer persona search for when they are looking to make a specific type of purchase?” and “why do they see my most vile competitor before they see me?”

It also understands that people looking for “best streaming software” might be looking for tools to help them stream video or looking for the best platforms on which to watch their favorite shows. This inspires a whole new crop of questions like “what are users typically trying to accomplish with this search term?” and “is there a more specific term that would make us a more relevant result?”

Types of Keywords

Start by understanding there are different types of keywords and they all have a purpose, even if they don’t have the highest volume. Make a list of any keywords you might deem relevant. Use a spreadsheet. Go nuts.

• Shorttail – These shorter keywords (typically 1-3 words long) target a broad audience. They also typically cover more general concepts that are less overtly intent driven. Think “cheesecake”, “strawberry cheesecake”, or even “delicious strawberry cheesecake.” These are more difficult to rank for, but if you are successful, then you will be seen by a ton of people.
• Longtail – These longer keywords (3 words or more) target a more specific audience and tend to be more intent driven. Think “how to make strawberry cheesecake”, “best strawberry cheesecake recipes”, and “strawberry cheesecake eating competitions near me.” These tend to be easier to rank for (although not always). Their real value is in the quality of the traffic they drive to your page since the likelihood is high that your web visitor is going to be looking for exactly what your content is serving up.
• Primary – A well optimized piece of content is not targeting just one keyword. Your content should have a core (or primary) keyword in mind with a myriad of secondary keywords to support it. For example, maybe you found that “best simple cheesecake recipe” has a uniquely high volume of monthly searches. You make that your primary keyword target, but you don’t neglect “best easy cheesecake recipe”, “easiest recipe for cheesecake”, and of course “cheesecake.”
• Secondary – These are those tangentially related keywords (both long and short) that support your primary keyword. The main goal behind including secondary keywords is to expand your reach. Why only rank in the top five for one term when you can hit multiple search results with one stone?

Getting meta for a moment, this piece is targeting longtail keywords like “how to build a content strategy” and “SEO content strategy 2025.” It’s also targeting shorttail keywords like “keywords”. Of course I prefer the cheesecake example because I just ate cheesecake. We call that “top of mind”, which is a marketing lesson for another day.<

Keyword Intent

Next, investigate intent for the keywords in your spreadsheet. Tools like Semrush and Keywords Everywhere make this really easy. However, you can take it a step further and see for yourself what top results appear when you search certain terms. Add a column to your keyword spreadsheet that attributes intent to each.

• Navigational – I know exactly where I want to go. That’s why I googled Netflix instead of just going to Netflix.com.
• Instructional – I want to know more about an existing topic. Good luck unseating Wikipedia.
• Commercial – I’m thinking of buying something and want to shop around. Why should I buy from you?
• Transactional – I know exactly what I want to buy and am likely to click on Google shopping results if able.

Keep in mind that some keywords might have multiple intentions attributed to them. Understanding these intentions can help you narrow down which keywords are of most value to you. It can also help you determine the best way to rank for keywords by delivering the sort of content people are likely to click on.

Competitor Keyword Research

Now is where you take a peek at the test next to yours. It doesn’t hurt to keep a bead on what the competition is doing. Using tools like Semrush and your own organic efforts, find out where your competitors are ranking. What keywords are they winning in? It’s likely they are also targeting them. What keywords are they investing in by paying for sponsored slots in the search results? Keep in mind, they might be getting it wrong, so don’t just copy them. Still, if they seem to be performing better in web traffic, then this is one place to start finding out why.

Keywords and Audience Personas

Another approach to distilling a mountain of keywords into a manageable plan is to pair these keywords with audience personas. If you have clearly defined audience personas, then ask yourself what these people are likely to search such that they find you. This is particularly helpful if you’re speaking to a subset of people within a very broad topic.

For example, if you are selling marketing services to companies looking to crowdfund, then just targeting “marketing services” will get you a ton of noise. Put yourself in the mind of your target crowdfunder desperate for assistance. What are they likely to search on Google? Write to that!

If you need help building audience personas, check out our blog on persona profiles inspired by The Good Place.

Where Do I Start?

That’s sort of up to you. You can start with a simple toolkit like Minty Pixel provides, a keyword research tool, by Googling terms you want to target and seeing what pops up, or by analyzing your current web traffic and keyword performance. You could also consider having a team of creative marketing professionals help you build a keyword driven content strategy. Reach out to Minty Pixel for a free consultation.