Top 8 Common Mistakes An SEO Service Provider Makes While Choosing Keywords

Keyword research should be the first step of every Search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Thinking about the words you want to rank for is really the first and foremost step you need to take.

Still, keyword research can be quite daunting. So, which keyword research mistakes should you avoid at all times? In this post, I’ll talk you through the most common keyword research mistakes people seem to make while choosing keywords. Avoiding these mistakes will help you set up a successful keyword research strategy.

1. Incorrect keyword selection:

Many people avoid doing proper research before choosing the keyword for their business. Perhaps they think that they don’t need to do this task very extensively. They think that they just know what the audience will search for.

However, this leads to serious repercussions. So each person should take some time before making a decision. They should ask questions to themselves, such as which words should they use? and what terms will my potential customers search for?

The result of this research should be an extensive list of keywords you would like to rank for. Make sure to update your keyword research regularly.

Customer liking, business focus and business needs can all change within a matter of time and this could have implications for your keyword strategy as well.

2. Selection of competitive keywords:

Make sure to aim for realistic keywords. Some niches are very competitive. Ranking in competitive niches is hard if it’s just the start of your website. Instead, you should focus on long tail keywords.

They are easier to rank and have a higher chance to convert. After some time when your business is fairly settled and you have top rankings for the long tail keywords, you should try and focus on the competitive niches.

If you have been around in your niche for a little longer and you’re succeeding in ranking on long tail keywords, you could aim to rank for more head terms as well. Ranking for competitive keywords should be part of a long-term successful keyword research strategy.

3. Using irrelevant keywords:

People often choose keywords, with high search volumes, without paying attention to the relevance of these keywords for their business.

The keywords you are aiming to rank should be the same words your customers use. You should always understand and use the language of the customers. For instance, a person is involved in the manufacturing of ‘Gala dresses’ and without proper research, the person chooses ‘Gala dresses’ as the keyword.

However, the common people usually call these dresses as ‘evening gowns’, ‘evening dress for parties’, and so on. Hence, they would search for keywords such as these. Due to this, the website would not show up resulting in the loss of business.

Thus we need to understand that each of the target customers has different needs and concerns, and they use different words when they search. So if your business wants to grow, your page needs to provide the answer.

4. Singular vs. plural words as keywords:

It is quite debatable whether we should target singular or plural keywords. Therefore, it is very important to always check whether a person should use the plural or the singular form of a specific keyword.

Should you aim to rank for ‘sport shoe’ or for ‘sport shoes’? Do people search for ‘holiday home’ or ‘holiday homes’? So it is important to always check whether one should use singular or plural with Google Trends. The choice of singular vs. plural depends on the specific keyword.

5. Not evaluating regularly:

If you’re aiming to rank for certain terms regular evaluation of the articles is required. In order to do so, you should definitely Google your proposed focus keyword every now and then. Just check if your article turns up in the results.

 If you forget to evaluate, you don’t know whether you could aim for more competitive keywords or you should focus on the long tail variants.

6. Focusing on only one keyword per post:

It is not compulsory to use only one keyword per post. The Yoast plugin helps you to optimize your post for more than one focus keyword. In this way you can publicize multiple keywords per post, this would, in turn, lead to greater traffic per keyword.

7. Putting the wrong keywords on the wrong pages:

Once the grouping of keywords is done, you need to figure out where to place them on your website. This process is called keyword allocation, a critical step in the keyword research process.

 A common mistake people often do is to add irrelevant keywords to pages whose content doesn’t match the keywords, or pages that don’t match the search intent. It’s not simply about putting keywords on a page; it’s about matching each keyword with the search intent and web page copy.

8. Aiming for keywords without traffic:

As stated above, choosing long tail keywords is a great strategy to start your SEO. Though these words gain less traffic, you’ll have a higher chance to convert your visitors into buyers or returning visitors.

People that use specific terms (long tail keywords) to search for exactly that thing you’re writing about are just a very good match. However, if your selected keyword is too specific and doesn’t get any traffic, it won’t help your SEO.

This is an important criterion while choosing a long tail keyword. So the keyword should be chosen in such a way that it actually gains some traffic.