Keyword research mistakes that you should avoid

1. Doing improper keyword research

Researching keywords for your business can take time and be complex, depending on your services and location. That is why you need to use the proper SEO tools for the job and devote to it. Otherwise, you might end up missing out on traffic and conversions. So, if you thought that you can feel what your audience searches for, think again. You should never be as confident when it comes to knowing your target audience. Always make sure to take the proper time to know your audience and what they search for.

2. The use of unrealistic keywords

All niches are competitive – some more, some less. And the only thing to remember is to always aim high but remain realistic in your business plans. One of the ways to maintain that is by choosing realistic keywords that you have a chance to rank for. There are too many companies out there that aim for the highest-value keywords after having just started. And this is one of the most common keyword research mistakes.

For example, if you are a local moving company in Brooklyn, it would be unreasonable to try to rank for keywords for the entire city of New York. Instead, given the competitive area of NYC, you would be wise to start off targeting local keywords such as:

• Local movers Brooklyn
• Piano movers Brooklyn
• Movers Williamsburg, etc.

That is where the importance of location strategy for movers lies. Once you create landing pages for each of these head keywords, you expand your range to long-tail keywords. The best way to achieve this is through blog posts. But always make sure to be realistic in your choice of keywords, and then slowly expand from there.

3. Using irrelevant keywords

A similar principle to the one above. You don’t want to waste resources and time on ranking for keywords that nobody looks for. Always make sure to know your target audience and learn how best to advertise your moving business. Start from yourself and think how it is you would come by the contact info of a moving company. You wouldn’t type terms like ‘removal company in Brooklyn, NYC’ or ‘Brooklyn relocation companies I should hire‘. No, people would much rather go with ‘movers Brooklyn’ or ‘reliable moving companies Brooklyn‘. So, make sure that the keywords you research and use are relevant to your cause.

4. Singular vs plural can often lead to keyword research mistakes

Despite search engines getting better equipped to differentiate between plural and singular forms, there is still a difference between the two. Therefore, you want to make sure to use the proper form of specific keywords, since ranking for ‘moving company Soho’ and ‘moving companies Soho‘ can lead to a variety of results.

It’s also important to consider the intent of your audiences here. Usually, people that type plural versions of keywords are interested in comparing products/services/companies. On the other hand, using the singular form most often leads to researching particular information. So, in a battle of singular vs plural, you need to be careful when choosing the right form for your keywords. Luckily, there are features in tools such as Yoast SEO Premium that allow for you to doublecheck all forms of a particular keyword. That way, you can see the optimization levels you have for either form.

5. Choosing no-traffic keywords

As we mentioned already, long-tail keywords can offer low-count but high-chance conversions. Having a popular topic to write on or question to answer is always a promising way to attract others to your site. Not only that, but it helps you stand out as an authority in your respective field. However, one of the common keyword research mistakes is when you use long-tail keywords that are too specific and have zero traffic. That can only drag down your SEO strategy in the long run.

6. Neglect in terms of evaluation

You should always make sure to follow up on your keyword research and targeting efforts. So, once you take your pick of keywords for your moving company, make sure to monitor them closely. Evaluate whether or not people are actually searching for those keywords. And then check whether your business is positioning in the top results for them. Make sure to use incognito search browser options to avoid subjective and personalized results. Also, you can implement tools such as SEMrush to keep a close eye on your positions and progress when it comes to particular keywords.

7. Single keyword focus

Having a quality landing page or blog post can usually target more than a single keyword. So, rather than settling for a single keyword, you would be much wiser to target multiple keywords that are synonymous in nature with a single page. That way, you could optimize a post about the moving industry to target keywords such as:

• moving industry
• moving industry software
• moving industry statistics
• moving industry trends, etc.

Avoiding these mistakes can only better your SEO efforts

As you can see, keyword research mistakes do happen but are easily fixable. Therefore, you can avoid them so long as you plan ahead and read up about it all on time. Sometimes, you might not be able to find all the answers on your own. It is in those dire moments that you shouldn’t be afraid of asking for assistance. And Movers Development will be right here to answer any and all questions that you might raise when it comes to the best SEO strategy and choice of keywords for your moving business to rank for.

For more information, feel free to contact us and get a free website marketing analysis.