Keywords in content is not what it used to be. At one time search engines were fairly transparent about which keywords drew consumers in and how many consumers each word brought in. However, now that information requires a little more digging.

While still not as analytical as they used to be search engines have become more intuitive to the user.

This allows some tricks and insight to be inferred from the data we can access.

• Consider auto-populate: When a user types an inquiry into the Google search bar, it will often guess the full phrase as the user is typing. More often than not, the user will stop typing to choose the phrase that Google has completed. This feature can help you assess what words and phrases people are most likely to enter into the search bar.
• Do some related searches: After a topic has been entered in the Google search bar scroll down to look at the related searches provided. This is a great tool the examine how Google puts together word associations. Just like the auto-populate feature, play around with different words and combinations of words to see how that might impact your results and Google’s suggestions.
• Use Google Adwords Keyword Planner: The most useful information is offered by the bid suggestion and the average monthly search columns.
• Utilize Google Search Console: This is where you’ll find the most sought after websites when a topic is searched for as well as the keywords that brought them to the top. It will also show you the content that drives traffic to various sites.
• Follow Google Trends: Although Google Trends will not produce the total number of times a keyword was searched, it will display the interest in that particular word or phrase compared to the total number of Google searches over time.
• Review Google Analytics: Within Google Analytics, click “Search Engine Optimisation”. Then click “Queries”. The section marked “Acquisition” is where you’ll find the data that is most useful. It allows the comparison of up to three months of data for impressions, clicks, and click-through-rate.

Even though the way search engines keep track of keywords has changed, you can still gather plenty of useful data to ensure keywords bring your website traffic. Google is one of the best search engines to use because of its popularity. For more information on how to utilise these features on more search engine platforms speak with one of our consultants at ALHAUS.