No, what’s holding you back has nothing to do with your advanced ability to slice and dice keyword data dumps. <\/p>\n
Data dumps on their own won’t help you; they’ll probably only hurt you.<\/p>\n
Here’s why, how this mindset routinely sabotages keyword research<\/a> and how to fix it.<\/p>\n Anyone anywhere can fire up a keyword research tool and export a giant list of “relevant” keywords. That’s not the problem. <\/p>\n The problem is that this haphazard, spray-and-pray approach doesn’t work. Not when your competitors (both direct but more importantly the indirect ones) actually know what they’re doing in competitive spaces.<\/p>\n In other words, your problem isn’t sifting through a ton of random keyword ideas, using arbitrary (and misleading) filters like keyword difficulty<\/a> (KD) to sort which ones are a “good” target vs. a “bad” one.<\/p>\n My friend Ben Goodey helped illustrate the problem with keyword research in a recent LinkedIn post<\/a>:<\/p>\n See, SEO<\/a> is part art, part science.<\/p>\n Yes, it can be technically complex at times. But for the most part, it’s more similar to weight loss:<\/p>\n What’s hard is the consistent execution<\/strong>, and not the actual theory or strategy (eat less; workout more).<\/p>\n So yes, pivot tables<\/a> can be helpful, especially when you’re working with tons of data points.<\/p>\n But they’re only helpful to a point.<\/p>\n Because the best keyword research strategies actually blend multiple different types of subjective analysis at the same time, including:<\/p>\n In a world of sophisticated SEO, over-engineered pivot tables, fancy formulas and similar basically become more fake busy work.<\/p>\n Let’s step through these six views or “lenses” so you can properly analyze keywords from different angles that are a better predictor for success.<\/p>\n This first one sounds trite but often isn’t in practice.<\/p>\n Yes, you should be targeting the biggest and best commercial terms in your space. But that brings us back to the age-old SEO Catch-22:<\/p>\n If you’re ready and willing and able to stomach years of no results, then go for it!<\/p>\n Otherwise, if bosses or peers or clients are going to be breathing down your neck six months from now (read: most, if not all, of them), you’re gonna need to re-adjust your sights.<\/p>\n For instance, feast your eyes on this awesome “live streaming platform” keyword:<\/p>\n Yikes. “Super hard” keyword difficulty (KD) isn’t great. <\/p>\n (It’s not all bad per se; keep reading below to see why KD often lies).<\/p>\n However, unless your domain rating already reads ~80-90+, you’re looking at 12+ months at the earliest for any top page (let alone top five) rankings.<\/p>\n So. You adjust your sights – out and down<\/em>!<\/p>\n What’s a similarly relevant keyword that you can rank for in under 12 months to help “balance the books” while you’re waiting to rank for this more competitive target?<\/p>\n You look for similar underlying intent and relevance but one that’s much more of a short-to-medium-term goal than a long-term one.<\/p>\n Like this: <\/p>\n No, you probably still won’t rank in the top 5 for this out of the gate. But the related long-tail variations are even more promising.<\/p>\n So, with the right approach, you’re able to:<\/p>\n In other words, your keyword research + topic selection + content strategy should be more holistic. <\/p>\n One cluster sets up another, which sets up another, which sets up another.<\/p>\n No pivot tables required – only long-term thinking and strategizing.<\/p>\n Dig deeper: <\/em><\/strong>The trifecta of keyword research strategy: Volume, difficulty, intent<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Ranking for all the top-of-the-funnel keywords in your space is a great start. <\/p>\n It might be enough for B2C companies, depending on the rest of their customer acquisition channels and options.<\/p>\n But, those terms alone often don’t move the needle for long, drawn-out, complex sales cycles.<\/p>\n Translation: Using AI to pump out all the crappy content in the world<\/a> isn’t actually going to drive you new business. <\/p>\n If anything, the substandard quality will likely erode the trust and credibility you’ll need to drive five-plus-figure ARPUs.<\/p>\n That’s why B2B brands especially need to balance both ends of the buyer’s journey:<\/p>\n You should also realize that sophisticated buyers are already comparing you to alternatives before ever reaching out in the first place. <\/p>\n So piggybacking on competitors and alternatives of your product – even if they’re not direct competitors but simply better known (or funded) – can help you thread the needle.<\/p>\n This way, you can double down on expanding the “vs” or “alternatives”-queries you’re targeting and actually pushing into the top five. Like so:<\/p>\n If you’re just doing keyword research with a giant data dump, chances are you’re missing these critical “bridge”-type keywords to help transform searchers into leads. <\/p>\n ‘Cause you’re setting artificial minimums around things like “volume,” even though “volume” across most keyword research tools are:<\/p>\n So keep in mind that keyword research data is all relative. Not absolute.<\/p>\n You don’t need to care about “how much volume” there is for a “vs” or “alternative” keyword. ‘Cause in real life, you already know you’re being compared against alternatives. <\/p>\n Learn to trust your gut, intuition and customer feedback more than any other artificial number in a spreadsheet.<\/p>\n Dig deeper: <\/em><\/strong>B2B keyword research: A comprehensive guide<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Here’s the thing:<\/p>\n Everyone wants to rank for the “best” keywords, except not everyone deserves to rank for the best keywords.<\/p>\n Check out this example below and look at the brand names dominating the top 10 for “what is CRM”:<\/p>\n Now, ask yourself:<\/p>\n If you’re not already a household name in the CRM space, what is the likelihood of you unseating one of these competitors?<\/p>\n Seriously, what’s the likelihood that you’ll rank in the top 10 for this keyword in one year? <\/p>\nWhy keyword research is hard (and misunderstood)<\/h2>\n
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1. The likelihood of actually ranking<\/h2>\n
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![\"Keyword](\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/04\/Keyword-overview-live-streaming-platform.png.webp\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Keyword](\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/04\/Keyword-overview-vod-streaming.png.webp\")
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2. Business-generating topics<\/h2>\n
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![\"Organic](\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/04\/Organic-keywords-contains-alternatives.png.webp\")
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3. Ranking in a realistic time frame (given your goals and objectives)<\/h2>\n
![\"SERP](\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/04\/SERP-overview-what-is-crm.png.webp\")
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