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How Realistic Is It To Rank For Your Keywords?

Achieving a high ranking for a keyword in organic search is a consistent and iterative procedure. While obtaining desired results may not be guaranteed, particularly for a new website aspiring to rank for a popular keyword, a dedicated approach to content marketing and SEO can gradually yield positive outcomes.

John Harrison
John Harrison
Feb 11, 2024106 Shares8.1K Views
Jump to
  1. What Is Keyword Ranking?
  2. How To Rank For A Keyword?
  3. Keyword Mistakes - Pitfalls You Can Easily Avoid
  4. Frequently Asked Questions
  5. Final Thoughts
How Realistic Is It To Rank For Your Keywords?

In the ever-changing world of online presence, one of the most essential things in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is getting those desired keyword results. People and businesses are always trying to be the best online, which brings up the question; How likely is it that you'll rank for your keywords?

It's crucial to understand the subtleties of term ranking, which includes everything from on-page improvements to the constantly changing algorithms that search engines use. As we go deeper into this topic, it becomes clear that setting reasonable goals is an integral part of any SEO project.

People often have the dream of becoming famous quickly, but the truth is that it takes a more complicated path. Things like keyword competition, the way an industry works, and time constraints all play significant roles.

This article delves into the complexity of keyword ranking, shedding light on the factors that govern success in the competitive world of search engine results andhow realistic is it to rank for your keywords?

What Is Keyword Ranking?

Person Holding Blue Ballpoint Pen on White Notebook
Person Holding Blue Ballpoint Pen on White Notebook

In the context of search engine results, the term "keyword ranking" refers to the position of a webpage in response to a relevant search query. Your keyword ranking determines where your webpage shows up when a user searches for a phrase on Google or another search engine. Increase the amount of people that visit your website from Google and other search engines by creating and enhancing keyword rankings.

Most users click on the first result they find while searching. Therefore, you will usually get more visitors if you rank number one for a term than if you rank number two. And so forth. You must monitor your website's search engine ranking for pertinent keywords while you work to improve your organic traffic from search engines (also known as SEO).

Three White-and-black Scrabble Tiles on Brown Wooden Surface
Three White-and-black Scrabble Tiles on Brown Wooden Surface

How To Rank For A Keyword?

Establish The Foundation

Actually, this isn't the first step, as it is a pre-step. Be it any random term, you can't expect to rank higher on Google unless you have a few fundamental things in place. Among these prerequisites are;

A Robust Website

The longer your website has been up and running, the more credibility and backlinks it has gained. Additionally, your entire website must adhere to SEO best practices; if you need to become more familiar with them, start by reading Google's Webmaster Guidelines.

A Network To Draw On

It's conducive to having an audience you can share fresh information with on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, a blog following, and email contacts you can occasionally contact for assistance with a link in order to score well for a term.

It's time to start thinking about link development as connection building if you need to know what it implies. Take your time with this in your quest for online fame and fortune. You'll just have to do things over again if you don't get them right the first time.

Do Your Initial Keyword Research

Even while you may believe you know which term to target, you should double-check your gut feeling. Before making your final keyword selection, use a few keyword tools to have an idea of the competitiveness and search traffic for the term. Your primary priorities will be;

Choosing A Keyword With Good Volume But Not Too Much Volume

In general, if there is a considerably more popular similar phrase, you should avoid targeting a keyword with low relative search traffic. For instance, searches for "blah blah jobs" are often more than twice as common as those for "blah blah careers."

Though specific keywords are just too competitive and not worth your effort, only sometimes choose the term with the highest volume or difficulty. Unless you are an airline, you will not rank for the term "airline."

Choosing A Keyword That’s Relevant To Your Business Model

If a keyword is pertinent to your website and business, your chances of ranking for it are higher. Additionally, you're more likely to see a noticeable increase in traffic and leads from your ranking.

Keep in mind, though, that rankings have little value on their own. A party planning company, for instance, may focus on "how to cook for a party," but neither they nor their target market will find "how to cook rice" to be very relevant.

Keywords that are roughly 10-15 words long get 1.76x more clicks than single-word terms. You should also compile a list of nearby variants of your primary term at this point in the process. These will come in handy later on when you're composing and optimizing your content.

Check Out The Competition

Once you've chosen a term, find out what your competitors are currently doing by searching for it on Google and a few other search engines. Give special consideration to;

  • The URLs and domains - What number of domains are exact matches? Does the term appear in each of the top 10 URLs?
  • The heading- How is the keyword included in the title tags?
  • What's the type of content that’s ranking- Pages of products? Blog entries? Videos?

The categories of companies that are ranked are;

  • Are they well-known brands? Little companies? Websites with news?
  • The degree of authority of such websites
  • To find out the size of the link profiles, age, and other details of the websites in the top 10, install a plugin.
  • You're trying to figure out how to set yourself apart. To defeat your rivals, you must exert at least as much effort as they do. In an ideal world, you would be doing more and better at it.

Seo Content Audit

An SEO content audit may help you determine which material on your website is working well and which is underperforming in terms of search rankings and return on investment, even if it is an optional step.

  • Setting this first benchmark will assist you in informing future content strategy. Depending on your objectives, you may use a variety of tools to collect the information required to do an SEO content audit.
  • The information you've selected for your content audit should be exported and organized into a spreadsheet, just like with keyword research. Analyzing page views, organic traffic, bounce rates, conversions, and page speed are some of the most crucial SEO indicators.
  • Pay close attention to the performance of pages on your website that are essential to your business, such as the main landing and sales pages.
  • You should monitor social media metrics for your blog, such as shares on Facebook, tweets and retweets, Google +1s, and shares, in addition to the amount and quality of backlinks, which search engines employ to determine the authority and trustworthiness of your content and, ultimately, your blog's search rating.

Content Creation, Optimization, And On-Page Seo

At this point, you have to write content for brand-new website pages and use the pertinent keywords you found throughout your study to optimize already existing ones. The following are the guiding ideas;

  • Aim for a word count of no fewer than 250 words, depending on the topic and intent of the page, to ensure that the material feels comprehensive. Use keywords that are pertinent to the content of the page while optimizing, but refrain from "stuffing" the page with extraneous information.
  • Be wary of duplicate material, which can arise from unintentional errors such as copying the Metadata from pages.
  • By adding a page title and description to each web page, you can use metadata to tell search engines about the subject matter of the content.
  • In order for search engines to comprehend the contents of rich media, such as photos and videos, written titles, descriptions, and tags are also necessary. Make sure your on-page rich media is optimized using keywords that correspond to the relevant text and metadata.
  • To make your website more accessible for people to browse and to help search engine bots comprehend what the page is about, organize the page content headers and subheadings using a hierarchy of heading tags (H1, H2, H3).
  • When appropriate, use internal links to establish connections between different web pages. Because search engine robots consume material on the Web by clicking links, giving your website an internal, linked structure facilitates website navigation for both them and your users.

Publish

It's time to publish your material online. The timing of this phase may need caution, depending on the kind of content. This is usually a minor factor for evergreen content, but it could be significant for news-related, event or trend-related material.

Coordinating with PR or other interested parties inside your organization could also be necessary, for instance, when releasing information linked to a new service or product.

Promote

This is a crucial step that needs to be taken right away after publication. In fact, for large-scale material, it's ideal to start reaching out to the media before the item goes online. Make sure you take all the necessary steps to expose your material to the most significant number of people before it ever has an opportunity to rank for the keyword;

  • Use the social media profiles for your company to distribute your content - LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and so forth. Try using your accounts for this as well.
  • Use social buttons or widgets on your site to promote independent sharing - Make it simple for visitors and readers to continue the chain. If reading your post only requires them to click a button, they are more inclined to tweet or share it.
  • Establish backlinks to your material - Even with PageRank's uncertain future, link development remains a crucial component of SEO.

Analyze

You still need to finish! Since the web is a dynamic medium, improving the optimization of your content is always a good idea. Use a rank-checking tool or manually verify your keyword ranking (make sure you're signed out and not receiving excessively tailored results).

The keywords your content is really ranking for may be different from the ones you targeted initially, so check your statistics as well. You still need to put in more effort if, after a few weeks or so, you need to rank for the appropriate keywords. Ensure that the content you have:

  • It is actually optimized.
  • It is genuinely excellent.
  • It is genuinely apparent.

It's also likely that you should lower your expectations since the term you choose is overly competitive. To gain greater authority, try focusing on less competitive keywords.

Person Pointing Paper Line Graph
Person Pointing Paper Line Graph

Keyword Mistakes - Pitfalls You Can Easily Avoid

Not Considering Search Intent

More than ever, keyword research must include search intent. Know the intent behind your keywords. People may search for information, a website, or a product. Search engines attempt to provide people with the precise response they want; therefore, there's more.

Thus, even if your content is outstanding and optimized, it may only appear in search results if it meets searcher intent. Therefore, assess if the keyword material you want to post matches what consumers want. Check the search results.

Do intent types match? People seek what answers? Content formatted properly? If you published a lengthy DIY article to rank for [wedding decorations], but all you see in the results pages are online retailers selling wedding decorations, reevaluate your technique. For instructions on developing keyword-focused, intent-based content, see this post!

Using Keywords Nobody Is Searching For

Somewhat connected to the preceding keyword error. If you ignore search intent, you may optimize for words visitors and customers won't use. You may offer what people want, yet they may use different terms and not discover you. Your keywords may be too lengthy and don't receive traffic.

Second, focusing on obscure long-tail keywords that don't produce traffic might cause problems. Start your keyword strategy with long-tail keywords. These terms draw less traffic but are more likely to convert visitors into purchasers or repeat visits.

People who use particular phrases to search for your topic are a good fit. Your SEO will suffer if your term is too specialized and doesn't generate visitors. So, strive for long-tail keywords that get traffic.

Pie Graph Illustration
Pie Graph Illustration

Not Checking Singular/Plural Use

Always research whether to target a keyword's plural or singular form. Google can understand that plural and singular forms of a term mean the same thing, yet search result pages and the amount of results often change because people are seeking for different things.

Again, consider the intent of keyword searchers. People searching for solitary keywords may want knowledge, whereas others searching for plural keywords may want to compare things or buy them. Consider whether to use a singular or plural depending on your term and aim.

Keyword Duplication On Many Pages

Keyword cannibalization optimizing numerous sites for the exact search term destroys success. This keyword error might hurt your results since search engines can't identify which pages to display to readers.

You can solve cannibalization if you've optimized many pages for the exact keywords. It may need some hard choices, so avoid this trap.

Forgetting To Evaluate

Rank for particular phrases and verify your results. You must periodically assess article readership. Searching your suggested emphasis term can help. Because Google has tailored search, your results may be skewed. Try a private browser session or tool to see if your article appears. If you forget to assess, you won't know if you should target competitive keywords or long-tail versions.

Frequently Asked Questions

To What Extent Does The Relevance Of Content Contribute To The Attainability Of Keyword Rankings?

Relevance assumes paramount importance; ensuring content aligns closely with chosen keywords significantly improves the prospects of achieving favorable rankings.

Can The Consistent Production Of High-Quality Content Substantively Influence The Practical Potential For Keyword Ranking?

Yes, a steadfast commitment to creating and maintaining high-quality content serves as a pivotal factor in positively influencing the potential for keyword ranking.

The acquisition of high-quality backlinks plays a pivotal role in enhancing the realistic potential for achieving favorable keyword rankings.

Final Thoughts

Talking about how realistic is it to rank for your keywords? Many things affect how likely it is that you will rank for certain keywords. The practical possibility for keyword rankings is based on the amount of competition, the importance of the content, the quality of the backlinks, the on-page optimization, and the user experience.

It's important to be patient because getting good results often takes constant, long-term work. The world of keyword results shows how important it is to have good content, optimize strategically, and change with the times as algorithms change.

It is still important for people who want to get to the top of search engine results to take a complete approach that looks at both the quality of the material and the technical aspects of optimization.

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