shutterstock 129272297 520x245 A guide to getting everlasting traffic with keyword research

Denis Duvauchelle is CEO and co-founder of Twoodo, helping your team organize itself using simple #hashtags.


When you look at any of the thought leaders in marketing and copywriting, read any top keyword research guide (from Hubspot, Copyblogger, Moz) they will all tell you the same thing: You gotta get your keyword research right.

What will keyword research impact on?

  • SEO
  • SEM
  • social media activity
  • customer discovery
  • getting the right people into the funnel
  • branding

Why? Language links to identity. You need to know the language your (potential) customers are using. If you do not use similar language, you cannot attract more and will alienate the ones you have.

We are a team collaboration tool. We found that amongst others we appealed to people interested in the GTD (Getting Things Done) movement after our keyword research. Sure, it had crossed our minds but we assumed it was not that important.

Language is a tool you can use to build data about your ideal users, where they are, how to find them and how to attract them. The language you use impacts the copywriting of your website, email transactions, tweets, blog posts, press releases, customer support messages.

People identify with the things they use – here are some amazing survey results about iPhones, Androids and Blackberry users:

  • iPhone users are quite vain and travel more
  • Android users are good cooks, work longer hours and drink more
  • Blackberry users are richer and eat out the most

…and without having to go into detail, you can instantly imagine the ads for each of these products and nod in agreement. Apple appealing to the vain? Blackberry appealing to the business class? Yes, that sounds right.

These companies got their language right. They got their keywords right. This allowed them to target the people who would get the most value out of their products.

This is customer discovery at its most primitive stage. And a lot of people get it wrong.

Validate your assumptions with keyword research

Let’s start by mentioning a few well-known facts. You are not going to rank for a singular word. If you are selling wine online, you are not going to rank for “wine.” It’s going to be at least a two-word phrase, if not more.

As a newcomer, you will have to get a) specific and b) creative with your keyword targeting.

Specific: To target the exact niche.

Creative: Say it in a way that still makes sense to the core product.

It’s harder than it looks.

Let’s make a hypothetical case study for “tailored suits.” Don’t forget to use quotation marks at all times in your search to keep the search accurate.

Next: Step-by-step guide