Keyword Research Tips for a Successful SEO Strategy 

Looking for keyword research tips for enterprise-level SEO strategy? While many SEO best practices can be applied generally, larger companies need to think carefully when putting together a winning strategy.

If your business comfortably falls underneath the enterprise banner, you’ll need more than conventional keyword tactics to improve rankings. An enterprise website will invariably include dozens of subdomains. Each of these pages needs to be optimized with rich content. Businesses will also likely be adding to their websites regularly, requiring constant SEO research to ensure content is competitive.

Thankfully, enterprise SEO is built upon the same fundamentals as smaller businesses. However, when it comes to carrying out keyword research, there are some extra considerations. Below are 10 essential keyword research tips to consider when putting together a successful enterprise SEO strategy.

  1. Streamline Keyword Research with a Site Map

Is your site particularly expansive? If your online platform is loaded with different topics that each require optimized keywords, segmenting your research makes sense. Breaking down your research into manageable projects is one of the best keyword tips for enterprise-level organizations.

With this approach, you can maintain focus when searching for the best keywords for your campaign. However, it also allows you to divide work between teams in larger organizations. To make effective use of your time, create a template for keyword research. Create sections that call for specific keywords relating to your business products, services, and location.

Many enterprise-level companies avoid in-house SEO research projects because of the size of the undertaking. However, by segmenting your site and making use of a user-friendly keyword template, you streamline the process considerably. Once a research topic has been completed, you can immediately implement findings before moving on to tackle the next topic.

  1. The Importance of Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis is one of the cornerstones of SEO Keyword research. There’s no point in committing to a time-consuming SEO project if you’ve not taken the time to research the competition. Enterprise-level companies tend to face stiffer competition than smaller organizations, especially if they’re operating in a crowded market.

One of the best keyword research tips for carrying out competitor analysis is to use crawler tools. The best SEO software will allow you to carry out quick crawls of competitors’ websites, letting you see how well they’re doing.

When using crawler tools, make sure you’re filtering out irrelevant branded keywords and focusing on topic-specific ones instead. You should also avoid focusing too much on keywords in high positions. Bear in mind that keyword rankings change over time. It’s far better to look for keywords with a higher overall search volume. These will prove the most beneficial to you in the short term.

  1. Bolster Existing Pages with Additional Keywords

This is a useful keyword research tip if your website is on the large side, but lacking in any real depth. When building a website from scratch, many businesses go overboard when adding subdomains. This may seem like it’s giving your business a professional edge, but the impression is only superficial.

The fact is, that websites with countless pages are often lacking in any real content. If your current website is guilty of unnecessary sprawl, take the time to review what’s there. If you’re finding that many pages are thin on the ground, focus on expanding this with relevant SEO keywords.

Once you’ve carried out a crawl of your nonperforming pages, you can start transforming them with useful content. The obvious benefit here is that your site will then stand a better chance of being found by your target audience. However, content-rich pages will also improve user experience, increasing your conversation rates.

  1. Secure Quick Wins with Page Two Keywords

If you’re an enterprise-level organization, you’ll find it much easier to achieve high rankings with competitive keywords. However, these wins may not be immediately forthcoming. If you’re looking for quick wins while your long-term campaign simmers away in the background, target page two keywords.

Once you’ve selected some page two keywords to tackle, pushing them onto the first page is relatively easy. Even if these lower-ranked keywords aren’t massively relevant, they’ll demonstrate the effectiveness of your SEO campaign. If you’re reporting to higher-ups, these hassle-free ranking improvements should satisfy demands as you focus your skills elsewhere.

  1. Use Suggested Searches for Keyword Research Tips

This is a keyword research tip that many people overlook. However, it’s one of the simplest ways to glean additional insights to enhance your SEO efforts. To get started, simply start carrying out Google searches of your most competitive keywords. How the first search engine results page looks can inform how you continue your research.

Consider how much of this first page is taken up by website links. If a substantial portion of the page is populated by suggested searches and questions, take the time to read through all of them. These sections are a goldmine for those looking to target keyword clusters their research projects may have missed.

This information is also incredibly useful for those wondering about how to properly structure page content. Pay attention to first page results if you need guidance on things like headers, or simply want to get an idea of the kind of depth your content should have.

  1. Streamline the Process with Automated Tools

Enterprise businesses tend to have access to larger teams that can be put to work on SEO strategies. However, more manpower doesn’t necessarily make things easier. If you’re struggling to keep track of multiple workflows and individual projects, automated tools can make your life easier.

If your SEO strategy is being worked on multiple teams, make sure all of your data analysis is being effectively managed in central spreadsheets and documents. You’ll also want to be able to share these readily between departments. Automated tools will make managing an SEO strategy far easier.

They’re particularly useful in ensuring everyone is on the same page when it comes to keyword research. When it comes to monitoring the performance of implemented keywords and content, they’re also a must. As your campaign evolves, automated tools can be used to allocate individual projects and track progress.

  1. Enhance Your Campaign with Customer Insights

One of the advantages of being a bigger business is having access to a large customer base. Enterprise-level companies often utilize market research to improve products and services, but it can also help you redefine your SEO strategy.

Smaller businesses tend to lack the infrastructure to carry out market research. As a larger enterprise, you have no excuse for failing to tap into this insight-rich resource. From a technical standpoint, you can utilize conversion rates to see what’s working. However, you’ll also want to liaise with customer service teams to discuss complaints they might be receiving regularly.

If you have the resources, you can also carry out more targeted market research. Once you’ve spotlighted significant customer bugbears, you can tailor questionnaires to identify ways to improve. Your findings will provide you with useful keyword research tips, while also informing future content creation projects. 

  1. Don’t Overlook the Importance of International Keywords

English may be a global language, but don’t forget to localize content when dealing in other territories. Many enterprise companies are operating in international markets, but few are prepared for the unique SEO challenges awaiting them.

If you’re running multiple websites in different languages, keep them separate from your English SEO strategy. First, make sure you’ve filtered out foreign-language sites when carrying out keyword research. You can return to these at a later point once you’ve nailed your English SEO campaign.

Although your English SEO strategy can serve as a useful lead for international efforts, you’ll need to utilize the input of native speakers. Large companies may have dedicated SEO teams based on each territory they’re operating in. If your company doesn’t, consider utilizing local marketing or sales teams to help optimize your content. They can provide insights on location-specific challenges, while also overseeing the translation of useful English content.

  1. Be Wary of Branded Keywords

Your brand is important. Branded keywords are a crucial part of any SEO strategy, but they also have the potential to damage your reputation.

It’s recommended that you carry out searches of your brand name and relevant keywords regularly. Ideally, you’ll want to see your company ranking highly for the most desirable keywords. However, you may also find that these search terms are bringing up things like negative reviews and unflattering write-ups.

You can’t do anything to remove these searches from result pages. Instead, see what this content is saying about your business and identity room for improvement. If your customer support performance is being flagged, do something about it. If customer satisfaction is suffering because of second-rate product information, focus on improving descriptions.

Once you’ve made these simple changes, you can utilize a more savvy SEO strategy to push unwanted results further down the page. In no time at all, you’ll have taken back control of your brand reputation.

  1. Enterprise Companies Can Learn a Lot from Smaller Businesses

Even the largest company can learn lessons from smaller enterprises. At a local level, it’s not uncommon for comparatively small competitors to be outperforming larger enterprises. When it comes to competitor analysis, don’t dismiss smaller companies from your research. You’re likely to find some useful local keyword research tips that you can more effectively utilize.

Smaller businesses are more agile when it comes to adapting their SEO strategies. If you’re to maintain an edge at a local level, keeping an eye on what these smaller competitors are doing is crucial. Just because a company is modest in size doesn’t mean it’s not worth investigating. When carrying out an audit of a smaller competitor, approach with the same focus you would with a market heavyweight.

Final Thoughts

Undertaking keyword research for an enterprise-level website can seem like an uphill task. The prospect is even more overwhelming when you need to research more than one website. However, you can streamline your SEO efforts by following the keyword research tips outlined above.

If you’re starting from scratch, make sure you’re breaking down your strategy into manageable projects. Allocating content pages to multiple teams shouldn’t be an issue for larger companies. Make use of automated tools to ensure everyone is on the same page and different workflows are monitored and effectively managed.

Content Audits and Competitor Analysis

Is your current content looking a little thin? Before adding additional subdomains to an enterprise website, think about nurturing existing ones with relevant content. If you enjoy a healthy slice of the market, capitalize on this customer base. Market research will flag existing issues and allow you to make quick changes for instant wins.

Finally, competitor analysis will provide you with a treasure trove of keyword insights. In addition to weighing up the performance of industry heavy hitters, explore what smaller businesses are doing. You may be leagues ahead in terms of sales volumes, but smaller companies can teach enterprise-level businesses plenty about local SEO.

AUTHOR BIO:

Ian Carroll is the owner of Digital Funnel, a Digital Marketing agency that specializes in SEO in Cork and SEO in Dublin alongside Web Design. Ian and his team have helped numerous local businesses increase their online presence.

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