One of the great things about this article is that I don’t really need to persuade you into admitting the fact that keyword research is essential (you already know that).

And it remains to be one of the highest return SEO activities that can prove highly necessary for the success of your marketing efforts.

For those who don’t understand what keyword researching is (or have been living under a rock all this while) here’s a quick recap.

Keyword research refers to the process of hunting down words or phrases that people will have more chances at searching for.

Having good knowledge about these aptly named keywords can not only help boost your content strategy but can also help you double up on its marketing efforts.

The keyword research process itself might look like a pretty easy thing to do (some would even say it’s a real cakewalk). I, for one though, politely beg to differ.

Anyone one can gather up a bunch of keywords and make a good content or a post out of it (it’s not that hard, you see), however, when it comes to dealing with great keywords that can actually make for a meaningful difference.

I am of the opinion that there is a ton of more things to be had than what the concept just lets on.

The problem with keyword researching – every SEO’s nightmare.

Getting your site listed for target keywords is one of the most cost-effective methods for efficient link building.

Therefore, it’s no wonder that marketers and SEO’ers tend to spend a ton of time optimizing their sites to get better ranked in the SERP’s and critical wordings, as this can better boost their conversion rates and can, in turn, level up their profits too.

It doesn’t really matter whether you are a newbie trying to learn the ropes or is an SEO master with years’ worth of experience; the chances are that you will already be familiar with the need for conducting a keyword research process.

This particular process can inform you better about the content types that you want to be concentrating on.

In addition, it can also help you tremendously with designing SEO strategies that can actually work and boost your online organic presences – brilliant, isn’t it?

However, even with all the best tools and research techniques available out there, there are times when mistakes are bound to happen no matter what – leaving you with results that are just unsatisfying and often very annoying.

My advices to you though, avoid them, the mistakes, like the plague. And fortunately, there are plenty of great ways to do just that.

Below in this article, you’ll be finding out more about some of the common mistakes that you may be making with your SEO game.

You will also find some remarkable, quality solutions for them.

Five keyword research mistakes you might be making now (and the solutions):

1) Choosing keywords that don’t reflect the average searcher

Perhaps one of the most common SEO mistakes out there, vying for the wrong keywords or the least popular ones to use is one of the main reasons why a lot of the good websites out there don’t get the traffic levels that they are expecting to land, even though they deserve it a lot.

Always opt for a set of keywords that brings something unique to the table. However, that doesn’t mean that it needs to be too unique or too specific, as this may limit your site’s visibility.

Use keywords that are bit mainstream, but not too much either because, unlike the former, these may make the users jump through several results before they are going to land on yours. My advice?

Shoot for the middle ground. Use keywords that are both a bit mainstream and unique to you (e.g., SEO master shop, New York – location being the unique factor).

2) Plural vs. singular

A common mistake is continuously made by SEO’s all around the world; it never fails to amaze me how even the most seasoned veterans tend to fall for the plural, single keywords trap.

While I admit that they will always be different in nature, and one will never affect the other, there are times when switching between them can boost or hamper your traffic flow by a ton – depending on what the situation is.

If you are running an e-commerce site or is trying to sell off something to the users, it’s best for you to go with plural words as this can help better with your product promotions.

On the other hand, let’s say that you are trying to promote a service or your business, single words will work better since they can bring a sense of uniqueness to the table that the former cant.

3) Not focussing on the local side of things

Many SEO’s especially the newbie’s, tend to focus more on expanding their visibility to the maximum thinking that the more reach their site has, the better chances it’s going to have at being a true-blue success.

While I admit that it’s true to a certain extent, local SEO too is something that must be had your attention just the same.

Offering steady traffic flow to small-scale businesses and helping users to find better, relevant info’s near where they are.

Not having an area specific keyword can definitely prove detrimental to your local SEO game, as this would hamper your site’s chances at getting noticed despite being within the same area.

4) Auditing previously used keywords

I know that it is widely accepted that SEO is an on-going process and is something that’s never going to see the end of the day.

But how frequently do you review the pre-employed keywords to see if they are still viable and working like the day they were put there?

If a marketplace is like the web and is always shifting and turning (which it is), then it’s only natural to assume that the users searching habits too will evolve and develop over time – making keywords that were once awesome now pretty obsolete and even non-usable.

In most cases, I am of the opinion that a yearly review is enough to get the job done.

However, any period that’s shorter than this and you will run the risk of having a chaotic process that’s going to make everything harder.

That is being said though, in some fast moving and competitive markets, a regular keyword tracking may prove a ton more useful than having long termed ones.

5) Having an uneven keyword presence

Not everything is created equal, and this is even truer in the case of keywords; some are going to be quite challenging to get a ranking for, while others can prove to be a rapid win for your businesses.

In my opinion, though, the trick to seeing consistent gains from SEO strategy is going to lie with the habit of addressing all keywords despite their difficulty levels.

Be open to everything, even for those long-tailed ones.

The key here is to embrace them for what they are, and also though some of them can prove to be a hassle unlike any, they can prove extremely convenient in the long run, seeing that they would have a less of a competition to fight against.

Conclusion

An essential part of any good SEO strategy, having the right keywords at your disposal can not only ensure that you’d have a right place in the SERP’s but can also make sure that you’d get a good amount of traffic flow to your sites – something which I think every SEO’ers are looking for.

It doesn’t matter how careful and confident you may be, sooner or later, some mistakes are bound to crop up.

Above you can read about some of the standard errors an SEO would typically make.

Furthermore, I have also provided some handy tips to help you better walk around them.

If you have any questions or queries regarding keyword research, SEO, or anything along the lines, feel free to drop a comment below.