Don't Waste Time on the Wrong Search Terms

Did you know that almost 10,000 people in the USA search Google for the term "click here to join the meeting" every month?

There's a reason you should care.

Why Search Intent Is Critical

You might be thinking "who would type that into Google?"

As it turns out, this is one of the most competitive search terms on the web, clocking in at 96 out of 100 for difficulty in getting ranked. It's virtually impossible to unseat the incumbent top 10 listings that are dominated by Microsoft, GoToMeeting, Google and Zoom.

So just what are these people looking for?

Google knows that those searching on this phrase are most likely looking for support from one of the popular meeting tool providers so it displays their links to join meetings or read a support page.

You can see it in their top 10 listings.

In other words, Google knows the intent of the term.

And this little tidbit of insight can help you increase your rankings.

Intent: The Forgotten Search Term Strategy

When most companies think about content to write, they skip the keyword research phase of the process, saying it's too time consuming or the data is too expensive. Or they might feel they know what keywords to pursue because of their industry knowledge.

Big mistake.

Knowing the search intent is a critical part of getting your keyword selection right.

For example:

• The term "data backup" sounds like a great option for IT companies - many tell me they would love to rank for it.
• But that's never going to happen.
• Because if you look at who Google displays in their top 10 rankings, it's large IT vendors who build data backup products, not local IT service providers.

By simply looking at Google's page 1 search results, you can see if the current top 10 listings are companies like yours. If they're not, Google will not rank you on page 1 because their data determined that people searching on the term have an intent that's unrelated to your type of business.

Finding Your Buyer's Intent

Tweak your target term by adding clarifying words or a location.

Examples of words that clarify intent:

• software
• platform
• services
• coach
• consultant
• new york
• north london

When you refine your target search term until you see your actual competitors in Google's top 10, you know you have found alignment between the products and services you offer and what Google's data shows as search intent.

And that's the keyword you want to write about and embed throughout your content. It's that simple.

• PRO TIP: If you have access to keyword search data, you can continue to refine your target search term to find one with decent search volume and low difficulty. You can get ranked for these terms faster and build your site's authority for higher difficulty terms.

If you're cranking out content but not getting SEO traction, you might be on the content marketing hamster wheel. Start with search intent research.

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