Keyword Mapping Explained: 10-Step Guide + Useful Tips

In the fast-changing world of digital marketing, it’s really important for businesses to show up in search engine results in order to be successful online. Keyword mapping is an important part of this work, as it helps improve website content for search engines in a structured way.

At its center, keyword mapping is about carefully choosing the right words for each web page or piece of content based on what people are searching for and how they behave online. By using the right words on their website, businesses can make it easier for people to find them in online searches.

This process makes sure that each page is aimed at the right searches and helps make the website easier to use. In this post, we explore keyword mapping to help businesses improve their online presence. We will discuss the steps to do it, and how it can benefit businesses.

What is Keyword Mapping?

Keyword mapping means connecting the keywords to the content on your website. This helps your content marketing plan by focusing on topics that are important to your target audience at different stages of their decision-making process.

SEO service providers use keyword mapping to strategically enhance the effectiveness of SEO campaigns for their clients, ensuring optimal visibility and search rankings.

It helps to make your current pages clear and makes it easier to come up with new ideas for creating content on the website. It’s like making a map or giving directions so that Google and people can find their way around a website.

Making a template will help your content team get all the information they need more easily. Adding a keyword map in your spreadsheet can help everyone understand the document better.

The goal is to use different keywords on each page and not repeat the same keyword on multiple pages, which is called keyword cannibalization. If you have two of your own pages trying to show up on search engines for the same word, it can make it harder for people to find your website.

Keyword mapping is an important part of making a webpage better for search engines. It helps Google and other search engines understand the content, so they can show it to people who are looking for that information. If you don’t do this, your plan won’t be organized and you’ll miss out on many chances to use keywords.

Keyword mapping helps you plan your SEO strategy. It can also show you how your website is doing right now. This can be useful when you are planning for future marketing campaigns, updating your website, or coming up with new content ideas.

Before you can make a good plan to improve your website’s search engine ranking, you need to know how it’s doing right now. It’s important to know how your website looks to search engines and what words it’s associated with.

How to Create a Keyword Map?

When you are checking a website’s SEO, it’s good to make a keyword map early on. It’s usually included in the technical part of an SEO check. When checking for technical SEO issues, search for mistakes and the things listed below:

• Where is the website currently placed in the rankings?
• What are the most popular pages?
• Where does the natural traffic come from?

When choosing keywords for SEO, our experts suggest starting with the pages that get the most traffic. You can zoom out and see a map of all the pages on your website. You don’t need to finish the entire keyword map for your whole site all at once.

It can take a long time, especially because each page needs to have a main and a secondary keyword, depending on how specialized your industry is. Your map can be simple or very detailed, depending on how much information you want to include. Many times, the keyword maps we make have columns for:

• Title of the page
• Web address
• Primary keyword
• Primary keyword volume
• Secondary keyword
• Title tag
• Status
• Priority
• Meta description
• Notes

Next, let’s see how to create a keyword map.

Also Read: How Long Does SEO Take to Update After I Changed Something on My Site?

Step 1: Decide Your Primary Goal and Focus on That

Be clear and specific when selecting keywords. By figuring out what you want your website or content to achieve and using the right keywords, you can improve your SEO and this helps people to easily find you online.

Figure out exactly what you want to achieve with the keyword map. Are you making it for SEO, content planning, or market research? This makes sure your content reaches the right people and gives them useful information. This will help your website show up higher on search engines and bring in more visitors.

Step 2: Find Out the Audience You Want to Attract

Understanding the people you want to attract is crucial when choosing keywords. By doing a lot of research to find out who your audience is and what they like to search for, you can pick the right words that match their interests and what they are looking for.

This makes sure that your content matches what your audience wants and expects, which helps to get more people interested and coming to your website. In the end, using the right keywords that match what your audience is searching for makes your SEO plan work better.

Step 3: Come Up With Seed Keywords

Make a list of important words related to your topic or industry. These big words show the most important topics you should pay attention to. Seed keywords are the starting point for finding and connecting other related keywords to certain pages on a website.

By finding important words related to your business, industry, products, or services, you can figure out which keywords to focus on when planning your strategy. They help you make a bigger list of keywords and make your content better for search engines. By thinking carefully and doing research, you can find important words that match your goals and bring the right people to your website.

Step 4: Find More Keywords for Increased Traffic

Utilize tools like Semrush, Google Keyword Planner, or Ahrefs to find more keywords for your list. These tools help us understand how many people are searching for something, how many others are trying to compete for the same thing, and what other words are similar to the thing we are searching for.

Search for keywords that are longer and more specific, and have less competition. By using different keywords and linking them to different pages on your website, you can make your website more easily found on search engines and get more people to visit it without paying for ads.

Step 5: Create Keyword Groups

Sort your words into groups based on how well they relate to each other. This will help organize your list of keywords and make it easier to understand and prioritize them later.

By putting similar words together, you can make your SEO plan better and improve your website content.

This method helps to better organize and focus on specific keywords on each page of your website. It ensures that each page is optimized for a certain group of related keywords. Organizing keywords into groups makes it easier to see how well they are doing.

This helps you find patterns, see what’s working, and figure out how to make your SEO better. In the end, keyword groups help make your website more relevant and easier to find in search engine results.

Step 6: Understand Keyword Search Intent

Think about what each keyword is trying to communicate. Are people looking for information, wanting to buy something, or trying to find a solution to a problem? Make sure your keywords match what stage the buyer is in and create content that fits what the user is looking for.

By matching words to the different steps in the buyer’s journey, you can customize your content to answer people’s questions and help them reach their goals. Understanding keyword search intent means making sure that your content matches what users are looking for, which leads to more people interacting with it and taking action.

Step 7: Decide the Keywords to Target

Why are the keywords important and how much are they worth? You can figure this out by checking how many times they are searched for, how many other people are using them, and how much they relate to your business’s main objective.

Focus on using popular words that are searched for a lot and have less competition, and make sure they match what people are looking for to get quality visitors to your website.

By doing this, you can use your resources well and get the most out of your SEO efforts.

This method makes sure that you focus on using the most effective keywords to bring more people to your website and get them to interact and make purchases. Choosing the most important keywords helps you plan better and improve your content so that it appears higher in search results.

Step 8: Map Keywords to Your Content

Link each word to a certain page or content on your website. Use these words to make current content better or plan new content. Once you know what your target audience wants and what you want to achieve with marketing, you should find the pages that help with those goals.

Begin with the pages that have the most people visiting them naturally. They have the best chance to rank well now and in the future. This process includes finding the important keywords for each page based on how related they are, how many people search for them, and how many other websites are using them. 

By matching words to what’s on your website, you can make it better for people to find things and use it. This plan also helps search engines know how important your content is to people’s searched questions. As a result, it makes your website more visible and higher in search results.

Step 9: Monitor and Update Your Keywords

Keep an eye on how your keywords are doing by using tools like Google Analytics or other software. Keep track of how well your web pages are doing, how many people are visiting your site from search engines, and how many visitors are turning into customers.

Use this information to find ways to make your website better, and adjust the keywords you are using to attract more visitors. This ongoing process helps you keep up with changes in what people are searching for, how they behave online, and the trends in your industry.

This helps you change your keyword strategy to stay competitive. By changing your keywords using the information you’ve collected, you can make sure that your SEO work continues to be useful and matches with the changes in search engine algorithms and what people are looking for.

Step 10: Iterate and Refine Your Keyword Mapping

Finding the best keywords is something that continues over time. Keep updating and refining your list of keywords because search trends and user behaviors can change suddenly. Keep track of news in the industry, check out what the competition is doing, and gather feedback from customers to make sure your keyword map is still useful.

This process allows you to try out different word combinations, see how well they work, and make changes based on data to improve your SEO. By improving how you choose and use keywords on your website, you can make it easier for people to find your site on search engines.

Don’t forget, a keyword map is a flexible tool that should change as your business and target audience change. Make sure to keep your website updated so that you can be ahead of your competition and get more people to visit your website.

Also Read: How to Grow Your Startup Business With SEO

Benefits of Keyword Mapping

Keyword mapping is a plan for how to use certain words to make your website show up in online searches. It shows you how your website is doing now and helps you plan for future advertising, changes to your website, or new ideas for pages or content.

When keyword mapping is done right, it helps a website to become more knowledgeable, trustworthy, and respected by both search engines and users. Once you begin, you can use keyword mapping to get these benefits.

Better Visibility on Search Engines

Keyword mapping helps to find the best keywords that will bring in more of the right kind of people to a website. You can use this information to choose the best keywords for meta tags, headings, and content to make them more visible and relevant.

For instance, linking the words “top men’s running shoes” to a particular product page on your online store. This helps you improve the page’s content and meta tags so more people can find it in searches.

Improved User Experience

Matching the content with what people are searching for helps to keep them interested, spend more time on the website, and makes them more likely to take action. You’re giving people the information they’re looking for, so it’s easier for them to find what they need.

For example, if you have a blog about healthy food, using the keyword “vegan lunch recipes” in a blog post will attract people looking for simple vegan lunch ideas. By satisfying what the user is looking for, you make their experience better.

Increase Conversion Rates

Looking at the words people use in searches can help you know which ones to use on your website to improve its ranking. This means using specific words on your website to attract more potential buyers who are ready to make a purchase.

For instance, if you have a website that offers digital marketing services, you can make a landing page better for the keyword “email marketing agency”. This means you connect the keyword to a landing page and make its page title, headings, and content better so it shows up for people who are close to making a purchase.

Consistent Brand Message

Do you have a message you want to tell everyone about your brand? We hope you do. By choosing the most important words for your brand, you can make sure your website has a clear and consistent message.

For example, if you have a clothing company that is known for making clothes in an environmentally friendly way, you can choose words that connect to pages about being sustainable, using eco-friendly materials, and making clothes ethically. In this way, your brand’s promise to protect the environment is always talked about everywhere on your website.

Optimize Your Content Strategy

Is your content strategy the best it can be? Tools like Google Search Console and Semrush can help you find out that the keyword “digital marketing ideas in 2024” is searched a lot and not very competitive, and it matches what your audience is looking for.

Researching keywords and looking at data can help you see what’s good and where you could do better. You can use this information to make useful and detailed content that will bring more natural visitors to your brand. This will help to establish your brand as an expert in the field.

Mistakes to Avoid in Keyword Mapping

The biggest mistake in keyword mapping is choosing keywords without knowing what your audience wants. This causes a few different results.

• Mapping based only on how many times a word is searched
• Mapping based on words that don’t fit with the topics important to your audience

Another mistake is trying to use a keyword for every page on the website. Not all pages are equally important for your marketing goals, and not all of them need to focus on a specific keyword. Only the most important pages need to do that.

Also it is a mistake to make content without a main keyword and a plan for the content. Just making a webpage for a certain word isn’t enough. You also need more content for other related words and links within the page.

To prevent this, use keyword research to find your most important keywords, then check which pages on your website are already ranking for these keywords. Find ways to make the website better so it shows up higher in search results.

If the website doesn’t have certain keywords, make new content that includes those keywords. Using links in your website and choosing the right words for those links is important when planning out your keywords and content. Be sure to use the keywords you want the pages to show up for in the links to those pages.

Is it possible to Create Keyword Maps for Large Sites?

Some websites are very big and have many pages, like major ecommerce stores. When you’re doing SEO for big business and online store websites, there might be times when many pages show up in search results for the same word.

For instance, Amazon might have different web pages that show up when people search for “badminton rackets,” such as a page for all badminton rackets, a page for the most popular ones, and a page for men’s badminton rackets.

This is a problem because it makes them have to fight for the same search result, which can cause many problems. For example:

Confusing search engines: If your website has many pages that focus on the same keywords, it can be hard for search engines to determine which page is the most important for those keywords. This could make it harder for people to find your website in search results because the signals that determine rankings are spread out.

Competing with yourself: If many pages are trying to rank for the same keyword, they can end up hurting each other’s rankings. Instead of one page being at the top for a word, several pages might not be as high or not appear at all. This makes it harder for people to see and visit your website.

Bad user experience: Keyword cannibalization can make it hard for users to understand. If a person searches and finds many pages from your website, how will they know which one to pick? This could make more people leave the site quickly and not interact as much.

Low conversion rates: When different pages on your website focus on the same keyword, they may have different goals for getting people to take action. This can make it hard for users to know what to do. Simply put, you will have fewer people purchasing your product or service.

Resource wastage: You used up time and money making and promoting many pages for the same keyword. It’s useless to have these pages because they will compete with each other for rankings, therefore wasting your time and money.

Tips for Mapping Keywords for Ecommerce Stores

At the enterprise level, it’s hard to use different keywords for each page if the content is very similar and being created automatically and checked. In this situation, you can check less important pages to decide if you should keep them in the search results.

It’s hard to keep track of all the pages on your website and the keywords they focus on. But, we strongly suggest using keyword mapping to keep track of everything. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Use Seasonal Trends

Some products may sell more at certain times of the year or when there are special events happening. Study old information and use keyword search tools to find words that are popular at certain times of the year and related to your products.

By using words that relate to the time of year in your mapping plan, you can take advantage of times when people want products the most and improve how your products show up when people search for seasonal items.

Optimize Titles and Descriptions

Make sure your product titles and descriptions have the right keywords. Write about your products using clear, detailed language to show their advantages and how they are used. Include specific keywords too.

Don’t use too many keywords in your writing. Focus on making it easy to read and enjoyable for the people reading it. Improved product titles and descriptions help people find the product online and give them helpful information.

Use Long-Tail Keywords

These longer and more specific phrases may not be searched for as much, but they often result in more sales or inquiries. Use specific keywords in your strategy to reach smaller groups of people and get good leads.

Long-tail keywords show that people are ready to buy and can help you find customers looking for specific products or solutions. Use tools to find words related to your products and add them to your listings and content.

Optimize Category Pages

Make sure to improve your online store’s category pages as well as the individual product listings. These pages usually focus on general keywords that are related to types of products or smaller categories.

Make sure that the titles, descriptions, and headers on category pages have the right keywords so that users can find them easily on search engines. Add detailed and keyword-filled information on category pages to give useful details to both people and search engines.

Study Competitor Keywords

Find out the keywords your competitors are using and find ways to be different from them. Use SEO tools and keyword research platforms to check what keywords your competitors are using and how well they are doing.

Search for places where there aren’t many options and try to use words that will help you stand out from others. By finding what keywords your competitors are using and changing your strategy, you can keep up with them in online business and make your keyword plans better.

Wrapping Up

By using the right words that people are looking for, putting them on the right web pages, and improving their strategies based on how well they’re doing, companies can make themselves more popular online, attract the right kinds of visitors, and get more people to take action.

As search engines change and people’s habits online change, figuring out which keywords to use is a process that keeps changing. It needs to be constantly checked and improved. Understanding keyword mapping helps businesses to remain competitive in the digital world and find new opportunities for growth and success online.

Creating a keyword map for your website can seem overwhelming, just like an SEO audit.

Once you understand what to do, what you want to achieve, and what information you need, you can create a keyword map to help you in the future.

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