How to use the Basic SERP to figure out what keywords to target

[DDWeddings]

I'm looking at the SERP report trying to figure out what keywords I should try to rank for and I am having difficulty understanding if I could be competitive in the space.

For example I have a new website that has a PA1 and DA1 rank I plan on developing great content and then working on securing quality backlinks for that content. In order to start this process I'm doing my keyword research and I am finding keywords, both short and longtail that I would like to target via Google Keyword Planner.

I'm punching them in to see the competition and SERP. This is where I fall short. How do I use this information to identify or rule out what to pursue. I guess I am looking for some criteria or guide to help me begin to figure out or filter out what is the best keyword to pursue that will give me the best odds of success.

If anyone can help me I would be eternally greatfull. We are a small company (startup) and it is up to me to make this work.

YES - I have read everything that I can find - guides, and I have not run accross an answer.

Thanks in advance

[DDWeddings]

Thank you VERY much for your response... This is extremely helpful.

I will apply this ideology and hopefully we will see some results.

[evolvingSEO]

I think you're having trouble because there's really three criteria to evaluate this on. Link authority, quality and relevance. In your situation you need to find a keyword where the current results are low in at least two of those areas. In other words - right now - you'e not going to win against high link authority and high quality. Let me break down each:

Link Authority - this you already know about. Domain Authority helps assess this. It's basically the ranking power of a site/page based upon backlinks.

Quality - this is how good the current results are at fulfilling the query with quality information. This can only be judged by a human eye - meaning - you have to look at each result as a topic expert and ask yourself - can I do better? Open times I'll see pages with high link authority but the content is low quality. This is still a hole in opportunity. Lack of quality can also be due to the fact it's not written by a true expert. Old content ranking can also be "low quality" as well.

Relevance - something can be high quality and have high domain authority, but just not be a relevance match. In other words - maybe the search is "Dominican Republic Weddings" but the result is about "Dominican Republic Events". This is a slight mismatch and also an opportunity.

Link/keyword tools can give you "link authority" but not many really measure quality or relevance that well - this is where your human eye comes in.

So... you need to find a SERP with a gap in at least two of those. Low DA and low relevance. Low relevance and low quality. You get the idea

I would suggest making a quick spreadsheet and mark each keyword with the volume etc (the usual metrics) but assign a quality and relevance score based upon your judgement.

Now - this isn't magic of course - your content has to be the best and you have to do some promotion etc - but it's definitely the approach I would take for choosing keywords.

[RobCairns]

Hi there,

From what you are describing, I would use a personal favourite of mine - Keyword Finder (www.kwfinder.com).

It is terrific for national keyword research and will give you a heads up on commercial keywords to target (the ones you have listed above) and LSI keywords for contextual ranking.

It also provides a list of domains that are currently ranking for your chosen keywords along with their SEO and social media metrics. This allows you to conduct further competitor analysis to determine what you will have to do to compete.

It works in multiple languages and can cover any geographical area you are targeting. Gives you competition ratings for keywords both in the organic and PPC spheres. It's a pretty great tool and one that I use regularly.

Hope this gives you another option and best of luck moving forward!

Let me know if I can be of further help,

Rob

[DDWeddings]

It helps.. Thanks for responding. I guess I am looking for validation and trying not to have paralysis by analysis. It's difficult to come up with a process that I can use to filter out all the noise. For example... (we are a expats located in the Dominican republic targeting those who require wedding planning services) Our audience is North America

If I have to choose between the following:

Dominican Republic Weddings - Difficulty 33% and search vol 390 V.S
Planning a destination Wedding - Difficulty 50% search vol 480
Average cost of a destination wedding - Difficulty 31% search vol 170

Thanks for your help

<colgroup><col width="273"> <col width="107"> <col width="83"></colgroup>
|   |   |   |

[solvid]

Hi,

It's quite challenging to give any heads up as we don't know what your business is about and what do you sell/provide.

Google Keyword Planner can give you a solid understanding of the search volume and competitiveness of specific keywords. You can also use MOZs keyword difficulty tool which also specifiles the competitiveness of a specific keyword.

I think you should target keywords that are most relevant to your business as oppose to "most searched" keywords. As your website is new, it will be super challenging to rank for high volume keywords, therefore, you should focus more on long tail keywords that are highly relevant to your business.

Hope this help!