How to Find & Use Secondary Keywords to Boost Your SEO Traffic

What Are Secondary Keywords?

Secondary keywords are keywords that are intimately related to the people keyword (also known arsenic the primary keyword) a leafage is aiming to fertile for. To assistance hunt engines amended recognize what a leafage is about.

Secondary keywords are often synonyms oregon long-tail versions of the superior keyword. 

For example, a leafage targeting the keyword “improve seo” mightiness see the pursuing secondary keywords:

• “how to amended seo”
• “ways to amended seo”
• “best practices to amended seo”

Why Are Secondary Keywords Important for SEO?

Secondary keywords assistance your contented fertile higher for much applicable hunt queries. Without the request to make further pages. 

And that tin thrust much integrated postulation to your site, summation conversions, and boost gross for your business.

This has to bash with semantic search. Semantic hunt is however Google and different hunt engines construe what users benignant successful the hunt container into a query they tin recognize and match.

For instance, idiosyncratic looking for vegan recipes mightiness usage immoderate of the pursuing hunt queries:

• “vegan repast ideas”
• “vegan recipes one tin marque for my household connected a Thursday night” 

Behind the scenes, the hunt motor takes the words users benignant into the container and figures retired which pages incorporate applicable content.

They construe the connection and search intent (the crushed down the query). Then, construe it into a much communal taxable oregon phrase. 

In this case, thing similar “vegan recipes.”

That’s wherefore Google volition instrumentality akin hunt results for immoderate of these queries. Because it understands that the antithetic searchers stock the aforesaid intent.

So, including secondary keywords oregon variations tin amended your rankings for different versions of a hunt query.

What if you people the superior keyword and disregard secondary keywords?

You could fertile good for “vegan recipes.” But miss retired connected postulation from radical searching for “easy vegan recipes” and different variations. 

That means you’re limiting your wide imaginable postulation to that page.

How to Find Secondary Keywords

Let’s spell implicit 2 ways to find secondary keywords to usage successful your content:

Check Top-Ranking Pages

Start by analyzing the top-ranking pages for your people keyword. And cheque which secondary keywords they fertile for.

Here’s however to bash it utilizing our Organic Research tool:

Paste the URL of a competitor’s leafage you’d similar to analyze. Then, click “Search.”

The instrumentality volition make a report. 

Navigate to the “Positions” tab.

Scroll to the “Organic Search Positions” section. 

Here, you’ll spot each the keywords the leafage ranks for. Along with the hunt measurement and difficulty people for each.

Use the drop-down filters astatine the apical to assistance constrictive your results: 

• Search volume: Average fig of times users hunt for a circumstantial keyword implicit a 12-month period. You mightiness acceptable a minimum threshold, for example. 
• Difficulty: How hard it’ll beryllium for you to fertile highly for a fixed keyword. You mightiness privation to filter for presumption that are easier to fertile for, particularly if your tract is new.
• Search intent: The intent down a user’s search. For example, you mightiness privation to filter retired transactional presumption if the word you’re focused connected is informational.

Select circumstantial keywords by clicking the checkboxes adjacent to them and adhd them to a keyword database by clicking “+ Add to list.”

Or export the keywords arsenic a CSV oregon Excel record by clicking “Export.”

Explore New Keyword Ideas

The Keyword Magic Tool besides generates keyword ideas based connected your superior keyword. 

Here’s how:

Enter your superior keyword and domain. Then, click “Search.”

The instrumentality volition make galore keyword ideas based connected your superior keyword.

And see filtering the results based connected hunt volume, Personal Keyword Difficulty (how apt your circumstantial domain is to fertile for that keyword), hunt intent, etc.

From here, prime the keywords you’d similar to use. Add them to a keyword database successful Semrush by clicking “+ Add to list.”

Or export them to a CSV oregon XLSX record by clicking the export icon.

How to Incorporate Secondary Keywords into Your Content

Once you’ve discovered secondary keywords done keyword research, you’ll privation to adhd them to your caller oregon existing content.

How?

Incorporate each of the secondary keywords astatine slightest erstwhile wrong your text.

Keep successful caput that secondary keywords are usually adjacent variations oregon synonyms of your people keyword. It should beryllium beauteous straightforward to edit a fewer instances of your superior keyword to beryllium a secondary keyword instead. 

For example:

“Check retired these large vegan recipes” becomes “Check retired these large vegan repast ideas.”

You tin besides adhd the secondary keywords successful the pursuing spots:

• Subheadings
• Image alt text (HTML that concisely describes an image)
• Meta descriptions (HTML that provides a abbreviated leafage summary)

And support the scholar successful caput astatine each times. Which you tin bash with the beneath tips:

• Focus connected hunt intent: Remember that this hunt is apt portion of a larger travel for the user. Consider the query and the taxable of the keyword you’re targeting. But besides see topics that volition beryllium invaluable arsenic users research further.
• Don’t over-optimize: Keyword stuffing means overusing keywords to effort to amended SEO. It’s a atrocious signifier that applies to some superior and secondary keywords. So, don’t cram secondary keywords into your article—keyword density isn’t a ranking origin anyway.
• Use keywords naturally: Secondary keywords should ever heighten the reader’s understanding. If you find yourself forcing the presumption into a condemnation oregon disrupting the content’s travel and clarity, effort adding them elsewhere. 
• Consider context: Use secondary keywords wherever it makes sense. For instance, you whitethorn not privation to usage a synonym erstwhile introducing the explanation of your people term. But you could explicate that the word successful question is sometimes referred to successful different ways.
• Remember your superior keyword: Secondary keywords are valuable, but instrumentality to your superior keyword successful captious spots. Like the title tag, headings, and regular occurrences passim the assemblage content.

Use a instrumentality similar the SEO Writing Assistant to rapidly optimize your content.

Click “Content Marketing” > “SEO Writing Assistant” from the navigation. Then, click “Analyze new text.”

Paste your database of superior and secondary keywords into the “Keywords” substance container connected the right. Then, click “Get recommendations.”

The SEO Writing Assistant volition people immoderate contented you make based connected readability, SEO, originality, and code of voice. 

In the right-hand sidebar, you’ll get circumstantial suggestions for improving and optimizing your content. Based connected the keywords you’re targeting. 

You tin besides constitute contented successful Google Docs oregon Microsoft Word. Then, paste your draught into the SEO Writing Assistant erstwhile done. 

Alternatively, install the SWA add-on to get the aforesaid recommendations portion penning successful Google Docs.

Next, we’ll enactment immoderate important differences betwixt keyword terms.

How Secondary Keywords Differ from Other Types of Keywords

Related keywords (so-called latent semantic indexing keywords) are not the same arsenic secondary keywords. 

While “latent semantic indexing keywords” is simply a misnomer, it refers to the conception of related keywords. 

Related keywords (or related terms) are words and phrases associated with your superior keyword oregon topic. But they’re not needfully adjacent variations oregon synonyms. 

For instance, “tofu” is related to “vegan recipes.” 

A batch of contented discussing vegan recipes references the usage of tofu. 

So, it’s decidedly a bully SEO signifier to usage related keywords successful your content. 

It helps awesome nonfiction prime and topical depth. Search engines similar Google (and users) astir apt expect astir broad articles astir vegan recipes to notation the connection “tofu” astatine immoderate point.

But beryllium alert that utilizing the connection “tofu” successful your vegan look nonfiction apt won’t assistance you fertile for “tofu.” Because the intent is precise different.

To fertile for related keywords, you’ll request to make a unsocial leafage oregon portion of contented targeting that word (and its secondary keywords).

Further reading: Semantic Keywords: What They Are and How to Find Them

Secondary Keywords vs. Long-Tail Keywords

These are besides not the aforesaid thing. 

Long-tail keywords are much circumstantial keywords (often with little hunt volumes). In opposition to short-tail keywords (also called caput terms) that mostly denote wide topics with precocious hunt volumes.

Because long-tail keywords are much specific, users typing successful these hunt presumption whitethorn beryllium much apt to instrumentality action. Like completing a signifier oregon making a purchase.

Whether a word is simply a long-tail keyword oregon a short-tail keyword has nary effect connected whether it’s superior oregon secondary. These are conscionable abstracted ways of categorizing and utilizing keywords successful your SEO strategy. 

Let’s explicate this amended with an example. 

A keyword similar “homemade java filters” could beryllium considered long-tail. It’s much circumstantial than the short-tail keyword “coffee filters.” Right?

But you could inactive usage “homemade java filters” arsenic your superior keyword. Identifying it arsenic long-tail doesn’t mean it can’t besides beryllium a superior keyword. These categories are neither mutually exclusive nor mutually inclusive.

The secondary keywords successful this lawsuit would beryllium adjacent much circumstantial terms. Like “homemade filters for percolator java pots.” 

Use Secondary Keywords to Boost Your Organic Traffic

Using secondary keywords passim your contented tin assistance your pages fertile for aggregate keywords. And let you to thrust much integrated postulation to your website.

And they’re casual to find.

Use Semrush’s Organic Research and Keyword Magic Tool to uncover secondary keywords you tin adhd to your contented today.