What Are Secondary Keywords?
Secondary keywords are keywords that are closely related to the primary keyword. They are often synonyms, subtopics, and long-tail keyword variations of the primary keyword.
Content published on the web is typically optimized for one primary keyword (also called a Fokus-Schlüsselwort) and several secondary keywords. While the primary keyword represents the page’s main topic, the secondary keywords capture synonyms, variations, and other related terms the visitor will be interested in.
This leads to increased visibility on Suchergebnisseiten, as you can rank for Schlüsselwörter outside your primary keyword. Sometimes, you may even discover that your content ranks better for one or more secondary keywords than the primary one.
Importance of Secondary Keywords
Secondary keywords allow bloggers to expand the reach and relevance of their content beyond the primary keyword. This allows the content to rank for a wider range of search terms than usual.
Beyond the SEO benefits, secondary keywords also improve the depth and quality of your content. They encourage you to address related questions and subtopics, making your pages more comprehensive and valuable to readers.
This improves the user experience for visitors by providing them with a comprehensive overview of the topic. This ultimately helps to establish you as an authority on the topic or niche.
Secondary keywords also help to prevent SEO issues like keyword stuffing und keyword cannibalization, which can easily occur when your content is only optimized for one keyword.
This ensures your content is comprehensive and natural. It also helps to build trust with your audience and prevents potential manual action penalties search engines may impose on your site.
How to Find Secondary Keywords for Your Content
You should have found your secondary keywords during your Stichwortforschung. However, if you didn’t, follow the steps below to uncover them. You should also refer to this guide on performing keyword research.
1 Adding Modifiers to the Primary Keyword
You can easily create secondary keywords by adding modifiers to the primary keyword. Modifiers are words that add meaning to your primary keyword.
For example, if your primary keyword is Yoga-Posen, you can add modifiers like “best” to form best yoga poses. Similarly, you can add “for beginners” to create yoga poses for beginners.
Modifying a primary keyword requires some brainstorming. For the best results, you should imagine yourself as a searcher and enter the search terms you will actually search for.
2 Google-Autovervollständigung
Google-Autovervollständigung is a feature that predicts the search term you are typing into Google. The completed search terms are based on real user searches. This makes them a great method to uncover secondary keywords as they show the search terms used by visitors who searched for your primary keyword.
You can easily find these secondary keywords by entering your primary keyword into Google autocomplete and then reviewing the variations and long-tail versions shown by Autocomplete. You can refer to this guide on setting up and using Google Autocomplete for keyword research.
3 People Also Ask (PAA) Boxes
Die Die Leute fragen auch section is a Google feature that displays questions related to the search term. These questions are great for question-and-answer style content. They are also helpful for subsections and frequently asked questions that are included in the content.
4 People Also Search For
People Also Search For is a Google feature that shows search terms visitors that searched for the primary keyword also searched for. It is typically located at the bottom of the search results page and contains multiple queries that can be used as secondary keywords.
5 Keyword Research Tools
Keyword research tools are great for uncovering secondary keywords to include in your content. Just enter your primary keyword into them, and they will return with relevant secondary keywords.
Unlike other methods, many keyword research tools also include important metrics like search volume und keyword difficulty. These metrics allow you to make data-driven decisions that increase your chances of ranking for the secondary keyword.
Even when you uncover your secondary keywords through other means, it is a good idea to enter them into the keyword research tool to uncover their metrics.
6 Analyzing Competing Content
If your competitor ranks for your primary keyword, copy their content’s URL and paste it into your keyword research tool. The tool will show you the primary and secondary keywords the content ranks for.
7 Forum and Q&A Sites
Discussion forums and question-and-answer sites like Quora, Reddit, and Stack Exchange often reveal questions and discussions visitors have around primary keywords.
Depending on the type of keyword and content you want to create, review relevant topics on these platforms. Make sure to pay attention to the keywords users use when they ask questions on the platform.