When it comes to creating an impactful SEO strategy, you need an accurate keyword research tool. But it can be expensive. Charges may vary from $100 to $500 per month. As the last resort, SEO services in USA rely on Google’s Autocomplete feature to find out potential keywords and search queries.
And let’s face it, no keyword research tool is 100% accurate. So who else can tell you the best keywords to target for your website better than the search engine itself?
If you are a small-scale or local SEO company looking to create a list of keywords to drive traffic to your client’s website, continue reading. This article will walk you through the whole guide for preparing an impactful SEO content strategy using Google’s autocomplete box.
What is Google Autocomplete?
Google Autocomplete is an API or feature that provides search term predictions. Say you write “best watches for…” in the search bar, you will see something like this:
So how does Google predict these results? That’s because these search queries are already present in Google’s database. You may ask “How?” The answer is simple: more people have searched the same or similar queries.
Tada!!! Now you know what people are searching for. If you have an affiliate website in which you write about watches, you know what kind of watches to review.
In terms of accuracy, these searches are pretty strong. The results that the autocomplete box displays are not universal; change the location and you will get different results.
What’s more impressive, you get the results in your default language. Say you change your browser language from English to Chinese, you will get predictions in the Chinese language.
Also, the queries suggested by Google in the autocomplete box may vary based on your search history. If a prediction has a “Remove” option next to it (it shows up as an “X” on the far right), it is based on your search history.
How to Use Google’s Autocomplete Box for Creating Your SEO Content Strategy
Now that you know how Google’s Autocomplete feature works, it’s time to learn how to use it for keyword research and doing research about your niche.
But before we start, please note that you need to change your location—use a VPN—if you are based in the USA but conducting keyword research for the UK’s market.
Also, you will have to use the incognito mode because you don’t want your search history to impact the search—as it might be too irrelevant for your client or your personal business.
According to Google:
- Autocomplete decreases typing by roughly 25% on average.
- We estimate that it saves approximately 200 years of typing time per day. Yes, each day!
– Using Autocomplete Box for Keyword Research
So, it all starts with keyword research. This lays the foundation of your SEO strategy. Once you have learned what people are searching for, you know what kind of content will attract traffic.
Google’s Autocomplete Box makes this keyword research insightful. Instead of just learning what people are searching for, you get a clear idea about the content and who they are.
Say you are promoting your local SEO company in the USA. Head over to the search bar and write “SEO company”. You will come across various predictions and each will reflect a different intent behind it.
If you want to get more specific, expand your query. For example, instead of writing “SEO company”, write something like “SEO company in New York,” “SEO company for eCommerce”, “SEO for real estate,” or “local SEO services”, etc.
You can also use the underscore at the beginning of your query or its end to check the difference in results.
Trying singular and plural forms of the keywords is another great practice to find out what people are looking for and with what intent. The prediction at the top is likely to have the most searches, and the search volume is believed to decline as you go down.
To pen down a solid SEO content marketing strategy for your website, create a list of keywords—a separate one for primary and secondary keywords, and classify them as “informational”, “transactional”, and “secondary keywords”.
What Else Can You Do with an Autocomplete Box?
And here’s the kicker, besides the keyword research, you can do much more with this amazing—yet free—feature. Let me break down some of its other uses in simple terms for your understanding:
Find the Market Gaps
Making money with blogging is quite tough—and it’ll be even tougher in the future. The thing is, there are hundreds of content producers out there.
If you are a local SEO company in the USA eager to make a name for yourself through blogging, brace yourself for some fierce competition. Thousands of other companies are creating content from scratch on pretty much the same topics.
But if you can identify the gap—something people are searching for but there aren’t many results against those queries—you can change your fortune. Google’s Autocomplete Box helps you identify those market gaps and fill those with your services/content.
Identify Problems
Just like you can identify market gaps, you can also identify problems. And for that, you will need to experiment. Try out different phrases related to your niche and observe the predictions. Maybe those predictions suggest a problem/drawback in the services/products offered by your competitors.
With this approach, you can exactly address those problems and market your business in a compelling way. People are not just looking for a product but something that would solve their problems and add convenience to their daily lives.
Discover Untapped Content Ideas
Devising interesting content ideas takes a lot of time and thinking. You have to sleep on it, they don’t come easy. And even when you get an idea, it hurts your morale to learn that nobody is interested to learn about it—because there aren’t any searches.
While using Google Autocomplete Box, you will come across dozens of potential content ideas. And at least five out of ten will turn out to be really interesting.
Create Interesting FAQs
An FAQ page helps users navigate your site. But that’s not the sole purpose of having FAQs on your website. Depending on how you pick them, you can generate significant traffic with them.
Upon using Google’s Autocomplete feature, you will realize it shows a few questions related to the services/product you offer. If you can answer those FAQs and optimize them for better search engine visibility, you will eventually increase your website’s traffic.
Moreover, FAQs are more likely to be selected by Google as Featured Snippets compared to chunks of text taken from a blog post. So, make sure you make the best use of them.
Also Read: 6 SEO Services To Transform Your Start-Up into a Digital Power House
Case Study
Jamie Press, An SEO Strategist in Moz shared a case study where he turned autocomplete ideas into traffic & ranking results with only 5 hours of effort
He summarized his steps taken into these points:
- Step 1: Use Google Autocomplete to find the genesis of an idea.
- Step 2: Research the competition to find a competitive advantage.
- Step 3: Determine the best approach to advertise the content.
Link to his case study here.
Final Thoughts
If you are offering SEO services in the USA, or want to boost your business’s visibility on Google, use this feature. It’s a goldmine—from keyword research to finding content ideas, creating unique angles to promote your product, and potential business opportunities, all this research can be done absolutely free.
And if you need SEO services from a reputable SEO company in the USA, feel free to reach out to us. Digital Gravity Agency not only uses free research techniques but also premium SEO tools to boost your website’s rankings and help you achieve all your goals!