Bold Elliot

Friday, 7 August 2026

How to Do Keyword Research That Drives Traffic to Your Site

SEO experts warn that targeting keywords without proper research is like setting sail without a map — with over 8.5 billion daily searches on Google, businesses that fail to understand what their audience is actually searching for will never reach the customers they need.

Creating a new web page requires more than good writing. It requires understanding what your potential customers are actually searching for and how they are searching for it.

With over 8.5 billion searches performed on Google globally each and every day, your pool of potential customers is massive. It is no surprise, then, that you need to make sure your content ranks high in Google and reaches the people most likely to take an action with your brand.

That is where doing keyword research, and choosing the right SEO keyword, comes in. It is an art and a science. As a search engine optimization marketing manager, I know what works, and how to get eyeballs on your content.

Why Keyword Research Matters

Let us say you have been tasked with writing a page around "customer service." Since it is a broad and often complex topic, you might think that a long-form guide would be the best type of content.

But how do you know for sure? Are you certain there are enough potential customers searching for this term? Is the audience large enough to justify creating the page? Are searchers even looking for long-form content on this topic? Are they using the same terms to search for content? Do you know what kind of content Google is ranking for your target term?

Proper keyword research can answer these questions and help you create content that is user-focused and SEO optimized.

Six Steps to Effective Keyword Research

Follow these six steps to develop better content, and get better search results.

Step 1: Verify Search Volume

Start by entering your topic or keyword idea into an SEO research tool. These tools show the average monthly search volume for your keywords. When verifying keyword search volume, look for terms with an average monthly search volume of 100 searches or greater. However, keep in mind that terms with the highest monthly search volume may not be the most relevant or focused terms to target. You should research and explore all options to find the term with the highest volume and most relevant search results.

Always ensure that the term you are targeting is the same your audience is using to find content. SEO keyword research tools can help you identify similar or semantically related terms to see if there is greater search volume with another keyword variant.

For example, "customer service best practices" returns 590 monthly searches versus "service best practices" with only 30. Additionally, using related terms throughout the copy in addition to your target keyword can help your SEO rank by preventing keyword spamming or stuffing.

Remember to write naturally, so Google does not penalize your SEO efforts by hurting your ability to rank well on the first page. Do not feel that you need to cram the keyword into every other sentence. Google itself warns against it with this example: "We sell custom cigar humidors. Our custom cigar humidors are handmade. If you are thinking of buying a customer cigar humidor, please contact..." Not only is it open to penalization by Google, and less likely to be discovered by searchers, it is a bad experience for the reader.

Step 3: Explore Long-Tail Keywords

Longer, more specific keywords often indicate searchers who are closer to taking an action. The specificity of the search lets you know they have a specific need or problem. While these terms may have lower search volume than their broader counterparts, they will often lead to more qualified conversions.

For example, "customer service" versus "customer service best practices" or "what is customer service?" Additionally, some of these longer-tail keywords may help land you in one of the coveted "People also ask" answer boxes in Google, especially if used in the page title or a sub-heading.

Step 4: Identify Search Intent

So you have found a high-volume, relevant keyword. But do you know what types of content Google is presenting on the first page? Based on your keyword research, what types of content are searchers looking for? Do they want guidance, how-to articles, a list of nearby shops, or something else completely?

To quickly check, open an incognito browser window and search your keyword to see what Google reveals on the first page. You will want to open an incognito or private browsing window so your previous searches and browser cookies do not influence the presented search results. Based on what is ranking, will your page topic address the same first-page search intent?

In the example below, you will see that most of the top-ranking first-page content around the term "customer service best practices" is in listicle format, such as "X Best Practices for Customer Service." Given these results, it is best to target your topic in a similar way to increase your chances of ranking on page one.

Step 5: Study Your Competition

Are any of your competitors ranking on the first page? If so, what terms are they targeting? What types of content are they creating? How long is their content? What makes them successful? Identifying this will help inform the content strategy for your page and give you an opportunity to expand on their success.

Step 6: Avoid Keyword Cannibalization

Always ensure that there are no existing web pages on your own site ranking for or targeted to your selected SEO keyword. Check with your internal SEO team to confirm, or if that is not an option, perform a site search on Google by typing site:[your website domain] [search query/keyword]. This will bring up a list of pages currently on your site with the target keyword in the copy.

If you find a page targeting the same term, you should determine if that page should be optimized further or removed. Before removing any pages, work with your analytics or marketing team to identify the business impact of removing a page. This could consist of traffic loss or a drop in form completes and leads. If you must remove an existing page, always use a 301 redirect to automatically send the searcher to the newly created page. These redirects pass more of the SEO page equity from the page being redirected to the new page.

Final Thoughts

If you follow these tips, you will be on your way to finding the right keywords for SEO and creating targeted, meaningful content which searchers are looking for and need.

Proper keyword research can answer the questions that matter most. Are there enough potential customers searching for this term? Is the audience large enough to justify creating the page? What kind of content is Google ranking for your target term?

The answers to these questions will help you create content that is user-focused and SEO optimized. With over 8.5 billion daily searches, the opportunity is massive. The key is making sure you are reaching the people most likely to take action with your brand.

Saturday, 1 August 2026

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Friday, 10 July 2026

Rotterdam's Fossil Fuel Dilemma: Can Europe's Biggest Port Go Green?

Standing on a grassy verge in the Hook of Holland, you can see the scale of the problem. The Port of Rotterdam stretches across the horizon, a maze of cranes, bulk carriers, and container stacks. It is the largest freight port in Europe, handling almost as much cargo as all UK ports combined.

But size comes with a cost. The five refineries and cluster of chemical plants make this a hub for fossil fuels. According to research by CE Delft, the emissions linked to the port's activities total around 600 megatonnes of CO2 a year. That is many times more than the output of Schiphol, the Netherlands' biggest airport.

Pressure is now building on the port to change. A lawsuit from environmental group Advocates for the Future argues the Port Authority is not doing enough to phase out fossil-based energy. They want a concrete plan to wind down the coal, oil and gas flows that dwarf the emissions of most countries.

The Port Authority admits the scale of the challenge. Mark van Dijk, head of external relations, says the port's own industrial cluster emits about 29 million tonnes of CO2 a year, roughly half of the Netherlands' domestic emissions. "It's not good," he says.

The Authority has a plan. It aims to cut its own direct and purchased energy emissions by 90% between 2019 and 2030. It is developing a hydrogen hub, investing in onshore power for ships, and supporting alternatives like biofuels and methanol. There is also a carbon capture and storage project called Porthos, which will pipe CO2 into depleted gas fields.

But critics say this is not enough. Maikel van Wissen, director of Advocates for the Future, argues that a state-owned enterprise of this scale should use its clout to speed up the transition. "We are asking in the lawsuit to phase out that dependency, to create alternatives," he says. "If you don't have a plan, you always choose cheap short-term solutions."

The port says it is trying to work with polluters to phase them out. Oscar van Veen, director of innovation, says they are moving "as fast as possible." But he faces limits. Many of the biggest emitters are owned by foreign companies. If rules in Rotterdam become too tight, they can simply move elsewhere. Shell already moved its headquarters to the UK, and Unilever left Rotterdam altogether.

Bettina Kampman from CE Delft says the Port of Rotterdam is a key player, but its influence is limited. Even transitioning to lower emissions requires physical space and power cables, both of which are in short supply.

Emeritus professor Harry Geerlings of Erasmus University Rotterdam has studied sustainable ports for decades. He doubts any single port authority can drive a full transition alone. He points to the EU Emissions Trading System and past rules on sulphur as examples of what works. When Europe set limits on sulphur in marine fuels, ships changed their behaviour. China initially resisted, he says, but when its ships could no longer enter US and European ports without complying, it followed suit. "If you have the right incentives, you change the behaviour of these companies."

But regional rules have limits. Many ships now use cleaner fuel in European waters, then switch back to cheaper, dirtier fuel once they are on the high seas.

Geerlings believes Rotterdam's port authority genuinely wants to change. "But their biggest income is still tied to fossil fuel industries," he notes. "It's not simply a switch you turn on or off. A port needs activity as a logistics node. Otherwise it's no longer a port. It's a real dilemma."

The geopolitics add pressure. Across the Atlantic, President Trump has cast doubt on climate policy and offered incentives that favour fossil fuels. That sharpens Rotterdam's concern about losing energy-intensive industry to regions with looser rules and cheaper power.

Advocates for the Future wants a detailed phase-out plan, not just a promise of climate neutrality by 2050. "We are not asking for anything extraordinary," says Maikel van Wissen. "We're asking for a plan that really contributes to a sustainable future."

The Port Authority insists they want the same thing. Mark van Dijk says both sides are heading for the same destination: net zero around mid century. The disagreement is over how fast, and how radically, to change.