The first step toward increasing your organic rankings and visibility is to do research to identify your golden opportunity keywords.

A golden keyword is a keyword that drives leads, sales and success. And, identifying yours is easy. Here’s what you need to know:

Short- and long-tail keywords

Keywords come in two varieties: short-tail and long-tail.

Short-tail keywords are general, one- or two-word phrases. An example of a short-tail keyword would be “roofer.” Short-tail keywords are difficult to rank for because they’re so popular and therefore competitive.

Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, are more specific, three- or four-word phrases. An example of a long-tail keyword would be “commercial roofer in Denver.” Long-tail keywords are easier to rank for because they’re less popular and therefore less competitive.

Another great thing about long-tail keywords is that people who are searching for more specific keywords usually know what they’re looking for and are no longer in the research phase of the buying journey. That means that they’re more likely to convert.

The best golden keywords are long-tail keywords that contain the right short-tail keywords. For example, say your short-tail keyword is “roofing company.” An ideal long-term keyword to go after is “best roofing company in Denver.”

By choosing a long-tail keyword that contains a relevant short-tail keyword, you can take strides toward ranking for multiple keywords at the same time.

With the example keyword above — “best roofing company in Denver” — you can also work on ranking for “roofing company,” “roofing company in Denver” and “best roofing company” all at once.

Use Google autofill to identify golden keywords

One of the easiest ways to come up with golden keywords is to use Google’s autofill feature.

Start by typing your short-tail keyword into the Google search bar. Then, take a look at the suggestions that pop up below the search bar. These are all potential long-tail keywords that you could go after.

For example, when I type “roofing company” into the Google search bar, I see suggestions like “roofing companies near me,” “best roofing company Fort Wayne,” and “roofing companies with payment plans near me.”

The keywords that come up when you use Google’s autofill feature are highly searched, as the results are based on search volume. That means you can find high-quality golden keywords that people are actively looking for.