Keywords are the most vital component of any SEO strategy or campaign. They can quite literally make or break your SEO performance. Good keywords can attract large amounts of traffic and help you grow your business. On the other hand, bad keywords will be a waste of time and money and can derail your entire campaign.
If your business hopes to drive organic traffic to your website and be seen online, you need to understand how to find and select the right keywords. However, it can be difficult to know how to find keywords that will actually perform well. Today, we’re going to dive into this topic and highlight the steps you can take to get the best keywords for your business.
The Role of Keywords in SEO
Why do keywords matter when it comes to SEO strategies? Keywords matter because they connect your website to the searches your potential customers are running. Once your keywords are selected, you can build a content marketing strategy focused on those keywords.
Search engines like Google will then begin to recognize your site as a reliable source that can meet their user’s needs. This results in your site being moved up to the top of the results page, where your site can be easily seen by potential customers, driving up organic traffic.
The wrong keyword could lead to users getting led to your site looking for something completely different. These users will then quickly leave, frustrated. Google recognizes this and can push your site’s listing further down in their results. Furthermore, if the phrase you chose is a high-competition keyword, several sites may already be ranking very well for it.
This could create challenges for you as you attempt to out-rank more established sites. These are both reasons why you need to be very careful when selecting your SEO keywords.
Selecting Keywords For Your Business
Create A List of High-Traffic Keywords
One of the best ways to start selecting keywords is to create a lengthy list of any expressions you’d like to use. You can gradually narrow this list down to just the words and phrases that you want to focus on. One of the most vital characteristics of keywords at this stage is that they are high-traffic phrases. This means that lots of people are using these keywords in their searches.
One of the easiest ways to find keywords is to simply type in a word that is relevant to your industry and look at Google’s suggestions. These are related words that are also popularly being used. This is a lengthy process and if you would rather pay a professional, we offer strategic keyword research.
Eliminate High-Competition Keywords
When you’re starting out, you don’t want to have to try to outrank established sites. The next step in selecting expressions for your campaign is to use a keyword research tool. This will allow you to do a competitor analysis and find out what sites are already ranking for these keywords. There are many software platforms that provide this kind of data. You can use these to identify which keywords are low-hanging fruit and which keywords can be taken off your list.
Remove Off-Brand Keywords
Even after removing the high-competition keywords, there still may be some keywords in your list that are in your industry but don’t really fit with your brand. It is imperative that you are capable of creating compelling content around these keywords. Your content needs to be able to meet the search intent of Google’s users. Generally, there are four types of search intent:
- Informational (intending to learn something)
- Transactional (intending to buy something)
- Navigational (intending to find a specific site)
- Commercial (intending to learn about a specific brand or service)
Even if your content has the right keywords, it may not rank well if it doesn’t address the user’s search intentions.
Identify The Keywords With The Best ROI
Some keywords may be on-brand but still do not have the best ROI. For example, if you are a local retailer that specializes in cameras, a phrase like “best place to find cameras in Hastings” could be far more valuable to you than something like “how to take the most beautiful photograph.”
It’s crucial to focus on the keywords and phrases that are most closely tied to your business. A good question to ask is, “in a blog post focusing on this keyword, would it be easy to bring up my products or services?” By focusing on keywords that you can build compelling content around, you are well positioned to build a successful SEO campaign for your business.
Did you know that 75% of online users don’t go beyond page one of Google’s search results? There are thousands of potential customers missing your business just because it’s not at the top of their search. Digital marketing and SEO strategies from Bauertech can help you be seen online. Contact us for a free strategy session today!
