She starts with “golf clothes for women,” but the search is too broad. She tries, “safari theme women golf skirt.” The results are better, but she decides to narrow her search even further and types “animal print golf clothes women.” BINGO! She finds just what she is looking for and buys not only a skirt but also a matching shirt and hat. That’s the power of using the right keywords on your website. By identifying the words or phrases frequently used by customers and sprinkling them throughout your website, you will appear more frequently in search engine results and drive more traffic to your page.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is part of SEO (search engine optimization). Understanding the search terms people use to find products or services you offer is critical to your overall SEO strategy. When implemented correctly, SEO helps improve your website’s ranking in search results organically – meaning without paid advertising. First, create a list of words and phrases you believe people will search for. For example, if you’re an online store that sells women’s golf clothes, keywords might be ladies’ golf apparel, best women’s golf clothes, women’s golf clothes, etc. Once you’ve completed the list, type the words into Google search. You want to identify which SEO keywords produce results that include sites similar to your own. Pay attention to the suggested search terms that appear under your query. You might want to try those. Google Keyword Planner is also a handy tool for expanding your list of SEO keywords. The Keyword Planner will show how many people searched for your selected terms and provide a list of related terms and their search results. Once you identify what SEO keywords and phrases drive traffic to sites like yours, incorporate them naturally into the content you create for your website. Think page title, copy, meta description, anchor text, etc. Don’t force the keywords into text or headings where they don’t make sense. Visitors to your website shouldn’t even notice that you have intentionally integrated a keyword. Also, add any search terms that your competitors might not be taking advantage of.
A Tricky Business
You’ll have difficulty improving your organic search results if you use very competitive keywords. Simply put, the more popular the keyword is, the less likely your site will rise to the top of the search results. Here’s where being in the popular group might be a disadvantage. More specific long-tail keywords are your friends. These phrases are usually three or more keywords. While fewer people might be searching for them, they are more likely to move the needle for you. In the Sally example above, her narrower search provided the results she was looking for and resulted in a sale. Tools you can use In addition to Google Keyword Planner mentioned above, here are some other helpful tools:
- Ahrefs
- SEMrush
- Keywords Everywhere
- io
- KWFinder
- Keyword Sheeter
- Keyword Surfer
- Keyworddit
- Bulk Keyword Generator
- Seed Keywords
Final Word
When done well, integrating keywords flawlessly into your website can not only attract visitors but can lead to more conversions if you’re selling a product or service. SEO is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach customers online. A robust SEO approach has many benefits, including building trust & credibility with your audience, improving the user experience, boosting traffic, conversions & engagement, and it’s quantifiable. Not sure where to start? Ask about our SEO Healthcheck. We’ll run a comprehensive audit on your website. In addition to the audit results, you’ll receive customized recommendations from one of our SEO Analysts on short and long-term changes you can make to your site to improve your organic search rankings. Reach out to our digital marketing team to learn more!
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