In marketing your business, performing keyword research is a crucial step. The goal here is not to make you a Keyword Research expert, but rather help you understand the role keywords play in your online performance. This includes the keywords you use on your website, on social media and across the web. Your products and services are at the core of your keyword strategy. There are many digital marketing tools to help you create the best strategy for your business.
Consumers will not be able to find your website if they are not using the keywords you have identified and used in your copy. Ensuring that your website includes the words your consumers are most likely to use when looking for your products or services helps to drive traffic to your site. No matter what products or services your business offers, you need a website that is built upon the right keywords. And although we do want to increase our customer base, we don’t want to target consumers that may not find the value in our business — so research and understanding your audience here is key.
Keep in mind that your keyword research should not exist as a one-time commitment, but rather an ever-changing process. Crafting your strategy and using a comprehensive understanding of your business and your industry, you will find that your online performance will get better and better. These three steps will help you do the research and analysis to build the best possible online lead generation campaign.
Three Steps to Using Keywords to Build the Best Online Lead Generation Campaign
Step 1: Brainstorm.
The very first step is to sit with your team and have a brainstorming session. At this point in your Lead Generation campaign, you should have already accessed your Website Analytics. Whether you’re using Google Analytics or a 3rd party tool like SEM Rush, you’ll want to review current and past keyword performance. Then, think about and talk through which keywords consumers will use when searching for your business. If your website is in English, be sure that those keywords are in English as well. Don’t forget to include informal words and slang words for your product or service as well. For example, a business offering landscaping may also use “lawn”, “yard” or “landscaper” as keywords. To get the best results in increasing traffic to your website, we suggest using keyword expressions, which are strings of two to three words. Keyword expressions for a landscaping company would include “lawn care”, “yard maintenance” and “home landscaping.”
So should you be more generalized, or more specific in your keyword use? For some content creators, short-tail keywords, or keywords composed of very generic keywords, might seem appealing because they’re searched more often than long-tail keywords. However, this means they’re also a lot more competitive. So, unless you’re writing content for a large organization, like Apple or Macy’s, and consumers are typically searching specifically for your exact product, you don’t want to enter into a sea of competitors with big brands that have even bigger pockets.
On the other hand, long-tail keywords may not be as frequently typed into a search engine—think, “Egg” vs. “Poached Egg with Avocado and Bechamel.” The specificity of long-tail keywords helps to attract a larger number of customers who are likely to search for any combination of those long-tail keywords.
Also, location-based keywords are keywords that directly relate to your business’s physical location. These can be very helpful for particular types of businesses. For example, if your business is a bakery in a popular neighborhood in Charlotte, NC, it makes sense to include not only Charlotte, but also the name of that specific neighborhood. By doing so, you’re more likely to target visitors in your area rather than across town who may or may not ever make it to your location.
Step 2: Analyze.
Employ an online service such as Google Ads or Bing to perform an analysis of whether or not users are actually using your chosen keywords. Paid search is another option to consider. Back to our landscaping business example: if consumers are searching for “lawn mowing services,” your business might not be recognized by the search engine algorithm. Conducting a detailed search of which keywords and keyword expressions are used in connection with your product or service will help to ensure traffic is directed to your site.
Step 3: Optimize.
Lastly, test out your keyword performance. This helps you determine how many searches actually lead to conversions. You may want to consider displaying banner ads, trying targeted ad campaigns or using PPC (pay per click) to get additional leads. Once you see which keywords work and which don’t perform, you can optimize for best performance.
