A large percentage of marketing, buying and selling is done online these days, and it's set to grow more in the near term. Your customers definitely look you up on the internet as part of their buying strategy. If someone searches for you, and your link appears on page 56 as the 500th entry, NO ONE is going to find you. Between the first and tenth result, click traffic rates fall like an overripe kumquat in a hailstorm: almost 33% for position one and only 2.5 % for position ten.
While Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines tend to be secretive about the algorithms that control the return rankings, there are a few things that we can know about using keywords as a tool to climb the ranking ladder. First let's get clear on what we mean by keyword.
What is a keyword?
It's a term or phrase that captures a concept or item that expresses both a searcher's inquiry and the subject of your online content. When those two things match, you get traffic! For example, when you post a blog about fruitcake and you use a keyword like "candied fruit," you might get traffic that is trying to find out how to make fruitcake, not necessarily buy one from your website.
There are three main classes of keywords:
Broad
The "Chunky Middle,"
Long Tail.
A Broad keyword might be something like "Hats" or "Coffee shop."
A Chunky Middle keyword might be "baseball caps," or "Independent Coffee Shops."
Long Tails are more like this: "Kansas City Royals baseball caps," or "Independent Coffee Shops Boulder Colorado."
Here's a well-traveled diagram to explain more about how they are different
What this means:
Going after searchers who simply type "hats" into the Google search bar means
a) you're going after sheer volume, including people who are shopping for hats, researching the history of hats, defining the word "hat," looking for a photo of a hat and so on. Your conversion percentage will be low.
b) You don't mind getting stuck on page 15 of search returns due to a lot of additional factors like "authority" and "trust" that come with longevity, relevance and authoritative content. Ranking returns is a tricky business!
Targeting the chunky middle and the long tail areas give you a lot better result over time. And don't forget, it DOES take time for your rank to rise.
How does one do Keyword Research?
Start with your product or service. Brainstorm a list of all things you can deliver or do for a customer and capture those things in long tail keywords. Use adjectives brand names, features- whatever specifics you can think of. Instead of "pancakes," make it "blueberry pancakes," "gluten free pancakes," or better yet "gluten free pancakes Savannah GA."
Think about the solutions your leads might be looking for. They are entering search terms into Google- what are they looking for that your business can address? If you're a motorcycle dealer, you might consider using a keyword like 'How do I get a Motorcycle license?" or "Georgia Motorcycle helmet law."
Make the most out of specific keywords like this by composing a landing page or content on your website that is helpful and informative in regard to the question you answer. This also helps with your ranking score because most search engines also look for content that matches the subject named by the keyword.
Try another list: How would you describe your business to someone who has never heard of it? That can eliminate a lot of company jargon or technical terms. Consider alternate terms for your products. One man's Hoagie is another man's Sub.
Keyword Research and Testing
From here, you can use trial and error or a keyword analyzer to get an idea if your keywords are going to work. Try Term Explorer online to give you an good idea how a keyword analyzer works.
United WebWorks of Savannah GA has been providing help and support in all things online marketing, including Keyword Research. Find out how you can spend your marketing dollars more efficiently and bring in the leads you need.