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Search engine optimization has long been the red herring of the web marketing industry. In itself it serves a haphazard function. Robust SEO strategies are carefully developed tactics executed within well thought out business plans. One of the tactics within SEO is the process of keyword research which falls under the category of market research. Doing an environmental analysis of your target market is a crucial step to understand both your customers and your competitors.
You should already be familiar with your market and how they behave because as a business owner / employee, you have a passion and interest for your particular market segment. Once you garner your understanding (and continuously refresh it) your content will improve significantly.
Here are some helpful tips to guide your keyword research that are commonly overlooked but will quickly become a leading method in selecting the right direction for you website and business.
Years ago you could select what you thought were the hottest keywords in your market, but that would only comprise at best 1/4 of all searches (nowadays that figure is even lower).So assuming that ‘red widgets’ is your product, then ‘red widgets’ or ‘buy red widget’ or ‘[city name] red widgets’ would be top of the list in your keyword selection. The reality is the majority of prospects will use terms you’ve never even thought about. The longtail is the name of the game. You simply can’t optimize for the sheer number of keywords people will use to find your website.
But everyone else is doing the same thing and competing for the same words. You know this because as part of your competitive analysis you checked what keywords competitors are using. How can you differentiate?
You take it one step further. Rather than assuming you know what keywords to use, you try third party applications that will give you iterations of your primary keywords. The results are a few synonyms and you decide you might add a few of these to your keyword mix.
But you’re smart and decide you won’t simply take the advice of a third party tool and let it govern your decisions, you opt to trust your own data. You start an Adwords campaign with a broad term for your industry and then watch to see what keywords users actually use to search your market and get to your website.
Running an Adwords campaign to create your own data set of keywords is one of the best ways to get accurate data on what keywords prospective customer use.
But you will still only garner a snapshot of the overall market behaviour.
Another useful step to consider when creating copy today and tomorrow (think here what you decide to put in your blog to build your brand narrative), is to look at what customers are already using to describe your market.
Adwords may offer you a glimpse into the keywords that customers use to search your market, but if locate the spaces your customers are talking about your market and learn from them, you have another powerful keyword source.
Let’s say you’re in the hospitality industry in a particular city. There’s no shortage of trip advisory websites full of reviews. Take a look at reviews (your own reviews too) and see what people are saying. Find themes and keywords and re-use those keywords in your own copy.
Not only will you be using keywords describing your industry and already familiar with your customers, but you’re also going to build powerful equity into your brand narrative. You’re one step closer to connecting with prospective customers when you can improve how you relate using language they already use.
There’s a science to market research, but it doesn’t have to be complex. With a little work and attention there’s no shortage of opportunities to leverage and build the most important piece of your online presence–your powerful brand.