A few months ago, a conversation with a potential client centred on search engine rankings and keywords.  They were delighted because tweaks made to their website led to them ranking first in the Google search.  From delight came disappointment when we pointed out that although they ranked first for a particular search term, no one was actually using this search term!

 

This led to a discussion of how you go about finding the right keywords and terms to use on your website in order to get good rankings.  Keyword research is one of the most important and valuable activities you can do as a marketer, and can have significant impacts on how your website yields a return for your business.

 

As we learnt from the exercise above, you need to identify what your market?s keywords are, not what you think your keywords are.   From this you can also learn a lot about your customers, all of which can only serve to focus your marketing activities more successfully.  The technology available to us all today is giving us an unprecedented level of information and insight into our customers and markets – so make sure you are capitalising on it.

 

Step 1 – create a list of keywords you think your market is using.  Are they relevant to your service and your website content?  Does your website give people the right information they need as a result of their search?   Ask your customers what keywords they used to search for the service you provide.

 

Step 2 – use social media.  A good place to start is to use Twitter?s search function by putting in a specific topic or key concept that you are focusing on. See how your customers are talking about it.  You can also use Socialmention.com to look at related conversations across multiple social media channels at once.

 

Step 3 – use Google?s Adwords Keyword Tool, It is a great tool for suggesting keywords and giving search volume.  It will give you an understanding of which keywords and phrases are actually being searched most, and what the competition is for those words – ie how many other websites are being optimised with these words.

Using this keyword tool you should track the following for each keyword:

?             Local Search Volume: the number of searches the keyword is getting from your locality

?             Global Search Volume: the number of searches the keyword is getting globally

?             Keyword Difficulty: the percentage of difficulty; the lower the percentage, the easier it will be to rank in the search engines for this phrase.

 

The ideal keyword phrase considers these and will also illustrate the intent of the searcher.   Once you?ve applied this to your list of keywords, you will have those keywords that people are actually using.

 

Step 4 – use Google Insights for Search – here you can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties.  This tool is great as it can help you determine which messages resonate best within your sector and market.

 

If you want to take a step further into the keyword world, there are more tools targeted available, which you have to pay for.  Google Adwords is probably the most commonly used service you pay for – Google lists your site at the top of the search list for nominated keywords and phrases.  You pay each time someone clicks on the specified word – the Adword.

 

SEOMoz Keyword Difficulty Tool is another paid-for service, it requires a subscription.  People use this to get a more accurate idea of where the competition is in an organic search rather than using only the pay-per-click model as Adwords does.

 

As you grasp what is really being asked online about your business and its offerings, you can use any number of other free and low-cost online tools to enhance your strategy for developing and promoting content on your website.  Just remember this is ongoing activity – trends change in any market and you need to maintain your understanding of what they are searching for, in order for your keywords to continue to be effective.  Regularly updating your web content, with blogs for example, using the latest keywords and phrases for your market is the strategy you should implement to maximise the return from your site.
Done properly, it?s quick, simple, and very, very effective.