Aug
18
Determining Keywords That Work
You can’t discuss SEO without starting the conversation around keywords. Keywords are the foundation of an SEO strategy but sometimes determining keywords that work for your business isn’t easy. Also, ranking for keywords can take time and a lot of effort but, when done properly, the payoff can be huge in terms of web traffic, sales, and ROI.
So, what are some of the best ways to determine the keywords that will work for your business?
- Know your goals! What are the goals for your website? Perhaps it’s to increase eCommerce sales or maybe it’s to gather leads. There are many different goals for a website and it’s important to remember that the keywords you’re attempting to rank for should be directly related to the goals that you have.
- Think like your customer. What do you think your customers would type into a search engine to find your product or service. After all, you know your customers best and should have their pain points and questions written into their buyer’s personas. Use that information to form a list of potential keywords to do further research on.
- Don’t guess! Invest in keyword research software. Software like SEMrush, Moz, or Ahrefs can be worth their weight in gold when you see the data that they can give you quickly and easily. Also, with the ability to help you track your own rankings over time, you can gauge your progress.
- You don’t have to necessarily try to rank for keywords with the highest search volume. Usually, keywords with the highest search volume also have the highest competition making ranking difficult. A keyword is no good to you if you can’t rank in the top spots on SERP. Find keywords that have search volume but little competition. This is the golden goose of SEO. Words that have this combination will bring traffic but are easier to rank highly for. As you build your reputation for these words, you may find it easier in the future to rank for those that are more highly competitive.
- Watch your keywords closely. Once you have determined the list of keywords you think would work best and have optimized your site for them, track their performance. Are they bringing the traffic types you had hoped for? Are you seeing an increase in web traffic? After an ample amount of time has passed, don’t be afraid to change your keywords if they aren’t performing as you had hoped.
Utilize our Keyword Position Checker to determine your website's keyword rankings. Do you need help with your keyword research? Reach out info@seoresource.net. I would love to help!
