Selecting the right keywords is crucial in obtaining the ultimate goal of search engine optimization: delivering qualified traffic. Higher rankings bring in the qualified traffic which increases sales. Search engine optimization is an ongoing process that needs to be evaluated frequently. New buzz words are constantly created that have the same meaning as what you may be targeting but if your ignore them you potentially can miss out on a lot of traffic.
How do you know which keywords to target? The most relevant for you site. We know that people do not search in one word therefore it is important to focus on keyword terms and match them with your offerings. Where do you begin? Identifying what your target market is needing and how you can satisfy/fulfill that need is the first step.
8 Critical Questions for Successful Keyword Selection
1. What are users looking for? Ease, comfort, results? This is broad but asking this question with every broad answer brings it down to more specifics.
2. What are they trying to accomplish? Are they seeking information, looking to buy or do they just have a general interest in what you offer.
3. What questions are they asking? The explosion of social media makes this so much easier to track. Be sure not to ignore face-to-face and emails to really determine what consumers are asking.
4. What solutions do you have? How does your offering satisfy their need directly? What impact does your product/service have upon them?
5. How do you provide the solutions? Similar to what solutions you have however looking at it from the standpoint of “How” many times can bring out potential new terms.
6. What are core and broad industry terms? These terms are not always what customers refer to so be careful to not be “too close” to your business by expecting customers to speak the same.
7. What geographical phrases are important. City Name? Zip code? How do consumers search to find local businesses?
8. What keywords are your competitors targeting? Compare these to what you have jotted down to see if you missed anything and also see where they rank for said keywords.
Keyword research is a lengthy process that is not as simple as picking some words and writing content around them. Each keyword is its own campaign that needs to be monitored and analyzed. Ultimately you are building authority within the search engines with targeted keywords that correspond to your content. Combine this with inbound links from qualified sites, the higher the page ranking.
What questions do you ask when thinking about keywords? How often to you evaluate your keywords? How often do you make changes?
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