Choosing the right keywords is crucial when creating content and marketing material, as keywords enable readers to find your content. The right keywords also help target specific questions your audience may ask when using search engines to find information about products, services and topics related to your business. Keyword research is essential for choosing the right keywords and phrases for your content.
Define Your Goals
Before beginning your research, it’s important to define the goal of your content. If you’re creating marketing material to boost sales, the key phrases are likely to be different than those used when convincing readers to subscribe to your mailing list. For short-term advertising campaigns, you may want to choose words and phrases that are trending on social media. However, for long-term sustainability, you will need to choose words and phrases that have been popular for a longer period of time, and which are likely to remain popular in the future.
Know Your Audience
In order to target your content effectively, you need to understand your audience. Identify the questions your audience might have and the subjects they talk about online. Spend some time eavesdropping their conversations on social media, forums and other online platforms to see what they’re talking about. “Pay attention to the specific words and phrases they use when discussing topics related to your business” says owner Jennifer Kennedy of oaksapparel.com.
Gather Ideas
Brainstorm ideas for keywords and phrases you can use in your content. Start with a blank sheet of paper or text file and write down anything that comes to mind. Don’t filter or judge your ideas at this stage; aim to find a broad range of topics and different angles that might appeal to your audience.
Researching your competitors can also provide plenty of ideas. Look at the key phrases they are targeting in their content to see which ones are grabbing the attention of their audience and which ones are gaining them a high rank in search engine results. You can also look for new angles that your competitors have overlooked.
Search engines and social media are great sources of keyword ideas. Most search engines will provide a list of related queries when you search for a phrase or word, while social media searches can show you what people are saying about topics related to your industry. Pay attention to the language used by people when they talk on social media, as it’s often more informal than the language used when typing questions into a search engine.
Keyword tools, such as the one provided by Google AdWords, can provide advanced data about the phrases people are searching for, the number of searches within a specific time frame and the amount of competition for each phrase. Google Trends can also be useful for identifying topics that are currently popular with searchers.
Choosing the Right Keywords
Each article, blog post or piece of marketing material you create should target only one main keyword or phrase. If you are creating a new website or another online platform, choose no more than five keywords as your main targets. Ideally, you want to choose specific phrases that achieve plenty of regular searches. You should also aim to choose phrases with low competition in the search rankings. Remember to use the same words and language that your audience will use when searching for or talking about your products.
Keyword research is crucial for choosing the right words and phrases to use in your marketing material, content and blog posts. Defining your goals, knowing your audience and gathering ideas are the first steps toward choosing the right keywords and phrases.