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So on Day 1 we looked at the reasons we target keywords at all in our content. Today we will turn our attention to the choice of keywords for our niche.
Website content is not just something for visitors to read. It is also a way to attract the “right” visitors in the first place. Using the correct keywords throughout your website will garner high standing with the search gods and get you noticed.
Doing your Homework
You thought that homework stopped when you graduated from school. In the world of business, you never stop learning if you want to go as far as the road will take you. To that end, it is time to do a little homework for your content – keyword research.
Now, you don’t have to be stellar at research in order to get this done and get it done right. Keyword research is finding the words that will rank your content and your website head and shoulders above the rest. Are you ready? Let’s begin.
Conducting Keyword Research
There are a few things that you can do:
1. Create a list of words. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. What words would you input to find you? Write down as many as you can. Better yet, record them in an electronic spreadsheet for easier editing later. Choose single words and multiple word phrases.
2. Ask your customers. You already have some customers. Survey them to find out how they found you. If it was through an Internet search ask what words they used. It seems too easy, but most business owners overlook such a resource because they don’t ask the right questions.
3. Use keyword software tools. These tools can be very helpful once you have your list of possible keywords. The software will let you know a variety of things about your keywords and whether they are good enough to reach your target audience.
4. Analyze the data. From your list, whittle down to just the keywords that are likely to get you what you want. Then, rank those keywords in order of best to worst.
5. Try out those keywords. Don’t use all of them at one time, but keep track of which ones you use and for how long. Using website management tools you can find out how much traffic and conversion (how many people used your keyword content as a means to do something – click, sign up, or buy) rates changed.
So, are you ready? You obviously already use content, but maybe it isn’t working well enough. There are always ways to make it better and keywords are one of those ways.