The hard truth about digital marketing is your audience doesn’t use the same keywords that you do to describe your products and services. Your business offers a solution to a problem and your website has to clearly communicate how your company can solve their problems. So where does keyword research come in?
Keyword research is important in attracting new prospects. Your clients start at Google to research, analyze and understand how to solve their problem. It could be anything from cleaning to dining to finding a local pediatrician. The things that people type into Google aren’t important – unless they are typing in keyword phrases that segment them into your target audience.
TIP: Use Google’s Free Keyword Tool to Conduct Keyword Research
Let’s say you are a local dermatologist. You might offer a range of services on your website to help your audience decide what they need from you. You might offer services to treat acne or eczema or even aesthetic services like Botox and dermal fillers.
But what do your prospects type in? They might not know what service they need, and rather search with intent, questions and reviews rather than a specific service. So think of phrases like the below:
“How to get rid of forehead wrinkles”
“Acne treatments for teenagers”
“Underarm sweating treatment”
Your website has to offer quality content that answers questions your audience is asking. And your prospects do not use the same words that you do to describe the services you offer.
Quality content isn’t one paragraph describing that topic, but rather, well-thought out content that answers questions for your visitors. When you think of Google as a business, it is easier to wrap your mind around how SEO ranking work.
Google’s job (from a search perspective) is to serve up the best results for a particular search query. They are extremely good at this job because they hold the market share in search engines (opposed to Bing or Duck Duck Go). Your job, as a business owner is to create the best content for your specific search keywords that move your pages up on search results.
TIP: Shoot for 300+ words on website pages that you are working to rank for a particular keyword phrase.
This is why keyword research is important, if you use the term “hyperhidrosis” across your site regarding your underarm sweating – your audience will likely never land on your site. Your competitor (who has likely done keyword research) will outrank you and get that traffic.
Keyword research is important to your SEO strategy, not because it’s just a step in the process. It drives warm leads straight to your site. When you do it right, you can attract people who are actually looking for your products and services, what more could you ask for?
If your website isn’t bringing in quality leads and serving as a hub for your entire business – it’s not doing its job.