If you may or may not know already, one of the most important building blocks when it comes to your website’s online success is conducting proper keyword research. So, what exactly does that mean? And more importantly, which keywords should you be using?
A keyword is what a potential website visitor will type into Google Search to find your business and other businesses like yours. By using some free research tools available to you (Google Keyword Planner or Moz) you can see the statistics surrounding certain search queries that will inform decisions surrounding the content on your site, future posts and your marketing strategy overall. Specifically, these keywords should be included on your site’s pages or topics of pages, which will help Google suggest your website to the searcher. If a page from your website matches their search, you want to be one of the first options Google presents!
Essentially, proper keyword research isn’t so much about driving more traffic, but rather driving the right traffic.
How To Tackle Your Keyword Research
1. Make a List
This is the easy part and the answers are right in front of you. Make a list of words that are related to your products and services, literally! What areas or locations do you serve? Tip: When it comes to B2B keyword strategies, think about the problems your business solves. Oftentimes when people use Google Search they are looking for a solution to something they are trying to do. We advise you aim to come up with approx. 20 – 30 keywords first.
2. Compare Your List
This step is when the research tools we mentioned earlier come into good use. Entering your list into Google’s Keyword Planner or Moz’s Keyword Explorer, is where you will be able to see some further insight into (a) how many people are searching for the words on your list and (b) how popular they are. Sometimes even though a keyword may receive 10,000 searches a month, the competition may be extremely high to rank for it. Therefore, these tools will provide very similar words and other suggestions with great search volumes and more modest competition scores. In short, those are the keywords you want to aim for! At this point, expand upon your original list to cover 50 – 100 keyword results. (Check Out Neil Patel’s Article, 10 Free Keyword Research Tools To Help Plan Your Site)
3. Organize Your Results
A simple spreadsheet will do, Hubspot offers a free SEO Template to help get you started. This will be your internal point of reference and should be updated regularly as an ongoing effort. Your categories should include:
- Keyword(s)
- # of Searches
- Rank Difficulty
- Score: From 1-5, how relevant is this keyword to your B2B company?
The ideal keyword sweet-spot has a high volume of searches, low competition and is relevant to your business.
4. Build Your Content
These keyword selections will be the pillars for pages on your website, help with new blog post ideas and will ultimately set you apart from your competition because Google will suggest your website, and in turn you will rank higher organically.
Check out our previous blog post, “Keyword Planning for SEO” where we take a deeper dive into a few of the topics discussed in this article.
If you are new to SEO, we understand certain efforts can be complicated or time consuming. If you have any questions about keyword research or improving your website’s SEO, contact us!
