KEYWORD DISCOVERY MADE SIMPLE
Keywords are just the search terms that customers use to find your business. Their discovery is important, but is not a closely guarded secret. Imagine you dream of becoming a leader. Then you have to make sure that people speak about you using words that describe a leader. If that’s not happening, you are sending the wrong signals. Similarly, your business should be found online when customers search for related terms. These terms should describe your area of business, your values, and your quality. What are these search terms, and how will you find them?
Step 1: Talk to the Management, Staff
First, talk to the management and employees by meeting them separately. Take them somewhere where they feel free to talk. Explain clearly about what you expect from them. Make the situation clear enough. From these meetings, make a list of search terms.
Step 2: Talk to Customers
Next, talk to a few customers. Note down their responses when you mention the name of the company. Talk to other businesses which deal with the company. Make a note of their response too. Then talk to random people and get their feedback. Even if they are not familiar with the company, you may get ideas on general terms used to refer to companies in the same area.
Step 3: Look at the Search Data
Find out what your customers do, don’t just talk to them. After all, actions speak louder than words. Look at the Web analytics of the site as well as tools like Google Analytics to find out the actual search terms used by people. Now it’s time to stop and take stock. Analyse the search terms you have got so far. Check whether the search terms given by the management and staff are actually found in the company website. If not, you have work to do. Find out whether customers in their responses use terms which are not the choice of management and employees. If so, the company has a branding problem which needs a change of website content. Finally, comb through the analytics to find new terms used to search for the company. These need to be added to the master list of keywords.
Step 1: Talk to the Management, Staff
First, talk to the management and employees by meeting them separately. Take them somewhere where they feel free to talk. Explain clearly about what you expect from them. Make the situation clear enough. From these meetings, make a list of search terms.
Step 2: Talk to Customers
Next, talk to a few customers. Note down their responses when you mention the name of the company. Talk to other businesses which deal with the company. Make a note of their response too. Then talk to random people and get their feedback. Even if they are not familiar with the company, you may get ideas on general terms used to refer to companies in the same area.
Step 3: Look at the Search Data
Find out what your customers do, don’t just talk to them. After all, actions speak louder than words. Look at the Web analytics of the site as well as tools like Google Analytics to find out the actual search terms used by people. Now it’s time to stop and take stock. Analyse the search terms you have got so far. Check whether the search terms given by the management and staff are actually found in the company website. If not, you have work to do. Find out whether customers in their responses use terms which are not the choice of management and employees. If so, the company has a branding problem which needs a change of website content. Finally, comb through the analytics to find new terms used to search for the company. These need to be added to the master list of keywords.
Break down the nouns and adjectives
Break down your master list into nouns (names) and adjectives (descriptions of the nouns). According to content expert Jon Weubben, nouns should again be broken down like this by a product company:
• Category
• Segment
• Brand name
• Model name
He also suggests that the adjectives be broken down like this:
• Comparison
• Qualifier
• Function
• Character
• Action
Match Keywords With How Customers Shop
This is the next step. Customers usually go through one or more of the following four stages before they actually buy a product:
• Get information
• Learn about a product/service
• Compare
• Buy
At each stage, shoppers use unique terms. Naturally, the buy stage is where the actual shopping happens but you cannot get there without the other stages. Divide the master list of noun search terms along these four stages. Search these keywords for volume, popularity, and competition using free and pay tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner, Wordtracker, and Keyword Discovery. Prepare a list of words related in meaning to the keywords and search for them too.
• Category
• Segment
• Brand name
• Model name
He also suggests that the adjectives be broken down like this:
• Comparison
• Qualifier
• Function
• Character
• Action
Match Keywords With How Customers Shop
This is the next step. Customers usually go through one or more of the following four stages before they actually buy a product:
• Get information
• Learn about a product/service
• Compare
• Buy
At each stage, shoppers use unique terms. Naturally, the buy stage is where the actual shopping happens but you cannot get there without the other stages. Divide the master list of noun search terms along these four stages. Search these keywords for volume, popularity, and competition using free and pay tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner, Wordtracker, and Keyword Discovery. Prepare a list of words related in meaning to the keywords and search for them too.
Final Step
Narrow the keyword nouns down to a few for each stage. Your website should have pages with the suitable nouns for customers at each stage. Describe each of the nouns with the already discovered adjectives. Make sure that all landing pages in your site carry keywords relevant to the shop and compare stages.
Before we end this discussion, it’s important to look at two other related areas.
Emerging Keyword Phrases
All businesses change. Search terms also change along with the market. A good business will always stay on top of the game by being open to the discovery of new or trending search terms. Use tools like Keyword Discovery, Wordtracker, Google Trends, and other social media tools to find out what’s trending at any given time. Learn more about them. Add them to your list and create pages for them if they are about a new opportunity in your area with enough search volume.
Long Tail Keyword Phrases
These are usually phrases made up of three to six words. There are likely a few dozen such search terms. The trick is to find them. People like them because they lead to higher buys. If someone were to search using such a long term, chances are he/she is searching for something specific and is very close to buying. It’s found that long tail keywords can translate to a 30% or higher conversion for any site. So keep an eye out for them.
Before we end this discussion, it’s important to look at two other related areas.
Emerging Keyword Phrases
All businesses change. Search terms also change along with the market. A good business will always stay on top of the game by being open to the discovery of new or trending search terms. Use tools like Keyword Discovery, Wordtracker, Google Trends, and other social media tools to find out what’s trending at any given time. Learn more about them. Add them to your list and create pages for them if they are about a new opportunity in your area with enough search volume.
Long Tail Keyword Phrases
These are usually phrases made up of three to six words. There are likely a few dozen such search terms. The trick is to find them. People like them because they lead to higher buys. If someone were to search using such a long term, chances are he/she is searching for something specific and is very close to buying. It’s found that long tail keywords can translate to a 30% or higher conversion for any site. So keep an eye out for them.
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