As a business owner it is vital that you know how to pick the right keywords to target in your content to get traffic to your website. Today I will give you the tips and ideas that will help you get more clicks from Google.
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What Are Business Keywords
If you are reading this you probably already know a wee bit about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for Google, BUT I think it is worth getting us both on the same page right from the start!
Business keywords are the search terms that a person types into Google when they are trying to purchase a product or service.
For this post I am going to be focusing on informational websites rather than ecommerce websites.
What Keywords Does Your Site Already Rank For?
The very easiest way to see what keywords Google already thinks your website is about is to look at the Google Search Console.
If you are logged into Google and click that link, it will show you if you have this set up for your website already (many website designers will set up Google Analytics for you as a standard practice which you can hook to the search console!)
Here is a good site to show you how to set up your search console if you don't have it already!
I decided to write this post today because my search queries said I am already getting impressions (showing up in Google results) for this keyword!
So WHY does Google think I have “authority” about business keywords? I already have a “keywords for business” post on my website, but this keyword will target a different audience.
The keywords for business post is a huge list of possible keywords, this post is how to find business keywords. I am NOT competing with myself by targeting the exact same keyword or traffic!
Having a number of posts about the same topic with different focuses lets Google know you are serious about that topic! This is called a “content cluster” and will help all your posts rank higher in Google!
Google Search Console Action Items
- Hook up your search console if you don't have it already
- Make a list of keywords you would like to target from what you already rank for (I like to pick ones with over 1,000 impressions a month if possible)
Search Console Example
Here is an example of how to use the search console to pick keywords…
My Artsy Fartsy website talks about color a lot … mostly purple, orange and green. So when I saw that there was a question about blue, I wrote a post saying what blue and purple make and all other colors of the rainbow!
Words that are in your search console, but are not “exactly” in your site show that Google is trying to find a great post to show people, and that you have an opportunity to rank right away because Google already kinda sorta thinks your site is about that anyways!
What Is Your Goal For Search Traffic?
That was the low hanging fruit, now we are going to have start thinking about WHY we want to rank for keywords!
Here are some keyword goals you might have:
- Getting people on your email list
- More traffic because you run ads
- Show you are an authority in a topic
- Get more customers
- Generate leads for your business
You need to know the goal for each post you write BEFORE you pick a keyword that you are trying to rank for!
Setting Keyword Goals Action Item
- Pick ONE goal for 5 different posts
Setting Keyword Goals Examples
For this I am going to give you examples for each of those five goals… that said, you ONLY get to pick one goal for your next 5 posts!
Getting People On Your Email List
Say you sell insurance and you want to get more people on your email list. You want to think about what kinds of people you can sell to… let's say you are looking for people who might want to buy a medicare product who are in their 60s.
Head on over to the Google search bar and look for questions you know people ask you all the time… like “how old do you have to be to sign up for medicare?” These google suggestions are a great way to find post titles!
These drop down keyword lists give you great ideas for posts you can write and find keywords you can target!
Put a form on the page to sign up for your free Medicare guide and BAM, you are building your list!
More Traffic Because You Run Ads
Okay, this is why I write blog posts. If you are trying to get more traffic, you need to be able to see the search volumes (how many times a month) for the keywords.
There is a free keyword research tool called Ubersuggest that lets you find out the volume of searches for words or phrases!
Say you are an artist and you want to find out the search volume for different kinds of artwork to get search traffic.
Doing a research for “impressionism art” we see it gets 27K searches a month…
While “abstract art” gets 165K searches a month!
That is a HUGE difference so I would focus on trying to rank for keywords related to abstract art first!
Show You Are An Authority On A Topic
This one is great for Realtor marketing and is a SUPER easy way to get website rankings for small keywords no one is targeting!
For this one you want to put ” marks around your search terms on Google so you can see EXACTLY how many people have that search term in their blog post title.
Here is a search for “dunedin real estate agent”
15K Exact search matches is pretty intimidating! But what if we drop down to the neighborhood level and search for “dunedin isles real estate agent”? (that was my real estate farm when I was an agent)
2 Exact search results… TWO!!! Whoo whoo! We know you can rank on page one for that exact search term because not that many people are trying to rank for it AND it is has “dunedin real estate” in it so you can start to try to rank for that bigger term.
NOTE :: Please do not write a horrible post about why you should choose a “dunedin isles real estate agent”… no one will want to read it. Instead write something like… 5 Things You Need To Know Before Your List Your Home From A Dunedin Isles Real Estate Agent
Get More Customers
Customers have SO MANY questions! You probably have an email program full of things that your customers have asked you, but let's just say that you are selling a course on how to make beer at home (that is a course I could get behind!)
First we will do a general search on how to make beer…
Ohhhh that one down there… “how to make beer taste better” looks interesting to lead people into a course! Once we click it and scroll down a little bit, we will see there is a “people also ask” section with more questions that we can answer…
When we add the ” marks to do an exact search for one of these questions we see that that are 8 results… EIGHT! Whoo whoo… first page again!
OF COURSE you will have an ad for your beer making course on that post!
Generate Leads For Your Business
Say you have a life coaching business and want to get more leads. For this one you kinda have to work backwards from what you have found your customers need AND what you are able to help them with!
Say “goal setting” is something that you can help people with, I would use Answer the Public to find out different angles you could take for post titles.
I know these are pretty small but a few that jump out at me are “goal setting for personal development”, “how goal setting can influence motivation” and “goal setting is important for success”.
Those three blog posts could start a “goal setting” content cluster on your site to rank for all different kinds of keywords!
Especially if you are new to writing posts for SEO, these kinds of broad topics could help you get some more keywords to target in your search console down the road!
Focusing On The Customer Journey
Okay, I have a whole post that talks about the customer journey, but I think it bears looking at in how we think about picking keywords to write about!
Here are few angles you can take when thinking about your business keywords!
Urgent Business Keywords
If you want to get urgent traffic, you need to target people with their hair on fire (not literally, but ones who have an immediate need!)
Here are a few urgent business keywords:
- How to avoid foreclosure
- Fix leaky faucet
- Make more money fast
- Stop eating too much
Now, some of those are in industries where it is hard to rank (finance and weight loss), but if that is your business, you are going to have to get good at ranking for hard keywords!
Start of the Funnel Business Keywords
Start of the funnel keywords are generally super broad and get lots of searches.
Here are a few start of the funnel keyword examples:
- How to draw animals
- Where to get christmas lights
- Marketing for real estate agents
These are super beginner questions and might take a long time to get to a sale, but if you get them on your email list you can nurture them the whole way through!
Ready To Buy Business Keywords
I LOVE ready to buy keywords! These are super specific and can lead to an immediate sale.
- Best coach for women over 55 who need to lose weight
- Sizzix Big Shot reviews
- Which is the best lens to take close up pictures
I did a search for the weight loss over 55 and just had to show the result that came up… Body and Soul Coaching ROCKED this one for exactly the right keyword and landing page!
How To Keywords
How to keywords are my jam as a blogger! I love answering questions and get lots of traffic to my posts that teach people how to do something.
- How to market your books on Instagram
- How to save money for your retirement (the easy way)
- How to cut molding so it meets in the middle
If you sell a product that is the answer to one of these “how to” questions, it can be tempting to think you are giving all your secrets away for free… sigh.
But at least some of the time the person will NOT want to do the how to, they will want to hire you or purchase your solution if it makes it easier for them to get the result they want!
Business Keywords Wrapup
Whew, that was A LOT of keyword talk! I hope that something that I talked about today will spark an idea for you to start doing your keyword strategy research and write posts that rank in Google!
Just make sure that your keyword research fits into the overall marketing strategy for your business! Finding great keyword phrases that are not a match to your business goals is a great way to drive yourself crazy!
For example, I wrote one post in 2012 about “customer demographics” that was my top post for YEARS!
Unfortunately that had NOTHING to do with my business and now I am stuck updating it each year even though it not all that helpful beyond driving traffic to my site!