SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is arguably the cornerstone of digital marketing and the best way to raise your rankings in search engine results. Using this organic strategy will ensure that your business will be more visible, get more traffic, and reach the right kind of people to convert into sales.
Keyword research is one of the core concepts in building the correct SEO strategy, and here we will explain what keyword research is, and how it can benefit your small business…
What do we mean by ‘keyword research’?
Keyword research quite simply is the practice of finding out which keywords your customers or target market typically use when searching for a product or service that you offer. An SEO agency in Dubai, for example, can target localised keywords in order to connect with local businesses in their area and effectively secure their interest.
If you don’t know the right keywords to use, you will effectively attract the wrong type of traffic to your website and struggle with converting them into business.
How to carry out proper keyword research
You can carry out keyword research to find the most popular words in your field, but this is really just the beginning. Finding a keyword isn’t enough. Proper keyword research involves evaluating each keyword in order to make the most out of it, including:
- The volume of searches – an essential component, but just because something is high volume doesn’t mean it is necessarily right for you. A general keyword that is searched a lot will have far more competition, and also lead to less conversions than a more specialised one. For example, ‘chair’ may be incredibly widely searched, but is a largely useless keyword compared with ‘handmade oak rocking chair’.
- Search intent – are customers actually using these keywords to buy something now? Are they looking for inspiration or information? The more information you have on intent the better you can tailor your content to accommodate their needs.
- How competitive it is – as a small business you are often competing with larger businesses with bigger budgets. That’s not to say that you should not target the more competitive short-tail keywords, however, adopting a healthy balance with less competitive keywords is very important.
While you are at it, it really helps to understand both who your target audience is (and what makes them tick), and which keywords your biggest competitors are targeting. The more data you have when carrying out your keyword research, the more impactful your decision making will be.
So, why is it important to use proper keyword research?
Doing proper keyword research is critical because without it you are blindly guessing at what your customers might be searching or instead of using the awesome tools at your disposal to get ahead. If you truly want to resonate with the right people and ultimately boost your conversions, keyword research is invaluable.
Take your time, do the appropriate research, use a mixture of short and long-tail keywords, and split-test frequently. Keyword research is never ‘done’, because what works for you now could change in the near future – particularly as emerging trends present themselves.