Your Rainbow to the “Pot of Gold” of SEO Ranking When it comes to SEO, having the perfect keyword can definitely feel like finding the “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow. When it’s a struggle to find the right keywords, though, it can be overwhelming to decide which new ones to
Your Rainbow to the “Pot of Gold” of SEO Ranking
When it comes to SEO, having the perfect keyword can definitely feel like finding the “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow. When it’s a struggle to find the right keywords, though, it can be overwhelming to decide which new ones to invest in.
How do we do it at Dream Factory? We’ve got a 5-step process to help you out!
1. Figure Out Your SEO Goals
Different keywords accomplish different goals. To start, ask yourself:
- Are you looking for immediate results, or are you aiming for long-term goals?
- Is your audience broad, or super specific?
- What types of traffic are you looking for?
- Are you looking for people to purchase something on your website?
- Or are you just pushing brand awareness?
Once you know what your SEO goals are, it’s time to start figuring out what keywords to look through to find them for you.
2. Check Out Your Competition
As Sun Tzu famously says in The Art of War, “Know thy self, know thy enemy.” Chances are, your competitors are using SEO keywords, so why not see what’s working for them?
Check out their content, then try to determine patterns. What words show up over and over? What topics are their focus?
Now try using Google to search those keywords. Does your competitor show up? For that matter, do you show up? If you want to really dig deep, you can use technology like Spyfu to get the down and dirty of where your competitor ranks versus you on specific keywords, both organic and inorganic.
You might discover you both rank high in certain keyword searches, in which case, you should consider investing more in them to stay ahead of your competitor. Well done, super spy.
3. Do Some Keyword Research
Try to come up with a few categories of words that feel relevant to your website.
- What do you regularly talk about in your content?
- What would a person visiting your website expect to find?
- Do you sell a particular brand or product, or offer a specific service?
- What shows up in the “related search” engine for those words? Is there anything relevant you can use?
From there, make a list. Start big and broad, but don’t forget to include specifics, too. For example, you should include your city and state to help your local customers to find you.
Outside tools such as Google Adwords Keyword Planner can be useful for taking words from this list and finding more than you haven’t thought of, too.
Got your list? Great! That brings us to our next point.
4. Choose Phrases Over Stand-Alone Words
Think about it. Do you google “business” or “business marketing tips” when you want to know tips for marketing your business? By that same logic, if you wanted to bake bread from scratch, you’d search online “how to bake bread from scratch,” not just “bread.”
Phrases are generally less competitive than popular stand-alone words, too, so it’s a cost-effective way of narrowing your audience to be the demographic you want. It’s going to be next to impossible to be on the first page for “business,” but maybe you can succeed at “small Orlando real estate firm.”
Even better, the person doing the second search is definitely looking for what you offer.
5. Test, Test, Test Your Results
Just because something seems like the best keyword for you, doesn’t actually mean it’s a good keyword for you. That’s why you should constantly measure and keep track of your keyword results.
Remember these goals we talked about earlier? This is where you compare those goals to your results. Do people find you from the search terms you’ve chosen to invest in? What’s giving you traffic? Is that traffic converting to leads?
You’ll want outside tools for this, and there’s plenty you can choose from. Google Analytics is a freely available one with plenty of articles that explain how to use it to measure your analytics.
No one ever said SEO was easy. With hard work, though, and some trial and error, you should find the keywords that work best for you.
Want to know more about Dream Factory’s analytical, results-driven marketing solutions? We’re here to provide the strategies you need. Contact us and learn what options are right for you.
