How Does Keyword Research Grow Your Business?
If you have an online business, your website is your shopfront. Most businesses are happy to invest in their web design, because they want their ‘shopfront’ to look inviting, engaging, and professional. But it’s equally important to invest in keyword research. ‘Why is keyword research important? Read on to find out.
At Imagefix we spend a good deal of time talking to businesses about the Search Engine Optimisation work we do and how it grows online sales. Keyword research, as part of SEO, helps online shoppers find your business when they’re looking for products like yours in a search engine. If your keyword research is poor, you’re more difficult to find and your search engine ranking will be lower.
1. What is Keyword Research?
Keywords describe the phrases or words searchers type into a search engine when they’re looking for products like yours. They’re what people ‘look for’ online. If you know, and use, keywords strategically in your website copy, Google – for example – will find it easier to match your site to online searches that use the same keyword. This provides more online traffic to your website, and a better ranking in the search engines results pages.
Understanding what online shoppers search for, the words they use when searching, and the features that are most important to them, gives you a marketing advantage. You can target content more accurately, develop an SEO marketing strategy that uses keywords ignored by your competitors, or focus on geographical keywords to attract local customers.
2. Doing Keyword Research
‘Why is keyword research important?’, because without it you’re not competing on a level playing field with competitors who are using it effectively. There are a number of ways that you can source keywords for free:
- What Keywords Do Your Competitors Use? A good starting point for getting to grips with keyword research is to take a look at your closest competitor. What are the titles of each of their pages? These will give you a good indicator of the keywords they’re using to attract customers. Perhaps there’s a service you offer that they don’t, or an area you work in that they don’t list.
- Use an Online Keyword Generator. These give you hundreds of keywords for your sector, from most generic, to the most niche. The majority offer a limited service, or a free trial so you can get a clear sense of the keywords you should be using. The Imagefix SEO team recommends Wordstream and Answer the Public, both of which offer a great introduction to keyword research.
- Use Google. Pretend you’re a customer and do a few searches in Google. You’ll get a clear idea of the way that keywords are used in your sector. Also, take a look at the list of related questions which Google always publishes around halfway down the page. These are popular searches that can inspire content or be used as the title of a blog.
3. Tips for the Best Results
Keyword research quickly starts to generate lists of words and phrases that searchers use when looking for your products, but how do you use keywords to get more visitors to your site?
Find Keywords For Each Main Web Page
Each of your main web pages should have a primary keyword 4-6 secondary keywords. This is a useful way to manage your research. The primary keyword tells searchers what they’ll find on the page, so it will probably be more generic. The secondary keywords offer details, and differentiators; these tend to take the form of questions, or short phrases.
Use H tags and Keywords Together
H tags refer to headings which break up blocks of copy. They make pages easier for visitors to read, but they also signal to search engines what the page or blog is about. Using H tags in the way they’re designed to be used, ensures your copy gets found online. There are 6 H tags and they should be used in the following way:
- H1 – the title (primary keyword)
- H2 – main subheadings (secondary keyword)
- H3 – smaller subheadings (bullets, secondary keywords)
- H4,5,6 – these are low priority headings, using smaller font sizes
The primary keyword can be used a number of times in your copy, but it should always read naturally.
4. Measuring Keyword Research Success
Keyword research takes consistent effort over a period of time, so it’s important that you know whether or not it’s working. The simplest way to gauge this is by using Google Analytics to check whether you’re experiencing more organic traffic to your site. This won’t happen overnight; it can take 3-6 months to see significant changes as a result of successful keyword research.
Working With Imagefix
We’re established SEO specialists with a great track record for getting our clients an excellent search engine rating. The majority of businesses working with Imagefix see 75-150% increase in traffic to their website within 3-6 months of us managing their SEO. If you would like us to carry out keyword research for your product, or SEO your website for a higher search engine ranking, simply give us a call and we’ll explain what we do in more detail.
We hope we’ve answered the question ‘Why is keyword research important?’ clearly. If you’d like to know more, or you need some help to get started, call Imagefix on 01525 715608.
