Keywords-Related Tips from SEO Experts
Let’s get back to our candy shop example. What keywords would you choose to target people with a taste for craft liquorice candy? As a shop owner, you have to come up with something specific and relevant if you want to get the right users. Here are several recommendations from SEO experts to help you get started:
Focus on the Purchase-Oriented Keywords
Make sure the search terms that you optimize for reflect the actual needs of your customers. For instance, “liquorice candy” and other general phrases imply recipes, Wikipedia-style articles, and other stuff that isn’t directly tied to our shop. For this reason, it’s wiser to aim for the queries that include words like “buy”, “purchase”, “order”, etc.
Watch for Your Competitors
Use SEMrush or similar tools to find out what keyword strategies work for your competitors. Similar companies tend to optimize for the same search queries, which means it would be wise to see if there is a great deal of competition for a given search query. This way you’ll be able to forecast the likelihood of success, as well as how much time it takes to optimize for a given keyword.
Create Keyword Groups
As a rule, you’d want to place multiple keywords on every web page. According to Cyrus Shepard from Moz, a good way to group keywords implies using close synonyms, as well as related phrases. To collect such related phrases, use the keyword suggestion tool from seoreviewtools.com.
Assess the Value of Every Keyword
At this point, you’re probably asking yourself if there is a way of knowing if a particular keyword can actually bring you customers. As a matter of fact, there is – if you can afford to buy a sample Google AdWords campaign.
To estimate the value of a particular keyword, use it for an AdWords ad that links to a landing page built around the same keyword. As soon as the ad gets more than 200 clicks, use Google Analytics to calculate how many people made a purchase after having clicked on it. If the number is good enough for you, optimising for the same word will definitely prove a worthy idea.
Prioritize Long-Tail Keywords
“Long tail” is more than just a buzzword that SEO specialists have been crazy about lately. In a nutshell, long tail keywords are longer phrases that correspond to a more specific purchase intent. For instance, if your shop is located in Portland, optimizing for something like “buy craft liquorice candy in Portland” is the way to go.
Think Like a Customer
Just like in the case of other activities related to digital marketing, your success with SEO depends on your ability to build buyer personas. Learning about your audience’s interests, values, and lifestyle will prove useful when you start searching for the right keywords. For instance, you may discover that most of your customers prefer the “licorice” spelling variant when working on your buyer personas. As you can expect, this will influence your choice of keywords.