How to Choose the Right Keywords for your SEO Campaign
Knowing how to choose the right keywords for your SEO campaign can make all the difference to your results. Keywords are that critical.
Imagine inviting friends to a Mexico-themed party with the promise of a taco truck, chips and salsa, and margaritas. They’re looking forward to a specific culinary experience. They’re eagerly anticipating the smells and tastes unique to tacos and margaritas.
They would be very disappointed to be served pizza and beer instead of those tacos and margaritas they were expecting. Even if they happen to like pizza and beer.
It’s similar when the content on your website doesn’t match the expectations of the person who has come to your site based on a specific search query they typed into a search engine. That’s what happens when you optimize for the wrong keywords.
But even before that, it’s important to use keywords that people are searching for in the first place. Going back to our imagined party … you probably chose tacos and margaritas for the party menu because you know your friends and you know that’s what they like.
By the same token, if they don’t eat sushi or drink sake, you may not have many people showing up to a party with those things being served.
So, the first step in choosing the right keywords for your SEO campaign is …
Know What People are Searching For
There are multiple keyword research tools available that can help you determine the traffic potential of specific keywords. Some of them are:
Research is crucial so that you don’t waste your time and resources optimizing your content for keywords that nobody is searching for.
Your research can also help you identify the competition around specific keywords. Ideally, you’re looking for keywords that have a high volume of people searching for them and a low number of competitors satisfying those searches.
Next, you’ll need to …
Consider the Search Intent behind the Keywords
If your content doesn’t satisfy the search intent of the person doing the search, they will not stay on your site and take the action you want them to take (buying something, scheduling a call, signing up for your email list, etc.).
For example, if someone is searching with the intent to learn more about sedation dentistry, your content needs to give them the information they’re looking for, not just tell them to schedule an appointment for sedation dentistry.
In this example, the keywords “sedation dentist near me” or “sedation dentist in [your town]” implies the intent of needing to make an appointment. And the page you’ve optimized for either of these keywords would tell someone how to make that appointment along with some information to establish your credentials and authority.
On the other hand, “what is sedation dentistry” or “benefits of sedation dentistry” show more of an information-gathering intent. The page you’ve optimized for either of these keywords is going to be much more information-rich and probably heavier on content than the appointment page.
Another word for search intent is relevance. The right keywords are relevant to why someone is searching in the first place.
Deliver on your Chosen Keywords Better than Anyone Else
The last piece of choosing the right keywords is being able to deliver on them. And doing so better than anyone else.
Going back to our tacos and margarita party example … if someone else was serving tacos and margaritas at another party competing with yours, people would still want to come to your party if your tacos and margaritas are better than what they’ll get somewhere else from someone else.
The same is true with keywords and SEO. You are likely to have competition with your keywords. But you can win the traffic — you can get people to your website instead of your competitor’s site — when the content you deliver is better than the competitor’s.
We’re Here to Help
As you can see, choosing the right keywords for your SEO involves pairing keyword research tools with audience insight and content strategy. To make it even more complicated, Google is constantly updating the algorithm and ranking system … meaning the rules and best practices keep changing.
This is why so many smart business leaders turn to SEO experts like those here at WorldLight Media for help.
We do what we do best — including helping you choose the right keywords for your goals and objectives AND making the content you deliver better than your competitors’ — so you can do what you do best in running your business.
Ready to learn more about how we can help you with your SEO efforts so that more people find you when they’re searching for solutions to their problems? Let’s talk! Click here to start the conversation.
