Keyword to the wise

How keyword research can help get you found online

At this very moment, someone in your area could be searching online for what you do. But will they find you? Even if you have a functional website, the answer may be ‘no’. After all, search engines can churn out billions of results — and only the first ten will get much of a chance of being clicked.

So how do you give your website the best chance of being discovered?

How search engines work

Search engines produce answers, and they do this by firstly siphoning out the results they deem to be unrelated or unuseful, and secondly ranking the results so that the most relevant and popular sites appear first.

These rankings are determined by a number of factors, including title tags, meta descriptions, the recency of content, engagement and traffic data, and many others — including keyword usage. Understanding keywords is a very important part of search engine optimisation, and thus requires a careful process of keyword research.

What is keyword research?

Keyword research involves finding out the words and phrases that people enter into search engines when they’re looking for something online.

Why does my website need keyword research?

We research keywords because it allows us to achieve better rankings in search engines. In other words, keyword research is one of many important SEO techniques that we perform to get your business found online.

Understanding your market’s keyword demand means you can not only cater to the terms being searched for, but also learn more about your customers in general.

How do I research keywords?

Professional keyword research is a thorough and ongoing process.

Doing it correctly can require years of SEO experience, but there are nonetheless some simple steps to get you started.

• Know your business — Think carefully about your business, website, products and services. Put yourself into your customer’s shoes. What are the types of things people might be looking for that relate to your business? What are the things you can provide?

• Start broad, then tighten your focus — Start taking note of possible keywords associated with your business. Try writing out a mind map that starts with basic phrases (such as your trade and general services), then hone in on more specific terms and niche markets (such as specialist services, particular materials you use, information on local projects you’ve completed, and so on). These more specific keywords are often more profitable and less competitive.

• Learn the value of keywords — Take a behind-the-scenes look at your website and identify the worth of your keywords. Are more visitors finding your business from searching for ‘gas fitting’ or ‘hot water installation’? Knowledge like this can allow you to respond to changes in market conditions and customer demands, and to produce the products, services, and content that your customers are searching for.

Caution: keyword stuffing

As a final note, we offer a word of caution: beware of keyword stuffing!

This is when people, in an attempt to be picked up in search engine results, overfill their website content and meta tags with keywords. You may think this will make your site more relevant to search engines, but in fact it may lead to your business being banned from search rankings due to spam.

Go for quality over quantity, and take care to use keywords intelligently and only when needed.

Keywords are the key to success

Keyword research is not about getting as many people to your site as possible, but rather about ensuring the right people are finding your business. Being such an important part of SEO, it is vital that your keyword research is done right. That’s where we come in!

Connected Tradies has the experience to conduct professional keyword research that adds value to our websites and gets you found online. Get in touch with our team today, and take advantage of online marketing that is made easy.