How to Choose the Best Keywords for Your Website
In addition to writing content that is interesting to your readers, it is important to incorporate key words and phrases that are focused in your niche market. It sounds as simple as putting together a list of all related terms in your industry. This is a good start, however there is more research and strategy involved if you want to use the best keywords and outdo your competitors in the search results.
What are some keyword factors?
Research the demographics
Typically people’s search terms consist of a service they are looking for followed by the city or state they live in. This is especially true for local services such as, restaurants, doctors, or hair salons. For this reason, one SEO technique is to add geographic locations to key phrases. This also decreases the competition for a phrase. For example, you will have less competition for “Chiropractor in Romeo, Michigan” than “Chiropractor Michigan”.
Before you select which city or county you want to include in your key phrase. It is important to research the demographics so that you know which area your service will have the most value. If you are selling a product or service that is more of a luxury, consider which areas have a higher income and can afford your product. If your target market is young children, find out where the highest population of families with children live. Taking the time to do your homework will ensure you use the best possible keywords to reach your target market.
Think like your audience
There are numerous ways to say one thing. Someone in need of a hair cut may search for hair stylist, stylist, hairdresser, barber, hair cuts, or salon just to name a few. So in these situations, what are the best keywords to use?
It is important to think like your audience and not always as a proffesional. For example, you may refer to yourself as a hair stylist but customers might refer to you as a hair styler. Even though this phrase may sound incorrect to you, you must still realize that it may be used. Also, consider slang or misspelled words. For example, veterinarian may be misspelled often.
Consider seasonal keywords
If you are a clothing store, your keywords may consist of dresses, jeans, and shirts and so on. As a business owner, I am sure you are aware of the seasonal trends. Around the holidays you probably order more holiday dresses and during the summer you stock up on swim suits and sundresses. When your inventory starts changing this is a good time to start switching up your keywords. For example in November and December start optimizing for keywords such as Christmas Gifts and holiday dresses.
Need more help driving traffic to your Website?
Russ Cuthrell is a Michigan SEO Expert and Internet Marketer with over 24 years of experience in the Information Technology space. He is the owner of Spyder Byte Media, Inc., a Michigan Website Design company located in Shelby Township, Michigan in Macomb County. He has helped hundreds of small business owners in Michigan make it to the top of the search engines and keep them there.
