How to choose SEO keywords for your small business website.
The English language is incredible. There are hundreds of different word combinations that can be used to communicate a single idea. And every combination is a possible SEO keyword phrase for some website. Maybe yours.
So how do you decide which words and phrases to use when you’re optimizing your website to increase search engine traffic? Do you choose keywords with the highest search volume? The ones that you’re already using on your site or that are already drawing traffic? Do you pick keywords with the least competition?
All of these questions must be addressed through the course of developing a comprehensive SEO plan. But for a small business website, one question rises above the rest: Which search terms are your customers using? Read more
Customers are looking for you. Engage SEO so they can find you!
My first introduction to search engine optimization (SEO) happened several years ago, when I first started learning about website management and blogging. I already knew how to create a website and write the content, but getting traffic was a completely different ballgame.
Search engine optimization (SEO) was a distant promise that if you build a website, and then optimize it for search engines, visitors would come. But it seemed highly complicated. There were long lists of things you should and shouldn’t do to attract search engine traffic. I studied it from a distance for a long time.
And then I became a website copywriter. Read more
SEO copywriting is harder than it looks
When I first started working as a website copywriter, I knew relatively little about search engine optimization (SEO). I understood that keywords could open the door to search engine traffic, but I didn’t realize just how much effort was involved in successfully finding and implementing those keywords using SEO.
In hindsight, I entered the SEO copywriting niche almost by accident. Back then, I provided general copywriting services for online and for print. As I settled into my newfound profession and increasingly focused on web content writing, I noticed that I was receiving more and more requests for “keyword articles.”
The premise was simple: Write an article (or ten) and use a particular keyword or keyword phrase a predetermined number of times. Some clients wanted the keyword to appear five times in an article. Others specified that the keyword must appear in bold, headings, italics, or near the beginning of a paragraph. Often, the keyword also had to be included in the title.
These assignments made me curious, so I started researching SEO to better understand my clients’ goals. After realizing how SEO could positively impact traffic to a website, I started testing SEO copywriting on my own sites, and finding the endeavor successful, I eventually added SEO services to my repertoire.
What is SEO Copywriting?
SEO copywriting is the practice of writing material for online publication. It includes strategically placed keywords in order to attract traffic from search engines. The most targeted search engine is Google.
Ideally, extensive research is conducted to determine which keywords are a good fit for the website to which you want to draw traffic. This should be done before the SEO copy is written.
Also, there should be a strategy for implementing the keywords not just in the copy, but in the website’s code.
Understanding Keywords
Many business owners request written copy for their website and when asked about keywords, they just list keywords off the cuff, without truly understanding that in website copywriting, a keyword is more than a word from the dictionary that relates to your website or your business.
For example, a restaurant owner might suggest the keyword “food.” I don’t even have to research this keyword to know that it’s highly competitive, and it would probably be impossible for a small business to rank on a search engine for this keyword. Also, it’s extremely nonspecific. Folks searching for “food” could be looking for a grocery store, recipes, or nutrition information. In fact, I’d guess it’s quite unlikely that a searcher looking for “food” is actually seeking a restaurant.
Keywords can’t be pulled out of thin air, and website or business owners should never make assumptions about keywords. Take an entrepreneur who calls herself a beautician. She’s attached to that title and requests it as a keyword in her site without doing any research. Would she be interested to learn that the keyword “beautician” generates about 110,000 searches per month through Google alone?
How would she feel about her keyword choice if she learned that “hairstylist” gets 165,000 searches a month? Or if she were to discover that “hair stylist” (two words) gets 368,000 searches?
Imagine her surprise when she finds out that “hairdresser” is searched 823,000 times a month.
Which keyword should she use?
Keywords, SEO, and Assumptions
It’s easy to assume that the beautician should target the keyword “hairdresser” because it gets the most searches. However, a good SEO specialist continues to ask questions.
- How competitive is the keyword?
- How much research, copywriting, and other resources will it take to rank for this keyword?
- Can my business handle the amount of traffic that this keyword could potentially draw?
A large chain of salons might have the budget and resources to hire an extensive SEO campaign in the tens of thousands of dollars. Such a chain could also handle the number of customers that a massive campaign could attract.
However, an independent, self-employed beautician may prefer another strategy. It could be more beneficial to rank high for a beautician-related keyword that gets a lower number of searches and for which it will take less time and resources to achieve high rankings. This is especially true if she is intent on remaining independent and cannot handle a clientele roster that numbers in the tens (or hundreds) of thousands.
The Art of SEO Copywriting
The actual practice of SEO copywriting involves writing copy that contains keywords. This is neither as simple nor as straightforward as it sounds.
A good copywriter knows that the first priority is to create copy that compels. That means understanding the primary intent. Should this copy incite website visitors to buy a product? Encourage them to hire someone for a service? Register for membership? Click to another page?
Compelling copywriting is clear and easy to read. It speaks to the target customer and it is concise. Usually, it’s formatted to be scanable. Often, it’s balanced with descriptive and interesting images (or video).
Keywords have to fit into good copywriting, which requires a significant aptitude for writing. If you build copy around keywords, then the copy will be keyword-driven rather than customer-oriented. A talented or skillful SEO copywriter knows how to work keywords into great copy, much like a chef works herbs and spices into a gourmet recipe.
Hiring an SEO Copywriter
The goal of SEO copywriting is to increase a website’s rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). A professional SEO copywriter understands this and wants her clients to succeed.
A good SEO copywriter may or may not provide keyword research and other SEO services. Some copywriters only do the writing. However, any professional SEO copywriter should have a thorough understanding of how SEO works.
When you hire a copywriter, you may already have a list of keywords. Perhaps you hired a professional SEO and just need someone to write the copy. Or maybe your site has been optimized for some time and now you just want to update the written content.
In any case, both an SEO copywriter and a client should understand that SEO is not as simple as plucking keywords from one’s vocabulary and then casually strewing them throughout the written copy.
Thoughtful, strategic selection of SEO keywords
Whenever I’m working on a website copywriting project, I ask my client to fill out a questionnaire that helps me understand their business. This enables me to write copy that truly represents the client’s company, mission, and goals.
One of the items on the questionnaire used to be “Please list any keywords related to your website or business.”
I quickly found out that very few small business owners understood what I meant by “keywords.” Sometimes, they would jot down something like “use your best judgment.” Usually, they’d list a few keywords, but it was clear that they weren’t researched keywords for SEO. They were simply words and phrases that represented the products and services that the client offered, and they had been selected at random.
Since most small business owners don’t specialize in web content and design, how could they be expected to know that when an online marketing consultant inquires about keywords, she means keywords that have been researched for SEO purposes?
It wasn’t long before I changed my questionnaire to read “Have you conducted any SEO keyword research?” Rewording the question had some interesting results. Some clients simply put “no.” Others became curious: What do you mean by keyword research?
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing is an online marketing strategy that grows traffic to a website by increasing its visibility on search engines. This is primarily done through search engine optimization (SEO).
Search engine marketing is extremely competitive. Most small business owners think that by simply launching a website, they’ll automatically start getting traffic through search engines. But these days, to get traffic through search engines, you have to carefully optimize your website. That means researching and choosing keywords, implementing those keywords, establishing incoming links, and monitoring keyword and traffic performance.
Search engine marketing isn’t for everyone. If you’re on a tight budget in a field with highly congested keywords, you would be better off with an alternative online marketing strategy. There are lots of ways to draw traffic, and before you start an SEO campaign, you should do some research, consult with an SEO specialist, and make sure it’s a good match for your business.
Keyword Research
You can’t just pluck keywords out of nowhere. Well you can, but your results will be less than ideal. Keyword research can be a tedious process. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of possible keywords for just about any search term you can think of. When you conduct keyword research in preparation for optimizing your site, your goal is to find the keywords that will draw the most traffic. You also want the traffic to be targeted to your business offerings.
Let’s say you run a small, independent bookstore. You might think that a good keyword to pursue would be “books.” But that would be wrong. To gain traffic through a keyword like that would cost tens of thousands of dollars in research, content development, and other SEO efforts. You’d be much better off finding narrower and more localized search terms. Another option would be to forgo search engine marketing altogether and use another strategy to increase traffic to your site.
To discern which search terms would most benefit your website efficiently and effectively, you conduct (or hire someone to conduct) keyword research. This is a process in which you start with some general and obvious search terms and use various online SEO tools to expand the list of terms, so that there are plenty of choices. Then, you review each of the terms to determine how competitive each one will be, how much content you’d have to add to your site to compete effectively, and decide which keywords your target customers are most likely to enter into a search engine. For example, people searching for the term “books” are not necessarily looking for an independent bookstore (here’s a hint — “bookstore” is a more targeted keyword than “books”) and even if they are looking for such a store, they may be in a different geographic location.
Here are some questions to keep in mind when conducting keyword research:
- What are the primary products or services that the website offers?
- What alternative or synonymous keywords can be used?
- How much search volume do these keywords generate each month?
- Which keywords are potential customers likely to use in searching for these products or services?
- What does the competition for these keywords look like?
It’s important to note that when we talk about keyword competition, it’s not necessarily the same businesses with which we’re competing. In other words, there will be other sites that are using the same keywords as you, but their product or service offerings may not be directly competing with yours. You’re competing with them to get search engine traffic via keywords rather than competing with them in business.
SEO
For many small businesses, a little SEO can really boost traffic. The decision of whether or not to pursue SEO is one that must be made by each individual business, and the decision will likely rest on how competitive keywords are within your industry, the amount of resources you can dedicate to optimization, and the findings that come from keyword research.
One thing, however, is constant: A successful SEO campaign starts with keyword research, and keywords should never be chosen on a whim. A little research can go a long way in helping you make smart decisions about whether search engine marketing and SEO is the right online marketing strategy for your business.
