Having a successful SEO strategy is important for any business looking to grow their online presence and increase their customer base. Before jumping into SEO (search engine optimization), it’s important that you pick the right keywords for your business.
Why? Keywords play an important role in the initial strategy process because these are the words that your customers are literally typing into search engines or asking Google. Selecting the right keywords can make all the difference from generic website traffic to driving high-converting qualified leads.
If you are looking for expert advice on how to optimize your keyword selection, then look to Simplified Marketing for sound advice. Our team of Philadelphia SEO experts have years of experience helping businesses like yours refine their keyword strategies in order to get the best results from their search engine optimization efforts.
Here are 4 Areas to Focus On to Help You Pick the Best Keywords For Your Business
As a local SEO Service based company in Philadelphia, we love to use tools like SEMrush or SE Ranking to help us in our keyword research. In this blog, we’ll define the top 4 key elements you should be paying attention to as you start your search for picking the right keywords for your business.
So before you begin to optimize your website, check out these tips!
1.) User Search Intent
When it comes to search intent, it’s important to select keywords that will not only drive traffic but the right traffic. Searching for keywords in SEMrush or SE Ranking, you will find 4 different types of search intent.
- Navigational Keywords: This is when people navigate to a specific page on a website or brand. These keywords can often be found by simply typing in a brand’s product or service name into search engines.
- Informational Keywords: If you are looking for a ton of website traffic, informational keywords are a great way to drive a lot of traffic for online users thirsting for information. Informational keywords are exactly how it sounds: keywords that meet the intent of providing users with information. During our years of providing local SEO services in Philadelphia, we can acknowledge that this is a great way to get traffic, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it will convert.
- Commercial Keywords: These types of keywords are great for businesses looking to appear as an option when customers are searching for products and services. Commercial keywords are focused on the search intent of users “shopping” around and almost ready to convert. From our experience providing local SEO services in Philadelphia, we think commercial keywords are great to go after as these can help businesses show up in search when customers are shopping. While these online users may be shopping, they are just a few clicks away from converting!
- Transactional Keywords: These types of keywords are all about making sales. When users search for transactional keywords, their intent is to find a product or service and make a purchase. A great example of this is if someone was searching for “SEO company near me.” This type of search shows that someone is actively searching for a local SEO service in their local area and are ready to find a provider. For businesses looking to drive online traffic that is ready to convert, then you will want to go after transactional keywords.
While it may seem like commercial and transactional keywords are the best fitting keywords for businesses, it’s good to have a mix of different keywords to provide value to your customers. Also, you never know what the next Google algorithm update has in store. But at the end of the day, it’s about providing value to your customers.
2.) Look at Traffic Volume
Keywords are great, but if no one is searching for specific keywords per month, it might be useless to optimize your businesses’ website for non-existent traffic. That’s why it’s important to compare keywords and measure the difference of traffic before selecting your keywords.
Now if you find a keyword with almost no traffic, but it’s still relevant to your business, there is potential that it could drive quality leads. A benefit of picking a keyword with no traffic could also mean that it will be less competitive to optimize and have a better chance of ranking for that particular keyword.
And don’t worry, if you don’t understand what we mean by competitive keywords, we’ll be sure to cover that next!
3.) Examine the Keyword Difficulty of a Keyword
Now that you have found some keywords that meet the search user’s intent and see that it has decent traffic volume, it’s important to review the keyword difficulty of each search term. The difficulty is measured from 0 to 100%, with 100% being incredibly difficult to rank. In our years of experience providing local SEO services to the greater Philadelphia area, keywords ranging from 0-14% are easy to rank. As a SEO Consultant in Philadelphia, we recommend looking at keywords ranging from 0-40% keyword difficulty. Now that doesn’t mean if a keyword is 70%, you’ll never have a chance of ranking for that keyword. All it means is that your content will have to go against some pretty high competition to be able to stand a chance to rank in search engines.
But here’s a story that can give you hope for ranking for that dream keyword: A partner of Simplified Marketing had tried ranking for a keyword that was near impossible to rank for, but after years of going after that specific keyword, they finally ranked #1 in Google. So don’t give up on that keyword you want to rank for it because nothing is impossible!
4.) Check Out Your Keyword’s Cost-Per-Click (CPC)
Evaluating a keyword based on cost-per-click is a great way to show you what other businesses in your industry consider valuable. When researching keywords, make sure that you pay close attention to the cost-per-click of your keywords.
This can show you what people are willing to pay to show up in Google ads for that specific keyword when advertising. This will help you have an idea if it’s worth trying to rank, even if there isn’t a lot of traffic associated.
An example of this would be if someone is willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a certain keyword, then you know that the specific search term has a greater chance of attracting leads that will convert on your website if you optimize for it.
A Key Example on How To Pick the Right Keyword for Your Business
Now that we’ve explained how to pick the right keywords for your business, we’ll show you a glimpse into the research that’s involved based on our process.
In this screenshot, you will see the keyword on the left-hand side. Next to it, you will see the intent, traffic volume, trend, keyword difficulty, and cost-per-click.
From just looking at this screenshot, you will see some excellent winners that are all possible to rank. But can you believe that some people are willing to pay $245.27 to show up for nearshore custom software development? Crazy, we know. But in all honesty, we think all of these keywords are great to try to rank due to keyword difficulty and cost-per-click.
Maximize Your SEO Strategy By Picking The Right Local SEO Service Provider in Philadelphia
When it comes to building a solid foundation and strong path for your SEO strategy, it’s important to work with a reputable marketing agency that has the knowledge and expertise to get you the results you want.
Not only will a specialized SEO agency be able to understand the local market, but their knowledge and expertise can help you optimize your website for better search rankings and increased visibility. With the right approach and research, you can find an excellent local SEO service provider in Philadelphia that will maximize your SEO strategy and drive more traffic to your business.
If you’re looking to grow your business’ online footprint and drive more qualified leads, contact us at Simplified Marketing to help you get there faster! Fill out a form on our website for a free consultation and website evaluation today.
