Taking Advantage Of The Internet
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s rankings in search engines such as Google. One of the primary ways of improving your rankings is to use keywords that internet search engine users type into a search engine when looking for products, services, or information. You add these keywords to your website’s content so that you will rank well and have the best content to draw in website visitors and convert them into customers.
For example, if you are in need of a haircut, what would you type into a search engine in order to find a hair cutter near you? If you live in Kansas City, you might type, “Kansas City barber near me” or “hair cutter in the Kansas City metro area.”
These words are known as keywords or keyphrases. If you add keywords to your business’s website copy, your business will be more likely to appear in the search engine’s results pages. You can also add related secondary keywords to your website copy to help search engines identify what your website is and whether it should be displayed to certain searchers.
How SEO Keywords Work
Google, Bing, and other search engines have to analyze all of the websites on the internet, and that’s no easy task. Some websites may have similar content but their purposes are very different.
For instance, you may have a website dedicated to teaching people how to cut hair. This website is informational, meaning it doesn’t offer goods or services. Another website may have similar content to that informational hair cutting website, but this website’s purpose is to steer people toward a hair cutting salon.
One of the ways search engines analyze a website is by looking at the words on the page. The search engine companies try to figure out what your website is, what services or products you provide, and whether your website would be useful to a particular search engine user. Words are nuanced, and they can mean different things, or a searcher could be looking for very different things based on the same keywords.
For example, two people who type in “lawn mower in Kansas City” could be looking for different things. One might be looking for someone to mow their lawn, and another could be looking for a lawnmower to purchase for personal use. It’s important to add secondary keywords to your website and landing pages and to be specific. You need your content to be useful and relevant, and you need to add keywords that will help people find your goods or services.
If you get keywords wrong, you could have a hard time improving your rankings or getting the right type of website traffic. It doesn’t help you to get a lot of traffic if those people are not looking for what your company has to offer. You want your keywords to target the right audience—the people who need whatever it is your business offers.
You Can Beat Your Competitors by Adding Keywords to Your Content
If you want to rank well in your area, you need to do some research on what keywords consumers are searching for. There are various SEO tools that can help you figure out which keywords would be best for your website’s content. Every business is unique, and even similar businesses may have slightly different keyword needs.
A few tools that can be helpful for keyword research:
- Google Suggest
- SEMrush
- AnswerThePublic.com
- Moz SEO Tool
- Google Search Console
- Ahrefs Keyword Explorer
Different tools will work better for different industries, so try out a few to find the ones that work for you.
Question-Based Keywords Are Good for Voice Search
Another way to incorporate SEO keywords and keyword phrases into your content is to use questions. Many people, especially those who are searching using voice search, will ask questions.
For instance, they may say, “Hey Google, where is the nearest taco shop?”
Including questions in your content can help you to capture these types of searchers. Adding an FAQ section to your website or landing pages can help increase your rankings. Your Q&A section can answer users’ questions about issues related to your business. These questions don’t have to be directly related to hiring your business.
For example, let’s say you are a handyman. Here are a few examples of web content questions that incorporate the right SEO keywords for a handyman type of business:
- Can you repair a crack in granite?
- How do you hang wallpaper?
- Is it hard to replace a toilet seat?
Answering these questions using keywords and phrases can also boost your rankings. Plus, these website visitors may decide that replacing a toilet seat or repairing a crack in granite are tasks they can’t handle on their own. Then they will call you to get the job done for them.
Get Help Optimizing Your Website and Web Pages
Not everyone has the time, knowledge, or resources to get SEO right. You want to reach your target audience online, though, because you understand how important online customers are for your business’s growth and success. You don’t have to do SEO yourself. You can partner with a digital marketing team that can handle keyword research, content writing, implementation of the right keywords, and SEO tracking for you.
Reach out to Digital Division to learn about how a partnership with us can help your business receive better search results so it can reach the consumers you need to thrive. We already know how to use SEO best practices to build your business’s online presence through online content optimization. You can get the organic traffic you have been hoping for using specific keywords by teaming up with our SEO strategy company in Kansas City, Missouri.