SEO specialist tends to overhype the use of sexy titles and writing to clickbait readers into clicking. But do you know that the best keywords are often the boring keywords that are being overlooked?
I’ve written extensively about internet marketing for content creators. Most of my articles discuss how to turn your writing skills into money-making opportunities. However, simply coming up with ideas will never get you your first dollar.
Take the time to learn the boring stuff; the fundamentals. Let’s look at keyword selection for profitable traffic today. Please bear with me; this is critical. Do you do search engine optimization for your articles? You should! Be aware of your target audience’s search patterns to get the best results.
Sexy Keywords = Traffic — Boring Keywords = $$$
Finding the words and phrases that potential customers use when looking for goods or services related to your business is the priority of your online marketing efforts. The right keywords can improve search engine rankings and drive more targeted traffic to your website and other online content.
Long tail keywords that target a specific audience with specific needs are often the most profitable. Niche search terms such as “best Real Madrid soccer jerseys” or “iPhone X cases under $20” can be more profitable than more generic keywords if they connect your unique product or service with the audience that’s looking for it. Here are a few more suggestions:
• “Excellent
”
• “examines
”• “Compare
alternatives,”• “How to solve [problem]”
• “Where to purchase
”• “reduced
”• “The cost of
”• “Leading
brands”• “least expensive
”• “Free trial of
”Understanding The Buyer’s Journey
To find prospects along their buyer’s journey, you’ll need to know the different steps a potential customer goes through before making a purchase. The stages of awareness, consideration, and decision are typical in the buyer’s journey.
During the awareness stage, the prospect learns about a problem or need and does research on possible solutions. During the consideration stage, the prospect narrows down their choices and weighs the pros and cons of each solution.
Finally, during the decision stage, the prospect selects a solution and purchases it. Understanding where a prospect is in their buyer’s journey allows you to tailor your marketing and sales efforts to meet their needs and guide them toward a purchase. Here are three avatars with distinct buyer intent:
Problem-Aware
Let me introduce you to Jane, who is the owner of a small craft and gift store. She has recently noticed that fewer people are coming into her store.
She is aware that she has a problem but is unsure of the cause or how to solve it. Jane will probably use keywords such as “decrease in sales,” “foot traffic,” and “retail store problems” when searching for information online.
She is in the buyer’s journey’s awareness stage and is looking for information to help her better understand her problem.
Solution-Aware
This is Tom, a marketing manager at a software firm. He’s looking for a new marketing automation tool. Tom is aware that his company’s current marketing strategy is flawed and is looking for a solution to help improve it.
Tom will probably use keywords such as “marketing automation tools,” “best marketing software,” and “compare marketing automation platforms” when searching online. He is in the stage of the buyer’s journey called “consideration,” where he is weighing different options to find the best one for his business.
Provider-Aware
Meet Sarah, a human resources manager looking to hire a new employee for her company. She knows that her company needs to fill a position, and she has looked into several options to find the best one for her business.
Sarah is now looking for a certain business that can help her with this problem.
She’ll most likely use keywords like “best recruitment agency,” “top-rated staffing agency,” and “best headhunters” when searching for information online.
She’s at the decision stage of the buyer’s journey and is looking for a specific provider to assist her in resolving her issue.
Start with Broad Search Terms
Work your way down from broad search terms to more specific long-tail keywords. For example, instead of beginning with “Apple iPhone X silicone case”, enter “iPhone X” into the search prompts. Most keyword collection tools will then add samples you might not have thought of to the search results. So you’re going from broad to narrow in your search for gold nuggets.
Use Established Keyword Search Tools
Using keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to find buyer intent keywords is one option. These tools can provide information about the search volume and competition for various keywords.
They can help you find similar keywords that might be good for your business. To understand the intent behind the keyword and the stage they are at in the buying process, consider the context of the keyword, such as the intent of the person searching.
• Ahrefs
• HubSpot Content Strategy Tool
• KWFinder
• Semrush
Make a spreadsheet with the keywords you find, as well as their volume, difficulty, and CPC. If your keyword research tool doesn’t give you all of this information, you can use Google Keyword Planner, (a free Google tool), to fill in the gaps.
When you’re finished, your spreadsheet should be full of ideas. Continue to gather more ideas! Every day, more keywords are being used. Keep adding things to the list as long as they seem to fit with what you’ve learned about your target audience from your research.
SEO Longtail Keywords vs. Content Marketing
Many content marketers I know are hesitant to use pay-per-click advertising. PPC is a great way to gain short-term visibility and see quick results from your efforts. Sure, it can be costly, but if done correctly, you will recoup your investment.
The benefit of SEO is that it only requires a little cash but mostly labor to create and that it is more evergreen, which means that once your article ranks well, it will continue to bring in traffic at no additional cost for as long as it remains at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). PPC, on the other hand, is much faster than SEO.
Instead of waiting three to six months for SEO to take effect, once you pay, you can have a link on Google’s SERP right away. Unfortunately, PPC keywords continue to cost you money for as long as you use them, so only use PPC when you’re certain it’s making you more money than it’s costing you.
Don’t Underestimate Research
When it comes to keyword research, don’t skimp. When done correctly, this step will save you a lot of time and money in the long run. The solution you offer on your landing page should perfectly match what people are looking for when they type in a keyword.
If this doesn’t happen, your organic traffic will go down and your pay-per-click campaign won’t work as well as it could. So, the final step in finding profitable keywords is to take your keyword ideas and analyze their SERPs to determine which ones will be the most profitable for you.
Your objective here is to learn more about who is searching for this keyword and what they are looking for. This research will help you figure out which keywords will bring in the most money for you, so you can spend your time and energy on the right ones.
It will also help you figure out how to write the content and message of your landing page for this keyword so that you can get more people to convert and improve your SEO campaigns’ organic rankings.
Conclusion
Strategic keyword selection is critical in Internet marketing. It can have a significant impact on the profits of your company. Find out what words and phrases potential customers use when looking for your company’s products or services.
Learn the three main goals of buyers so you can make your website and other online content fit their needs. Knowing the context of the keyword, such as why the person is searching, can help you figure out what stage of the buying process they are in.
Adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. You will improve your search engine rankings and drive more targeted traffic to your site this way. Use keyword research tools to focus on long-tail keywords.
You can improve your understanding of the keywords that are most relevant to your target audience without investing a lot of time. You can now increase your profits by using a more effective Internet marketing strategy.
I write about marketing, content creation, and how to write for a living. Read more of my work here on Medium or head over to my blog at https://contentmarketingmagic.co/blog.
I also own a SaaS company that produces content templates, swipe files, and article samples for small business owners who want to write but need that extra push. Sign up for a free pass at https://contentmarketingmagic.co
