Picture this. You’re the owner of a small business and you’re frustrated. You’re sitting at your desk in your office, trying to figure out why your marketing plans have not been bringing in leads.
Could it be true what some of your industry peers are saying? That your current marketing methods are outdated? One of them spoke about how SEO and keyword research had increased his company’s visibility and brought in leads.
You went along with the conversation at the time. The term “SEO” is familiar, but you know next to nothing about it. You’re wondering what exactly keyword research is and how it could work for you. So what do you do?
If you’re like most people, you’ll “Google” it: “Why is keyword research important?”
Before you know it, millions of results—articles, blog posts, guides, etc.— show up on your screen. Maybe that’s even how you landed on this page.
SEO & Keyword Research
In a nutshell, that’s what SEO and keyword research are all about: finding out the specific words and phrases that your potential customers use to search the Internet for answers to problems, then using that information to bring them to you.
Here, we’ll tell you what keyword research actually is and why it is so critical to a successful digital marketing strategy. But first, we need to start with some background about blogging.
Aimlessly Blogging
Blogging is an important part of any content-based, digital marketing strategy. These blog posts can do several things. They can increase the number of views on your website, attract visitors that are interested in what your company offers, establish your business as a thought leader in your industry, and more.
Does your company blog regularly? If so, then you might already be ahead of the game. However, if your company blogs, but blogs aimlessly without following a strategy, you’re not accomplishing much.
The old saying “if you build it, they will come” is not true in the world of digital marketing, yet that’s what you’re doing with aimless blogging. You’re building it, but no one is coming. To get the right people (potential customers) to come, you need a smart marketing strategy.
To create that successful marketing strategy, you must have a bank of very specific knowledge and information about your buyers, including the kinds of things they do when searching online for your company’s solution. One huge piece of this buyer intelligence is keyword research.
Keyword Research Is Your Map
As we said, keyword research is a crucial piece of buyer intelligence. So, what is it?
Keyword research gives you information about how people are searching online for the solutions you offer. You’ll learn exactly which words, phrases, and sentences buyers type into Google to find your company’s products or services. Additionally, this research can provide insights into what problems your customers are having.
IMPORTANT: Keyword research is factual data, not speculation. Using this buyer intelligence tool, you can build a keyword database of targeted SEO words and phrases, selected based on the existing search performance, popularity, and competitiveness of each word or phrase. This data is extremely valuable when designing a marketing initiative.
How Keyword Research Should Drive Your Marketing
The keyword data should inform your web page content and your blog topics as well. That’s what “SEO” or “search engine optimization” is all about: using the keyword data to create content that can be more readily found by potential customers.
Developing common themes, topics, and ideas that are driven by your keyword research can be the beginning of a solid content marketing strategy.
Your goal should be to create content that will attract the right people to your website. Knowing what your customers are searching about is the first step. Creating content that answers their questions, concerns and needs is the second.
The point that we’re trying to make, here, is that keyword research is real data that provides you with exactly what people are searching for online about your business. Doesn’t it make sense to provide content that addresses the key phrases your buyers are using?
So stop blogging aimlessly, and start blogging smart.
Are you ready to explore putting keyword research to work for you? Like many business owners, you may realize that you don’t have the expertise in house. That’s true for all but very large companies that can afford a big marketing staff. A much more affordable (and effective) way to go is to work with an experienced digital marketing agency like Hello Marketing.
If you’d like to know more about how digital marketing and keyword research can help you take your business to the next level, read this case study:
