When it comes to marketing your business online and getting traffic it all starts with the right keywords.  Keywords are the words that someone types into Google in order to search for the products, services or information that your website provides.  If you run a local business then you and all of your competition are competing for that first spot on the search results page.  If you want an SEO campaign to be profitable for you then it begins with relevant keywords that connect your business with buyers.  Finding the right keywords is more complicated than you think, but here are some techniques to help you along.

Define Your Products and Services

Keyword research is tedious and very few people enjoy doing it but it is necessary if you want to improve your bottom line.  Let’s say you are an attorney that specializes in divorces, then you want to find keywords that relate to customers looking for your area of practice, for instance “best divorce lawyer in (your town)”.  Those types of keywords are not only relevant to what you do but they also show buyer intent.  That customer is looking for your services right now.

If you don’t already have it installed on your site then you need to add Google Analytics.  It will help you track what keywords brought people to your site and what they do when they get there.  You can use Analytics to help you tweak your campaigns and see where you need to make improvement and where you are on the right track.  Analytics is not the most user friendly product so here is a tutorial to help you figure it all out.

What is Your Competition Ranking For?

Website don’t generally get to the top of the search results page for only on keyword, generally they are on the first page for a number of them and it’s in your best interest to find out what they are.  There are tools you can use like SEMRush where you can plugin a competitors URL and find out what they are ranking for.  Not only can you find better keywords but you are armed with more information to outdo your competition.

Longtails are Your Friend

Longtail keywords are phrases rather than just words that people use to search.  Using the attorney example again, “attorney” is a short tail keyword that you don’t want to rank for, it is vague and could represent anything.  However “best divorce attorney in San Francisco” is a great longtail keyword showing urgency and buyer intent.  Those are the keywords that you want to be in the number one spot for.

Optimizing and ranking for the right keywords can make a huge difference in your traffic, conversions and ultimately your bottom line.