Top 10 Ways To Pick Keywords

To some, it may be a surprising fact that over 80% of online transactions begin with keyword searches according to KeywordDiscovery.com. Obviously you’re a smart pickle because you’re here wondering how to pick keywords. Kudos to you! Today’s post is focused on the top 10 ways to pick keywords, so let’s get to it!

Keyword Research

Conducting keyword research is absolutely imperative. Most people do not realize there is a clear distinction between keywords for query and keywords for commercial intention. Keyword research allows companies the ability to target more profitable keywords and in effect consumer focused visits. Aside from commercial intention, other important factors are revealed through keyword research: which brings us to another important method of picking keywords.

Search Engines and Geodata

While this method is related to keyword research it’s really a multi-faceted method including strategy, research, and data interpretation. We are all familiar with the Search Engine Mogul Google.com but what many don’t realize is that there are variations in search engine usage across geolocations. These locations differ depending on the search engine, organic search results, search engine advertising or PPC, and keyword length. Therefore, it’s absolutely necessary to pick keywords that will leverage geotraffic, organic search results, and differentiating keyword types (e.g. longtailed and shortailed). The following information provides details on search engine usage per country as well as search engine click percentages based on keyword length. This will give you an idea of how you can modify your keyword campaigns to generate more comprehensive results.

Keyword Tools

Keyword tools such as Hubspot’s Keyword Grader are especially useful when
picking keywords and searching for effective idea rich suggestions. Other keyword tools worth exploring are SEOmoz, SEMrush, and Keyword Discovery.

Google Advertising Tools

Google as mentioned earlier may be ‘The’ Search Engine mogul but many overlook the fact that Google’s PPC advertising platform “Adwords” can also be used to research keyword terms. The only downside to using this platform is there is a slight learning curve and it is of course more time consuming than tools like Hubspot.com’s keyword grader which is built for ease of use but it’s free to use.

Competitor Analysis

Another excellent way to pick keywords is analyzing your competition. When people think about business marketing the phrase that almost always comes to mind is, “Keep your subsidiaries close and your competitors closer,” meaning you should be analyzing what your competitors provides and excellent benchmark. We watch successful companies do this all the time from Pepsi and Coca-Cola’s Social Media Wars to State Farm and Progressive’s consistent humor pitches. To remain competitive you must ‘keep up with the Jones’! Some excellent resources you can use are SEMrush and Link Assistant’s SEO PowerSuite.

Search Engine PPC Advertising

PPC advertising like Google Adwords is an excellent alternative to organic search results. However, when considering any form of advertising always remember that this is a long term strategy that requires continual measurement in order to obtain adequate or relevant data and desired results.

Facebook PPC Advertising

Facebook’s advertising platform is also an excellent alternative. Furthermore, it’s an option many companies should be exploring because of the platform’s cost effectiveness and the traffic gravity online. But again advertising is a long term strategy regardless of the platform.

Traffic Analytics

Another excellent strategy is analyzing keyword traffic. Remember it’s a rare instance to strike gold on the first run so be sure to analyze how different keywords impact traffic. You can use traffic API’s, Google analytics, Google webmaster tools, and Alexa.com to explore keyword or search results specific to your company blog or website.

Industry and Search Trends

Picking keywords that are popular within your industry and are also trending at the moment is also another method of choosing keywords that are relevant to today’s search engines. Google provides a free service entitled Google Trends to helps users search for industry specific trends. Take a look below at an example of the report provided by Google for industry specific keyword trends.

Keyword Strategy

Before picking keywords it’s always an excellent idea to develop keyword strategies. Some simple strategies when you’re first starting out are to choose long-tailed keywords because oftentimes long-tailed keywords provide a less competitive market for new publishers. Of course this varies depending on the keywords themselves. Another approach seen very often is choosing to review products or companies within the same industry. This approach targets traffic to a specific consumer audience. Regardless of the strategy be sure to have least a general understanding of how your choice of keywords will benefit your website.

Need Help?

If keyword strategy is something that you are interested in but don’t know how to get started, contact us today to schedule your free marketing analysis.