What keywords are search engines using to find your business?
Are you a Google magnet? Search engines use keywords to find your business. Search engine optimization (SEO) is based on targeting specific keywords. Keyword analysis is essential for SEO.
Keyword analysis is the first step for SEO.
Businesses know their products and services too well. They often fall under the assumption that potential customers search for the keywords they themselves would use.
The reality is, customers do NOT know your business. Customers only know what they need. They search for terms in their own language. Many businesses assume they get found for keywords that are not used by customers. (And you know what “assume” stands for, right?)
You have a choice; do it yourself, or hire a professional.
If you wish to hire a professional, Lash Internet Marketing has an excellent track record helping clients find the best keywords and activities to meet their budget. SEO is our specialty and this is the first step.
If you wish to do it yourself, a short tutorial follows.
First fact, if customers are searching, they do not know your business name. Your business name is not what they will search for. Nor is it what they care about. Customers type in phrases that THEY think are appropriate.
Do a search for the keywords you think customers will use. Did your business show up in the results? Did your competitors? What makes your business unique? Try a few keyword searches for those aspects.
Make a list of the keywords you think customers will use. Remember:
- Include plural and non-plural.
- Reverse some of the words if they make sense.
- Local businesses should include cities, counties, or geographical areas.
- List words that MIGHT apply, but you don’t do.
Example – Photographer 
Let’s work through an example. Let’s say you are a photography studio that mainly does portraits of people.
Your studio thinks the following are the keywords being used for searching:
- photography studio
- photo studio
- family photographer
- portrait photographer
- portrait studio
- business photographs
- wedding photographer
- business photographers (don’t forget plurals are different from non-plural words)
- wedding photographers
But these are highly competitive, with millions of other sites vying for search engine attention. It is extremely difficult to move up the ranks for words this popular.
However, since photography is a local business, many customers will search using their city, county, zip code or area. Add geographic areas to your keywords to narrow the results with fewer competitors.
- photographer Santa Rosa
- Santa Rosa photographer (reorder the words if they make sense)
- photographer Rohnert Park
- photography studio Santa Rosa
- photo studio Rohnert Park
- portrait photographer 94931
- and on, and on, and on
What don’t you do?
- pets?
- sports?
- products?
- video?
(This has been a short example. You can see where each list could go on and on.)
Now you have a better list, but it is really the best??? Read on.
So which words should you target?
There are probably hundreds of keyword combinations for your business. You can’t afford to target all of them. Each target keyword takes entries in dozens of places, on and off your website. It is time consuming and can be very expensive.
Without a Keyword Analysis you are shooting in the dark.
Can you see the target in this image?
Trying to target specific keywords, without keyword research and analysis, is shooting in the dark. Even if you have the budget for the shotgun approach, you probably won’t hit much.
The Answer? Find the keywords with the most searches and the fewest competitors!
How do you do that? There are two answers:
- Have an expert provide keyword research and analysis for you.
- Find a website, application, or software that can perform the keyword research for you.
Either way, you will be surprised at the terms customers use that are NOT what you thought at all. Many of them are ideal keywords to target, because they have the most searches and fewest competitors. Ranking high for these keywords will drive traffic to your website, blog, or fan page.
Because there are hundreds that could apply, pick the best few and start with them; probably 5-20. Once they start sending traffic your way, then you can increase your budget and target more keywords.
Now you have a target!
Now that you have a few target words, it is time to put them to use.
Where to put your target keywords.
Here is a partial list of places to use your keywords to gain search engine attention:
- website page content – Caution: don’t “stuff” the page, or search engines will penalize you.
- web page Headers
- web page Titles
- web page Descriptions
- Photo titles
- Photo captions
- Photo Alternative Text (your programmer is usually the one to enter this)
- Video titles
- Video captions
- Link description
- YouTube video titles
- YouTube video descriptions
- Facebook Fan pages
- Twitter tweets
- Yelp profile
- Google Places Profile
- Yahoo Local Profile
- Bing Places Profile
- Chamber of Commerce listings
- BBB Listings and Profiles
- LinkedIn Business Page
- Directories for local areas and or related businesses (in our example, a directory for photographers around the nation)
There are countless places, but you are getting the idea.
Your web developer or professional Internet Marketing Consultant (hopefully us) can also make entries with the search engines that will help your visibility for the chosen keywords. It is sort of programming, so we don’t recommend you do this yourself … unless you have lots of time to study SEO methods.
Contact us today at (707) 794-9294 to get started with your Keyword Analysis for SEO.
Lash Internet Marketing provides services for:
- Keyword Analysis for SEO
- SEO Keyword Analysis
- SEO services in Sonoma County
- Social Media Santa Rosa
- Customer Experience Santa Rosa
- Customer Service Improvements Sonoma County
- SEO in Santa Rosa
- SEO Petaluma
- SEO Sonoma County
- SEO Marin County
- SEO North Bay
- Internet Marketing Santa Rosa
- Internet Marketing Petaluma
- Internet Marketing Sonoma County
- Internet Marketing Marin County
