The term keyword may be a term you’ve heard as a business owner, but what even are they and how does the system work? And better yet, how do you choose the best keywords for your business. This blog will go through all of these questions and get you in the know with one of the most valuable pieces of a marketing campaign.
WHAT IS A KEYWORD
Keywords are basically words or phrases that you identify as being important for your marketing campaign. For example, if I own a golf pro shop, and I’m running a search engine campaign to advertise my products, then I would want to identify such things as golf balls or golf clubs as keywords. When a potential customer searches for golf balls, they will then see my paid advertisement. All this is done to drive traffic to your business’ website. There are also such things as negative keywords, which work in the opposite way as normal keywords do. Keeping with the golf example, I would want to identify “golf courses” as a negative keyword, because while I do operate a golf business, I do not operate a golf course, therefore I wouldn’t want the people searching for that particular keyword to be served my paid search advertisement. All of these work together in order to form a proper list of positive and negative keywords to help your business.
SO HOW DO I PICK KEYWORDS
This is a very interesting and important question, because the answer really comes down to “It Depends”. It depends on what is the best fit for your business. Is your business a niche market? If so, you’d probably want some pretty specific keywords that really zone in on the consumers that are searching for your exact product or service. Is your market pretty open? Broad keywords might help drive in a high number of consumers into your website. There are a few guidelines though to being able to find the right keywords for you.
- Brand Keywords: These describe your brand itself, not necessarily what you offer. These keywords work best for those who are looking to expand the awareness of the brand itself.
- Product Keywords: Naturally, the next set of keywords are product keywords. These are descriptors of what your actual product is. This will help capture the audience actively looking for what you sell.
- Competitor Keywords: This one has less to do with the consumers and more with competitors. You should try and find what keywords your competitors use, and that should give you an idea into what keywords work best for you.
You don’t have to do this all yourself, of course. Your media strategist will help you to determine the best keywords for your business and campaign. Looking for a digital expert to get you started? Contact us today.