As we usher in a new year, we should look forward to broadening our horizons in the digital medium and especially with digital marketing. 2021 is set to be an important year for growth on the internet and SEO will take centre stage. Whether you are a billion-dollar company or a small bootstrapped startup, SEO is an incredibly powerful tool and practice that can benefit your organisation. Before we dive into the details of SEO, let us understand what it is. Why is it necessary? We must first look at the importance of having an online presence and how that defines the outreach of your brand.
#1 The importance of a website
Every company, big or small, should have a website in this decade. While this may seem like common knowledge, there are hundreds and thousands of brands that are yet to establish an online presence. Once you have done your website development, next comes the hard part; to make it visible. Being seen on the front page of a search result is what every company wants. To get to the front page, however, the amount of work required is tremendous. One of the key aspects of online visibility is SEO or Search Engine Optimization. In our article, we shall breakdown some of the basics of SEO as well as cover advanced details to give you a comprehensive idea of why SEO should be the pillar of your online presence.
#2 What is SEO?
You may have come across many a digital marketing agency that promotes their expertise in design and strategy. When establishing your brand presence, you should know that the key to good outreach is powerful SEO. Search Engine Optimization can be defined as using the right keywords in your website and content to rank atop SERPs or Search Engine Results Page. Through good search engine marketing, your website will show up on the front page of keyword searches. With excellent search engine marketing, it can be one of the first few search results.
Now that you know what SEO is the next step is to understand the importance of keywords. Keywords are words that describe your content. These are the words that you expect your target audience will search for. The keywords that you choose to include in your website and content determine the visibility of your page.
#3 Why is keyword research vital?
The relationship between keywords and SEO is closely interlinked, having a good set of keywords can be the difference-maker between getting clicks and converting them into sales. Before you set out gathering keywords, you should keep in mind three things:
Audience: Knowing and understanding what your audience is looking for can help you gather the best-suited keywords to represent your business. Researching audience preferences can be the difference between being visible and invisible.
Competition: No business can monopolize a market and it is an unwritten law that you will undoubtedly face competition. To maximize your hold of the market, you will need to thoroughly understand what strategy, keywords, and approach your competitors are using.
Market: When doing keyword research, the market itself is an important focal point. You must be on top of emerging trends, the commonly used strategy, and the potential for growth of the market to determine which keywords are suited for your website.
#4 Tips for keyword research
When looking for digital marketing services, having a good idea of what keyword search is can help you choose a service that offers the best value for your money. After establishing the importance of keyword research, we shall now take a look at some tips you should keep in mind while conducting your research.
Understand the types of keywords: When conducting your research on keywords you will find that you are presented with multiple similar-looking options. The most common one is the short-tail keyword, which is three words or less. Long-tail keywords, as the name suggests, are more detailed and specific and can be useful in gathering a more targeted audience. There are also two more subtypes: fresh and evergreen keywords. The former offers a high volume on a topic that is trending and their relevance dies out quickly. Evergreen keywords are relevant all the time, using this helps your content be accurate for a much longer period.
Metrics: In digital and social media marketing, metrics are crucial. They help us understand if our content and website are doing good or if some maintenance is required. The key metrics you need to look for when conducting keyword research is high search volume and strong conversion value. Using keywords with high search value helps attract the most visitors to your site. When used in tandem with keywords that have a strong conversion value, your content and website will do wonders. Two other metrics you should focus on are the relevance and reasonability of your keywords. Your keywords should be relevant to the service or product you are selling and it should not be an overused keyword, which will not attract any visitors to your website.
The intent for search: Understanding your users are key in formulating a winning strategy. Each keyword comes with intent and can be classified into four categories: high intent, informational, transactional, and navigational. The first is used to target consumers who are willing to make an immediate transaction. Informational intent keywords are often meant for users who are looking for more information on their search. The transactional intent keywords are meant for those users who will make a transaction, however, they want to know more about their search beforehand. Keywords with a navigational intent highlight the fact that the user is certain about what they want.
Use the right tools: We live in a world where we can find tools for almost everything. Unsurprisingly, this is also true for finding the right keywords. Whether you are new to SEO or are an experienced SEO specialist, using a tool for your SEO marketing can be incredibly helpful.
Final Thoughts
This article is designed to help you understand SEO, the importance of keywords, and why researching keywords is a critical step in ranking higher on search pages.
Our team of SEO experts are well-versed with all the intricate aspects of ranking your website and business higher. With our expertise, insights and techniques, you can be assured of the best digital outreach and presence for your business!
