How to Find the Best Keywords for My Business?

This is a most common question from business owners. I don't want to write an article to explain why you need an online presence for your business today. It is crucial for everyone, your customers online and your competitors online. Therefore, you have to be there.

One of the key strategies to achieve this is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), with keywords playing a pivotal role. This article is tailored for individual entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and anyone who may need to become more familiar with the world of SEO.

I'll guide you through finding the best keywords to help your business thrive online.

First, understand why keywords matter.

Keywords help to drive organic traffic:

Keywords are the building blocks of search queries. When your website ranks well for specific keywords, it attracts more visitors without needing paid advertising.

It helps to understand user intent:

By analyzing which keywords are used to find your website, you can better understand what potential customers are looking for, allowing you to tailor your products or services accordingly.

Organic visitors are cost-effective:

Organic search results driven by effective keyword targeting can be far more cost-effective than paid advertising over time.

How can you start this practice?

Before diving into keyword research, clearly understand your business, your target audience, and what makes your products or services unique. This is the base for your website content and even advertising. Spend more time to do some good research. The time spent on this is worth it. However, this is not a one-time job you do. Your keyword list can change at any time with customer behavior changes, competitors' changes, market behavior, and many more. Therefore, review your keywords every three months to capture the market demand.

How do you find keywords for your business?

Google's Autocomplete:

Simply type a keyword related to your business in Google's search bar and see what autocomplete suggestions appear. This provides a quick idea of what people are commonly searching for.

Keyword Research Tools:

SEO Tools offer robust keyword discovery and analysis features. They provide metrics like search volume, keyword difficulty, and more. You may need access to these tools because most of them are paid. You can get support from an SEO specialist for this. Spending a little money is worth it.

Competitor Analysis:

You can check what are the keywords that your competitor ranks for. Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can help you with this. You can even go through some of your competitors who come on Google's first page and carefully go through their content, pages, titles, sections, etc. It signals how they optimize their website for user queries and search engines.

Industry Forums and Social Media:

Engaging with your industry's community can also provide insight into what potential customers are discussing, giving you keyword ideas you might have yet to consider. If you are social, this is an easy way to do it. You can understand how your industry works well.

How to select the best keywords for your website?

Here, it is easy to do if you have support from an SEO specialist or SEO agency. Because they have access to the search volume, relevance, and difficulty of the keywords. Otherwise, you can spend more time on competitors and see the keywords they mainly focus on. However, these keywords might be challenging to optimize as well.

Search Volume:

You need to find the keywords that have high search volume, but remember that these will often have higher competition.

Relevance:

You need to select the keywords that are highly relevant to your business and what you offer.

Difficulty:

Each keyword has a difficulty score. For newer or smaller websites, targeting keywords with lower difficulty scores may be wiser.

Long-Tail Keywords:

Long-tail keywords are phrases that are longer and more specific. They can be easier to rank for and often have higher conversion rates.

My advice

Start Small:

Especially for SMEs, it's often best to start with a smaller set of keywords and expand as you begin to see success. Add more content to the website and grow your list slowly.

Track and Analyze:

You need to get used to an analytics tool - Google Analytics to track your keywords performance. Make data-driven decisions to adjust your strategy as needed. This is very important.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

Keyword Stuffing:

Incorporating keywords into website content unnaturally or too frequently can result in search engine penalties. Your purpose is lost.

Ignoring Local SEO:

For many small businesses, local keywords are precious. Pay attention to the local aspect of your business in your keyword strategy. For example, [your service near me] keywords.

Remember, Just owning a website is not your presence online. It should be discoverable to your customers. SEO optimization is the one strategy to bring organic visitors over time. For that, you need to spend a little time and money. </b>