SEO FAQ: How Do I Choose the Right Keywords?

Have you started an SEO strategy? Are you looking to start one soon? At WebFX, we know it’s a challenge to get your website off the ground — especially if you’re just starting.

One of the most important parts of SEO is choosing the right keywords so that your content attracts the ideal audience. Just watch the video below to learn how you can start your SEO strategy on the right foot!

Transcript: Hi, my name is Emily Carter, and I’m a web marketer at WebFX.

Today I’m going to be talking about how to choose the right keywords that can help your business rank in search results and help more people find out about your company. Let’s get started!

What is keyword research?

Keyword research is the first step to any successful SEO campaign.

And it helps you identify the keywords and phrases people search online to find your business. Then, you can incorporate those keywords on your website in places like your page titles, meta descriptions, and copy. This will help to boost your rankings in search results and ensures that your business shows up in more relevant searches.

But how do you go about choosing the keywords you want to target?

Informational searches

First of all, it’s helpful to think about each level of your purchasing funnel. This will help you to choose keywords and write content that reaches customers at each level.

Then, you can come up with a list of buckets from the purchasing funnel that keywords fall into. For example, you can sort your keywords based on informational and transactional searches. This can provide a roadmap for your keyword research and help you make sure that your website has a balance of different kinds of content.

Informational or top-of-funnel queries typically consist of common questions people have about your industry. If people are trying to find a new dentist, they might want to know “What to consider when choosing a dentist” or “Which dentist accepts my insurance?” These phrases probably won’t result in a lot of direct revenue, but they can introduce potential customers to your brand and help increase traffic to your website. Sites like KeywordsFX and Quora are great places to uncover keywords for informational searches because the topics and suggestions are completely user driven.

Transactional searches

On the other hand, transactional searches are conducted by people who have already done their research and are ready to purchase. In other words, this is your money maker category. So if you don’t target keywords this group is searching, it’s probably a good idea to start.

Google’s Keyword Planner is a great tool to choose keywords to target this group of searchers. And you can use Google’s estimated cost per click to determine purchase intent, and the long-term value behind each click. If you don’t have access to keyword planner, other tools like SEMrush, Keyword Tool, and BuzzSumo are great options.

And they can help you uncover the keywords people search when they are ready to purchase from your business. Keywords Everywhere is another free tool that allows you to input keywords and see key metrics like search volume, cost per click, and competition level. This is extremely valuable because it allows you to determine the value of each keyword or phrase you target.

With Keywords Everywhere, you can bulk upload keywords and then export the information to help inform your content strategy.

Longtail keywords

When choosing keywords to target, it’s also important to consider long tail keywords. Today, there are so many major players and international brands in the SEO game that it can be hard to stay competitive in search results.

But long tail keywords can help! Long tail keywords are specific, detailed search queries. For example, if you’re a dentist, you might want to target the phrase “best family dentist in your location” as opposed to just “dentist” or “family dentistry.” Long tail keywords tend to have much lower search volume than short, broad keywords.

But they also have much lower competition and higher conversion rates. This is because long tail keywords demonstrate a much more specific search intent. You can use the same keyword tools we talked about earlier in the video to find longtail keywords.

And you can even use Google’s autocomplete feature to learn more about the longtail phrases people actually search online. Start by entering a generic keyword into Google search. Sticking with our dentist example, you can type the phrase “dental services.” Then, instead of hitting the enter button, take a look at Google’s autocomplete results.

This will give you a good idea of some longer tail keywords you can target to help people find your practice online.

Want to learn more?

Hopefully this video gave you some practical tips for choosing the right keywords for your business. If you want more information about how WebFX can help you launch a custom SEO strategy complete with keyword research, feel free to contact us today to talk with a strategist.

And be sure to subscribe to Marketing Manager Insider for more helpful marketing information. Thanks so much for watching!