Traffic leading to orders from customers – this is the aim of any company's internet presence. To ensure that not only people looking for the site but also "passing customers" take notice, you need to be as far up the search engine rankings as possible. And to do this you need the right keywords. A successful online presence requires traffic
Traffic – the volume of data generated between a server and the internet – grows with every visitor to an online portal, each download and every e-mail. The growing volume of traffic also increases the number of leads (interested parties), and in turn the volume of potential customer orders.
What's more, increased traffic helps you to move up the search engine rankings and it is proven that this in turn attracts more visitors to your website.
Optimizing keywords to generate traffic
Keywords comprise all of the terms that explicitly refer to the content of the website. As such they need to be placed both in the source code of a website and in the actual text. Search engines use keywords to decide just how relevant your website is for people browsing on the internet. In a best-case scenario the search terms entered by the user match the keywords on the website exactly. This is reason enough to take time choosing what the keywords will be.
What makes a good keyword:
The number of search queries is high & the number of web competitors is low!
Yet before a keyword can be analysed for its effectiveness, you have to have it on the screen. Here's the good news: all keywords already exist, you just have to recognise them as such.
Only in the second – no less important but often neglected – stage can you filter out the best keywords.
Collecting keywords
The main question is:
Which terms will potential customers enter into the given search engine?
To answer this question, you have to be aware of something: behind every keyword there is a customer need. So think carefully about who your customers are and what you can offer them.
When collecting relevant keywords, it's worthwhile moving from the general to the specific.
Generic keywords
Search terms that cover a broad range of issues are considered to be generic. Generally speaking, they match the services of a company.
Example: advertising
Generic keywords are high up on the list of the most-used search terms. At the same time, or indeed because of this, they are also favourite keywords of rival companies. Making up ground here as a newcomer is virtually impossible.
Generic keywords: high demand – high competition
Specific keywords
As generic search terms often return uninteresting websites, potential customers define their searches in more detail quite quickly. Using more specific terms, they narrow the scope of their search, and the range of rival websites decreases.
Example: online advertising
Specific keywords: average demand – average competition
Multi-word keywords
What does this mean in practice? In most cases, search engine users specify their terms by adding one or two more concrete terms to a generic search term. This has become a common approach, especially in B2B, to quickly find what is needed. It represents a good opportunity for companies that are advertising to find their own niche.
Example: online advertising banner
Multi-word keywords: low demand – low competition
Where to get more inspiration
It's always worth looking at the big picture. Don't shy away from taking a good look at the competition. Examine the website source code of your rivals to see what keywords they use, and expand your list of potential keywords.
W4 tip: Be careful with your choice of words. How do your customers talk about your products in everyday business? Do they use jargon? Or are the products already known by other made-up descriptions?
Evaluate and filter keywords
Checking via search engines
To rule out keywords which are overly general at the outset, it's worthwhile entering the given term in one of the common search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.). If none of the hits on the first page of search results is relevant, the keyword is completely unsuitable.
Checking using keyword tools
On the internet you can find a variety of analysis tools such as the free Keyword Tool from Google AdWords. These tools enable you to examine every word in terms of relevant searches and rival websites. Furthermore, by entering a website or a topic you can display the most common keywords, including searches and the competition.
Thank goodness for keywords!
Five to ten keywords are recommended per website. It's far from easy to narrow them down, especially because not only singular and plural forms must be considered, but also common typing mistakes (e.g. rhythm → ryhthm).
But you'll soon see that it's worth the effort.