When thinking about a successful paid search advertising campaign, keywords should be a priority. Keywords are what help connect the dots between ads and online searches to past, current, and future customers. Being able to maximize reach with keywords helps provide a better return on investment.
But keyword search and choosing the right ones can feel overwhelming. That’s why working with a company that can provide a successful media activation campaigns is also a good option. Let’s get started with a few good pointers.
Who Are You Trying to Reach?
Knowing who your audience is is the first and most important thing. This is because like-minded people will surely search for the same things; for example, athletic people might look for gyms or gym equipment. Keywords that match that niche will be critical.
But if you don’t know who you are speaking to, you may have a hard time finding the right words to connect with them. Finding out what their likes and, even more important, their dislikes are can help kickstart your keyword journey.
Start with Keyword Research
Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to identify relevant keywords. These tools provide insights into search volume, competition, and cost-per-click (CPC) for each keyword, helping you make informed decisions.
What is keyword research? Well, it’s essentially figuring out what your audience is searching for and how competitive that keyword is already amongst other businesses. There are many different sites that can help you, such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Google Keyword Planner.
These websites help break down the competitiveness or difficulty of a keyword as well as what their cost-per-click is. But there are a few different types of keywords to look at.
- Short-tail keywords are usually one-word keywords that have a high competition rate for them. For instance, basketball.
- Long-tail keywords are the opposite and may be more of a phrase or even a question that is more specific, like, “Where to find orange basketball shoes?”
- Branded keywords involve keywords that are searched for by a specific brand or company. For example, N/ke orange basketball shoes.
- Competitor keywords are keywords your business competition uses to get visitors to their website.
Using a combination of the above can help make your site stronger because one size does not fit all when ti comes to keywords.
Speaking of Competitors
It is always a good idea to pay attention to what our competition is doing or not doing. By studying the keywords they are using, it gives your business an edge to fill in the gaps they are missing. Companies that serve a better product or solve a problem better can “steal” some of the keywords of their competitors.
This is where most opportunities are seen within a particular business spectrum because we learn from the best and try to be better. If the wheel isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
Negative Keywords Can Help
Negative is usually not a word businesses want to associate with. However, negative keywords emerged to prevent business ads from appearing in places that don’t make sense. A great example would be a tobacco company getting mixed up with a health company.
Stay Local
For smaller and upcoming businesses, staying local is one of your best shots at getting noticed. Local communities want to support their businesses, which is why keywords related to your area can be a big hit. For instance, Boston is an incredibly unique city with its own lingo and dictionary. Using the keyword bubbler for a water company would resonate. Or Red Sox, Boston sports, or anything of that sort.
Tapping into physical location can provide a whole list of non-competitive keywords that are ready to be used. You can start even smaller by looking at local towns.
Working With Experts
Keyword research and SEO are not easy feats. That’s why working with professionals can take your business to the next level. It’s important to do research on the company itself because a lot of wasted money can go into investing with unqualified experts.
Reviews and finding a deal that gives you a return on your investment are key. Chances are your competitors are also utilizing these services, so should you!