Quality Satisfaction Management. Performing Keyword Research

Transcription

1 Quality Satisfaction Management Performing Keyword Research

2 For the purposes of this paper, we ll use Google to represent all search engines (Bing, Yahoo, etc.). The same principles apply, regardless of the search engine. When we speak of keywords, relative to SEO (search engine optimization), what we re referring to are the terms a person types into the Google search bar when looking for something online. Google takes note of every search performed and stores it within their Keyword Planner, which is a free tool available to anyone with a Google AdWords account (signing up for AdWords is free, too). By using the Keyword Planner, you re able to see what terms are being searched, how often they re searched (referred to as search volume ), and how many other websites are competing for searchers relative to each term ( competition ). By performing keyword research, you can decide which terms to use in the text of your website in order to attract searchers. The first thing you need to do to perform keyword research is to set up a free, Google AdWords account. Google offers many free tools, and they try to make it easy for you to manage all of them under the same address. If you have a Gmail account, signing up for AdWords is fast and simple. If you don t, you can either set up a free Gmail account, or you can set up a free Google account with any address you currently have. For more on this, visit google.com/. AdWords is Google s system that allows you to purchase ad space along the sides of search result pages. This is referred to as PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, and is separate from SEO (Search Engine Optimization). These paid ads, while potentially valuable, do not perform as well as SEO, which is what allows your website to appear at the top of search results naturally (also known as organic search ). 2

3 For SEO purposes, you don t need to set up any AdWords campaigns or do anything else with this system. You simply want to use the Keyword Planner, listed under Tools in the top menu. (see fig. 1) Once you ve found the Keyword Planner, you ll see a headline that reads, What would you like to do? with four options listed below it. Click on the first option, Search for new keyword and ad group ideas. (see fig. 2) The section will drop down to display multiple search parameters. This is where you need to get creative and try thinking like your prospective clients. Imagine you re a searcher who doesn t know your company exists, but you re looking for home care services for yourself or a loved one. What would you type into the Google search bar? You can also get an idea of which terms competing home care businesses in your area are targeting by typing their website into the Your landing page field. For now, try entering the term in home care in the Your product or service field, and click the Get ideas button. This search will target the entire United States by default, but when performing your own research you ll want to narrow it down to a more localized search by changing the targeting. (see fig. 3) fig. 1 fig. 2 fig.3 3

4 Once you ve clicked the Get ideas button, the page that displays is full of information. Much of this data is specifically for setting up AdWords campaigns, and is therefore not necessary for our purposes right now. The fields to ignore include Suggested bid, Ad impr. share and Add to plan. You won t do anything with those options at this time, so click the Keyword ideas tab to focus more on research. (see fig. 4) The two things you want to focus on are Avg. monthly searches and Competition. For the term in home care you will see a fairly high search volume (4,400 average monthly searches in the United States at the time of this writing). It may be tempting to use that term and hopefully attract those searchers, but you ll notice that the Competition level is High. Essentially this means it would take much more time and effort to rank for this term, and there s no guarantee you ever would. (see fig. 5) fig. 4 Note: In the list you ll see the term advanced home care. The search volume is high, but competition is low. Seems like a great opportunity, right? Not exactly. Terms like this are provider specific, meaning Advanced Home Care is an actual home care provider. So unless you re an Advanced Home Care branch, Google will never display your site above theirs, and you ll just be spinning your wheels. fig.5 4

5 Below the search term box, you will see a list of other suggested keywords. As you browse through this list, you want to keep an eye out for terms with a high search volume (Avg. monthly searches), but low competition. If a medium competition term has high enough search volume, you may also consider those. To see low and medium competition terms exclusively, click the Competition column title twice to sort lowest to highest, or use the Keyword filters in the left hand column. So now that you can see some terms, go through and pick out the ones that are high volume, low/medium competition, and relevant to what you do, and compile them into a list using Microsoft Excel, Word, or whatever program or method works best for you. Note the term, the monthly search volume and the competition level. If you aren t finding enough relevant, valuable terms, modify your search in the search box above the trends graph. Think of all the terms you can and try to compile a list of high volume, low/medium competition terms. Next, it s just a matter of using your intuition. Whittle your list down to the 10 best terms. Best is completely subjective here, and you really need to utilize your expertise. You re looking for a balance between the following: High Volume Low/Medium Competition Relevance Note: Don t be so quick to toss out terms related to home health, as opposed to private duty. While you, as a home care provider, are aware of the difference, many searchers aren t. Consider using a few of these highly relevant terms and perhaps you can use it as an opportunity to inform potential clients and help them decide what they need. And though we ve mainly focused on the first two points, the third point, relevance, is very important to consider. The terms need to represent your business effectively, or it will cause a disconnect in your messaging and Google won t display your site. Divide your list of the 10 best terms into 3 groups, each with 3 or 4 terms. In the first group, list your top terms the ones you ll focus on the most. You need to make sure these terms are versatile enough that you can work them into your website text conversationally, so it feels natural to the reader and to Google. An example of one of these terms would be something like best home care (assuming the volume and 5

6 competition make sense). In the second group, list your secondary terms. They re not quite as valuable or as usable as the first group, but still relevant, and you feel you could work them into your site in certain contexts. An example would be in home care support services it s a bit more specific, less searched, but still relevant. And in your third group, list your wild cards. These are essentially highly specific terms that a person searches when they re trying to find an answer to a question, like what is in home care? For these terms, you add a blog post to your site, answering the question in detail. But you wouldn t necessarily use that term in all of your web content, because it could feel forced. You ll need to revisit your research every six months or so, to add or remove terms as the market and your business change. But now that you have your terms, you re ready to dive head first into optimizing your site so Google recognizes its value. 6