When working with any marketing or SEO agency, the first thing they will ask you is, ‘What Keywords do you want to optimise for?’. But what exactly does that mean?
After working with many clients who struggle with this very question, I have created this easy and practical checklist to help you work out the main keywords you would like your website to appear for and the ones most likely to work for you when potential customers search for it in Google.
Here we go…
Imagine you’ve got a gift book shop, and you want everyone to know about it. Finding the best keywords is like figuring out what words people use when they’re looking for the perfect gift book like yours. Here’s how you do it:
1) Think Like Your Customers
What would you type into Google if you were looking for gift books? Maybe “best gift books”, “unique gift books near me”, or “personalised gift books”. Start with ideas like these. Make a list in Excel and keep brainstorming them.
2) Use Keyword Tools
Sign up for a Google Ad Account (FREE) and use the Google Keyword Planner. Here’s the link: click here. This allows you to put in a keyword, and it will list all related searches for those terms and show how popular they are. It’s like a magic wand that shows you what words people actually search for and takes away the guess work. When we type in “Gift Book” the results look like this.
Low Hanging Fruit
The next step is to sort by the least competitive search terms if you want a chance to appear in searches without a huge investment. Pick the low-hanging fruit by finding the terms that are searched for but are not highly competitive. Make a note of these in your keyword research spreadsheet.
Check the Competition
Look at other gift book shops (or websites) and see what words they use. If everyone is using “unique gift books”, it’s a good sign that it’s a popular term. You can incorporate this in your content, but if you are trying to do SEO on a low budget and know you can’t compete with highly competitive keywords, just make a note of it for reference.
Be Specific:
If your gift books are special because they’re handcrafted or cover unique themes, include that in your keywords. “Handcrafted travel-themed gift books” might attract more specific, interested customers than just “gift books”.
Use the Google Search box itself. You know how when you search something on Google, the dropdown list appears with related searches.. note them down and check how competitive they are in your Keyword planner tool.
Keep It Local (If You’re Local)
If your shop is in London, use “gift books in London” as a keyword. People looking for gift books nearby will find you more easily.
We hope these simple steps will help you identify your Keywords and focus on one objective at a time. Maybe focus on one category of titles in this case, like “Wellbeing Giftbooks”. This will help you research a more specific phrase and enable you to climb those rankings quicker.
