Find out how keyword research is the key to digital marketing success
Ever wonder successful digital marketing strategies have in common? If you said keyword research, you would be correct. In discussions of what it takes to succeed with digital marketing, the importance of keyword research is often overlooked. Many people simply link keyword research with SEO. This can lead them to skip regular keyword research when it comes to their other digital marketing strategies. That is a major mistake. Once you understand what keyword research is and how it affects all your digital strategies, you’ll understand why keyword research is important.
Keyword research may be the most important activity you can do to ensure the success of your digital marketing strategies. We’re not just talking about SEO or search engine optimization. Keyword research affects every part of your online marketing strategies, including:
- website
- blogs
- social media
- mobile
- video
- search engine marketing (PPC ads)
What is keyword research?
Before you can realize why keyword research is important, you need to have a clear understanding of what it is. Keyword research is the process of finding the terms that people search for that relate to your business. Finding out the words and phrases that people use when searching for information about your business, product, or service should be the first step in all your digital marketing strategies. Before you write a blog, create a social media post, or design a PPC ad, you need to know the exact terms that people are using in searches.
What role does keyword research play in digital marketing strategies?
Keyword research helps you understand your target market. It can help you spot and respond to changing marketing trends. It informs the development of all your digital marketing strategies, by helping you to attract the right visitors to your website. If you are simply guessing at the keywords to target or allowing executives at your firm to decide the keywords you will use without researching them, you can miss whole segments of your audience. Keyword research plays a key role in digital marketing strategies by showing you the specific:
- Hashtags to use with social media
- Topics to choose when writing blogs
- Types of content your customers want
- Terms to use in your content marketing
- What videos to create
- Keywords to use in your website
- Terms to bid on with PPC ads
- Phrases that are used in mobile searches
How to use keywords in content marketing
Keyword research will help you create content that will attract the right visitors to your website. Discovering the words and phrases that your customers are using in searches will allow you to adjust your content marketing strategies to make them highly effective.
- Form your content strategy– Once you find the keywords that matter the most to your business, you can use them to form your content marketing strategy. Decide the goals of your content strategy then identify the keywords and long-tail phrases that will accomplish those goals. Knowing what keywords your customers are searching for can help you create content that meets those needs.
- Develop your editorial calendar- Use focus keywords to develop your editorial calendar. Concentrating on a single focus keyword per week will ensure that your blogs, social posts, and other content have the greatest marketing impact.
- Use keywords to optimize your content – You should identify a focus keyword and two or three related words or phrases for each piece of content you create. Use these keywords in the title, page URL, and meta description of the content. Blogs should have the keywords scattered in a few places throughout the text (3 times for focus, twice for additional keywords).
Now that you understand why keyword research is important, it is time to start using it to inform your digital marketing strategies. If you’re not sure how to perform keyword research, there are many resources online that can help you. Moz has a short piece with links to free keyword research tools to get you started.
If you would rather concentrate on running your business, Blue Interactive Agency can take over this essential marketing chore for you. Our dedicated marketers are experienced at keyword research and applying the results to create effective digital marketing strategies. Our services include expert content creation services, monthly SEO maintenance packages, monthly social media marketing packages, and more.
Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-779-2801 for professional SEO services including keyword research, content creation services, and more to ensure your digital marketing success!