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How to Perform Keyword Research

Content is King, but Keyword Research Takes the Crown

Most people are familiar with keyword research, but for those of you who don’t, keyword research is when you research various words and phrases that people may enter into search engines. Keyword research is important because these terms can help you formulate an effective content and marketing strategy. Without proper keywords, search engines won’t be able to determine what content is most relevant to the person searching. Even for those of you who are familiar with keyword research, some of you don’t know how to go about it. I am going to outline 3 basic steps that will help you implement a successful marketing strategy and get people to find your business online.

Keyword Research Step 1:

Determine the topics associated with your business and Come up with a list of keywords based on those topics

Brainstorming is the first step in any successful keyword research. By coming up with topics associated with your business, such as products and services, it will allow you to narrow down what keywords you should be considering. Once you have your main topics you want to cover, come up with a list of keywords that not only you, but your customers will be searching for. A great idea is to wear your buyer’s shoes. Take into account what they would be search for since they are the one’s you’re trying to target. A way to do this is to take a look at your buyer persona’s (given you have already done them) because that will give you a better idea as to which customers will be searching for what. You should also consider talking to other employees, customers, and even friends to determine what they would type into Google if they were trying to search for your product or service.

Keyword Research Step 2:

Look at other relevant search terms on Google and see what keywords your competition is using.

Google is your best friend in this process. Google is where you’re trying to appear so looking at Google before any other software can save you a lot of time. With those keywords you compiled in the last step, begin typing those into Google and see what comes up. This will help you determine who’s ranking for what and whether it’s your direct competition or not. If it appears some keywords may be more difficult than others and you need other ideas, scroll down to the bottom of the page and take a look at Google’s related search terms. This will help you compile a larger list and once typed into Google, analyze whether those keywords would be more effective.

Keyword Research Step 3:

Use software to help you figure out the best keywords

There are many tools out there that will help you determine keyword difficulty levels and search volume. What we like to use is Google’s Keyword Planner and SEMrush. Use these softwares to plug in various keywords and flag any terms that are too difficult to show up for or have too low of a search volume. These tools will also give you estimates on whether your business has a chance to show up for the list of keywords you compiled in the previous steps.

Final Thoughts

Once you finish step 3 and narrow your list down even more, you’re finished. Now it’s all about tackling your on-site optimization and content. Incorporate these keywords (without stuffing) throughout your SEO titles, meta-descriptions, page URLs, and content. Just remember, keywords aren’t everything. Even if you get people to your site, if your content isn’t valuable, you won’t see any return. Use your keywords and content as your yin and yang in your marketing strategy. Once you do that, nothing will be able to stop you!

How to Create an Email Marketing Campaign

What is Email Marketing & Why is it Important?

Email marketing is a method of marketing that is meant to reach audiences through the use of email. This is usually done in conjunction with advertisements, newsletters, free resources, or other means in order to build a relationship between your company and the customer. This is important because email marketing can reach a large number of people without needing to spend countless hours and money as you potentially would with other methods.

How to Create an Email Marketing Campaign

Set Well-Defined Goals:

The first step in creating an email marketing campaign is to set well-defined goals. Without goals, you’re really just grasping for straws. For instance, are you creating an email marketing campaign for brand awareness or do you want your customers to do something. Do you want your customers to sign up for a newsletter or do you want them to go to your Facebook page? Do you want them to go directly to your website or to a landing page because you’re trying to capture their business for one particular product? Once goals are established, you’ll have a better sense of what you’re trying to achieve and have a better strategy that way.

Get Your Pieces in Place:

Once you have defined goals, you can move on to the next step which is to get your pieces in place. It’s not recommended to simply email-blast people. No one likes getting blasted by emails so you’ll want to give them a reason to open your email and act on whatever it is you’re trying to get them to do. That means you need to add value to your emails. Whether that means giving them a free resource and the opportunity to sign up for more resources or an educational video that enables them to follow your Youtube page. Once you have your resources in place, you can begin compiling your contact list and separating them into categories.

Separate Your Contact List:

The reason why you want to separate your contacts into categories is because not all contacts communicate the same way and some may want different resources than someone else. Email marketing is all about building credibility, loyalty, and funneling your customer to the right places so they act on whatever call-to-action you have put in place. Without segmenting your customers, you won’t see a high conversion rate.

Decide on Email Marketing Software:

The next step is simple; determine what email marketing software you want to use. Whether it be getdrip, mailchimp, constant contact, or the many others out there. You’ll want to use a software that will handle however many emails you’re trying to send and has the features you’re looking for.

What to Include in your Email Marketing:

After you have your goals, resources, contacts and software, you can begin crafting your emails. Many people ask us what they should include in their marketing emails. We have compiled a small list of what to do in order to have a successful email marketing campaign.

  1. Create a unique and interesting headline
  2. Add a personal touch to your emails
  3. Give them a reason to open the email
  4. Ask questions
  5. Include a call-to-action
  6. Give them a reason to act on your call-to-action
  7. Don’t sound automated
  8. Keep it short, simple, and sweet
  9. Make it easy to subscribe to your emails
  10. Make the email easy to read
  11. Include images
  12. Schedule your emails to be sent during appropriate times

Final Thoughts:

If you follow those guidelines listed above, you’ll have a greater of success with your email marketing campaign. If you want your customers to subscribe to your emails and funnel them accordingly, remember to provide value and don’t be spammy. No one wants to feel like they’re reading an email from a robot. We’ve all been a customer before so place yourself in your customer’s shoes and consider what would make you open an email and subscribe. For additional information on how to create an email marketing plan, don’t hesitate to contact us. It may be what separates you from your competition!