Quick SEO Tips to Improve Your Keyword Research

We're sure you have heard that improving your SEO will help you get discovered online much more easily. You've perhaps heard that implementing keywords into the content on your website, blog, social media and URL are important techniques for improving your SEO ranking. However, incorporating the wrong keywords or too many keywords can be equally as bad.

Although some individuals may not always notice them, keywords play an integral part when it comes to helping a small business get discovered online. So let's get to it by breaking down the long and short (tail) of it.

Do Your Own Keyword Research

You shouldn't presume that keyword research should be a one-time commitment, but rather an ever-changing process that involves a strategy and a comprehensive understanding of your business and your industry. Including keywords that are specific to your business and industry will help to ensure that the right customers are being driven to your door as opposed to just any customer. Although we want to increase our consumer base, we don't want to target any consumers that might not find the value in our business.

Using the Right Keywords

Short-tail keywords, or keywords composed of really general keywords, may seem appealing because they're searched more frequently than long-tail keywords, however, they're also a lot more competitive. So, unless you're writing content for a big company, like Apple or Macy's, and consumers are likely searching specifically for your product, you do not want to enter into a sea of competitors with big brands that have even bigger pockets.

Long-tail keywords, meanwhile, may not be as frequently entered into a search engine-- think, "Egg" vs. "Poached Egg with Avocado and Bechamel". By including more long-tail keywords into the content on your page, you'll draw a larger number of consumers who are likely to search for any combination of those long-tail keywords.

Location-based keywords are keywords that directly relate to your business's physical location. For instance, if your business is an ice cream shop in a well-known neighborhood in Charlotte, NC, you'll want to include not just Charlotte but also the name of that specific neighborhood. By doing so, you're more likely to target visitors in your area rather than across town that may or may not ever make it to your location.

Refrain From Keyword Stuffing

Speaking of misleading consumers that might not find value in your business, including almost any keyword imaginable is referred to as keyword stuffing and is largely considered a taboo in the digital marketing arena. Like with any other digital marketing rule of thumb, less is more and quality will always trump quantity. Ideally, a site's content should include keywords in a natural way. However, by inputting keywords into a few sentences and repeating them over and over, you're stuffing your content with keywords. Even if they're good keywords, it's still too much.

Now that you've gone through these tips, just like us, you're ready to become an SEO pro too!

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