Focus on Keyword Research to Start or Expand Your Online Business
A small business looking to launch a website needs to a strategic plan to survive in the internet marketing world. Getting traffic to a website is important for online success, but making a profit only happens when the traffic is looking for the products or services offered. A complex, attractive website is not the best or only way to attract customers. In fact, to attract the right customers, or target customers, business owners should focus on a particular strategy for search engine optimization in today’s competitive market: keyword research.
First, you must understand your industry and target market. Who are the customers you want to attract? For example, let us assume you want to launch a blog about business. Since it can include a multitude of topics, this is a vague objective. In order to easily target readers who are interested in your information, you might consider narrowing your blog to a more specific topic.
How do you choose a specific topic for a blog? Begin by using the Google Free Keyword Tool, which shows the terms people search for most often. Through this tool, you can see that many people want to learn more about “Tips on Starting a Small Business.” From there, you can combine your own interests with this information to brainstorm topics about how an individual can start a small business. Are you knowledgeable about search engine optimization strategies? Social marketing or advertising? Be sure to choose a field that revolves around your passion, because when your small business demands long hours and hard work, you will need to remember why you began this venture in the first place!
Once you have a specific topic in mind for your blog, you can then brainstorm keywords that your target customers will use to find your business. In order to earn a higher rank, for your website to show up higher on a Google search, you should include detailed words instead of vague, general keywords. For example, a general, or short tail keyword, is “business.” Millions of sites contain the keyword “business.” “Small business marketing resources” is a better keyword, called a long tail keyword, which is more specific and easier to rank. Also note: you should select low to medium keywords, which are less competitive than the high keywords.
Ideally, your website will have at least 7 to 10 keywords to rank. In our example, the keywords are “tips on starting a small business,” “advertising for small business,” “small business inspiration,” “working from home,” and so on. You can always add supplementary keywords to your list in order to target a more specific audience. When your keyword list is complete, they can then be ranked on Google. Now the fun begins – start writing articles, and don’t forget to include keywords within your content! It is recommended to convey a natural voice instead of congesting your article with keywords so remember to distribute the keywords evenly.
Other ways to increase your ranking using keywords are on-page content and off-page search engine optimization. Include your keywords in on-page content: your title tags, meta description tags, headings, alt text, and anchor text. This enables Google to identify specific words within the website rather than in a search. Off-page search engine optimization builds links related to your business so Google can rank them on the first page of results in a search. It is important because people rarely go beyond the first page to find what they need. To rank high, you must become visible on various websites by guest blogging, submitting to 2.0 websites, joining social networks, and forum posting. Although this is time-consuming and requires hard work, search engine optimization experts are available for hire if you need additional help.
Online marketing is important for any start-up company today, and keyword research is a fundamental strategy for the success of your online business. If you would like to learn more about effective internet marketing to transform your business into profit, please subscribe to my free e-book, Internet Marketing.
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