What are search terms, and why are they important to your marketing strategy?

Simply, search terms, or key phrases, are terms that people are currently searching for on Google (or any other search engine). These words are either in singular form, or a long phrase.

In business, search terms are important because you desire to show up on search engines when people search for keywords, or phrases that are relevant to the products or services you offer.

Take a moment to put yourselves in your customers shoes. How many times a day do you use Google to search for businesses using generic search terms and words for a product or service? Or in general, just ask a question? There is no doubt you do this a whole lot more often than use the exact business name or URL.

To even stand a chance at being near the top of organic search results, you should be including these words and search terms across your website. For example, if you are a café that provides only vegan options, you need to include keywords such as ‘vegan café’ or ‘café with vegan options’ (or similar) on your website to start appearing for these search results.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. To optimise your website best for search terms, you need to take into consideration the security and speed of your site, links, social media presence, Google Maps Listing, and more. All of these factors create the ecosystem that is your digital presence.

But… how do I find search terms relevant to my business?

The million-dollar question. Sure, you understand why you might need search terms and keywords to improve your digital presence, but how do you know what your customers and prospects are searching for when they are looking for your products and services? Well, some keywords will be obvious, like ‘Vegan café’, but typically, the most obvious search terms are also the hardest to rank for, as they often have a lot of competition!

Because of this, it is beneficial to do some investigative work to source keywords that may not be as obvious, and allow you to build some search authority. Enter: Google Keyword Planner.

Google Keyword planner is a fantastic tool that can help you source more keywords, particularly broad match keywords, at the beginning of your keyword quest. Google Keyword planner is a good help to find alternative words and phrases you may not have thought of, and should always be used as a starting point to your keyword journey.

Great, you’ve got the keywords, now… How do you use them?

Once you have a list of strong keywords related to your business, product or service offering, it’s time to start incorporating them into your content. More of a sprinkle, really. There is no point stuffing a bunch of keywords into blog posts, or on your website, as Google’s algorithm changes frequently and this is no longer a viable way to build search authority.

Of course, if you need a little bit of help with keywords, and how to incorporate them into your marketing strategy, Aussie Web Solutions is here to help. We can offer copywriting services, keyword planning, and marketing strategies to suit any type of business.