If you’re running a business in today’s digital world, there’s a good chance you’re already familiar with the concept of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO involves using a variety of techniques to improve the position of your website in the search engine results, and attract customers at different points of the purchasing cycle.
With keyword marketing, you can generate influence and authority for your business, improve brand awareness, and increase conversions by creating content focused on specific terms. Here’s what you need to know about keyword advertising.
What is Keyword Marketing?
Keyword marketing is a type of “Search Engine Marketing” tactic. It involves using specific keywords in the content and ad campaigns produced by your business, to appeal to customers at different stages in the purchasing journey, with varying levels of intent.
After researching keywords relevant to their target audience, companies can embed these terms into their content marketing campaigns, search ads, and website copy, to improve their chances of being found by the appropriate leads.
Keyword Marketing Goals: The Purpose of Keyword Advertising
Most of today’s customer journeys begin with a search engine. Customers use search engines to find answers to their problems, research potential solutions and even make purchases. With search engine marketing, companies take advantage of the value of search engines in the current buying journey.
Almost all search marketing revolves around the right keywords, as these are the terms customers enter into search engines to find the data they need. With keyword marketing, companies ensure they can grab the attention of their audience at the right moment in the purchasing cycle, with informative, valuable, and engaging content, or ads.
Keyword marketing can improve brand awareness, boost a company’s reputation or authority, and increase its revenue or sales.
When and Where do Companies Use Keyword Advertising?
Keyword marketing can be implemented into every stage of the purchasing journey and is often used throughout a comprehensive content marketing plan.
With keyword advertising, companies aim to determine what kinds of phrases customers will be looking for when they’re at the top, middle, and bottom of the purchasing funnel.
For instance, a company selling leadership courses might use the keywords “what is leadership” to target customers in the “awareness” stage of the buyer funnel. They can then use content targeting the words “leadership course features” for those in the middle of the funnel, and create ads focused on the term “leadership courses near me”, to attract buyers at the bottom of the funnel.
In content marketing strategies, keywords are implemented into blog posts and website pages, not just within the copy of the page, but also in headers, subheaders, URLs, meta tags, title tags, alt tags, and page descriptions.
Keyword marketing is also a common strategy used in PPC campaigns. When creating paid search engine advertisements, companies bid for the opportunity to have their ad appear when customers search for specific keywords. In the PPC landscape, companies usually focus on choosing keywords that have a high level of purchasing intent.
Tips For Effective Keyword Marketing
Effective keyword advertising relies on a company’s ability to understand its target audience, speak their language, and use the right terms at the correct moments in search engine campaigns. It often requires significant research and experimentation.
Some of the best ways to improve the value of keywords in digital marketing include:
- Get to know your customer: Understanding your target audience will ensure you can get a better idea of the kind of language they’re likely to use when searching for your products and services. Companies should create user profiles and personas which help them to answer the question, “What would our customers type into Google when looking for us?”
- Study the competition: Make a list of your primary competitors and review their websites to see which keywords their targeting. Read through their top-performing content, view metatags, and use the available data to determine what sort of keywords you should be focusing on in your own campaigns.
- Use different types of keywords: Long-tail and semantic keywords are often more likely to deliver excellent benefits with the minimum initial investment. With more specific, niche keywords, companies can target specific customers at certain stages in their purchasing journey. Don’t focus on simple terms alone.
- Use keyword research tools: Keyword research tools like SEMRush and Ahrefs can help companies to track which keywords their competitors are ranking for, and which terms have the most search volume.
- Analyze and optimize: To effectively generate the best results from keyword marketing campaigns, companies should be constantly tracking the results of their campaigns. Google Ads and Analytical tools can help brands determine which keywords lead to the most customer attention and conversions.
Keyword marketing is a simple, but effective way for companies to improve their online presence, and generate potential sales. However, it’s important to make sure you’re using the strategy correctly.
