12 Tips for Keyword Selection to Guide Your Content Marketing SEO

Some content marketers do not take their time in terms of keyword selection for natural search engine rankings. They shirk proper research and analysis, or merely take wild stabs at whether a keyword phrase is worth pursuing in the first place which is a reckless way of approaching it.

If you continually create content without thinking through search engine optimization (SEO) and keywords, you will rank for something (content does resonate with search engine algorithms). Yet, you will consistently run the risk of short changing your SEO strategy — and your company’s ability to gain a fair share of relevant search engine traffic — for branding, conversions and much more.

Every single piece of content on a specific website or in a blog post is not necessarily going to lift a company to number one on Google for a keyword phrase that people use 15,000 times a month. But you can get more out of SEO with just a small bit more effort.

As much as your time and your skills allow, you should consider the following questions and factors that affect content marketing and SEO in every piece of online content you create and distribute. To make the process easy, we have created a short checklist that you can reference when thinking through keyword possibilities for your website or blog content.

Ask yourself the questions in this checklist as you begin your SEO efforts — you can learn a bit more about the details involved in each point below:

1.  Have I mined keyword research resources?

It’s not altogether uncommon to go straight to Google for ideas (though your AdWords account provides more in-depth data than this free tool), but Keyword Discovery, WordTracker, and other tools can provide more insights. We are partial to SEMrush, which suggests possible keywords that you may have overlooked in your own pages and posts (it analyzes more than 95 million keywords). You can also tune into the words people use at Social Mention. I’ve even checked the index at the back of a book for ideas.

Here are some keyword phrases we found at SEMrush. Within a few minutes, we had an Excel spreadsheet filled with 30,000 keyword ideas from a Fortune 100 company. Despite some high rankings, it is clear that the company has plenty of opportunities to rank better:

                                     

Even if you find keywords among the data that’s available, it is very important to know if people are searching for them or not. Your list might look good, but search counts really matter. Yes, sometimes you should target a keyword phrase with over 1,000 monthly searches. But quite often, you may want something less competitive. I don’t rule out keyword phrases with 50 searches a month, but I also don’t jump at ones with 30,000 searches. If you do go that high, it’s because the keyword phrase is relevant and the website has much going for it, especially in terms of inbound links.

2. Is the keyword phrase relevant?

Does the keyword really match what your business does or who it is targeted at? Years ago, someone told us that he wanted to rank for the word “e-commerce.” It never occurred to him that this term might be a little broad. In a case like this, he should have considered “e-commerce” as part of a keyword phrase, like “e-commerce solution provider.”

It is very important to remember that the keywords you choose must look like a natural part of what you’re writing. Also, it is vital to keep in mind that the spelling can make a difference. “Swing set” may be the preferred term for playground equipment, but many people search for “swingset.” You don’t want to use the “wrong” word and appear like you can’t spell correctly. (Though with something as common as “swing set,” you could probably go with a version on one page and another spelling on a different page.)

3. Are we buying this keyword phrase through paid search?

Paid search, including buying ads on Google, is another source of keyword research that your company may already have on hand. But many companies settle for performance from paid search and skip SEO to their detriment. If you are buying a keyword for paid search, you must make sure that it is also a viable candidate for SEO and content marketing.

For example, a large specialty retailer may invest in the keyword “GE dishwasher.” If it’s working because the paid search conversions are acceptable, then it may also be worth pursuing with SEO.

Conductor, which released “Natural Search Trends of the Fortune 500” in 2010, found that Fortune 500 companies spent $3.4 million a day on paid search with nearly 100,000 keyword phrases. However, only 2 percent of their websites and keywords made it into the first 30 organic (non-paid) results on Google.

Sure, you can buy your way to the top of the paid results on the search engines, and outstanding natural search engine rankings may not come easily. But if you are paying for the keywords, that should be a signal that an SEO strategy must be given serious consideration. It’s not just about ranking so high that you can stop paying for a keyword phrase. Depending on the conversions and ROI goals, maybe you will keep a keyword phrase with both paid and natural search.

4. Are you already ranking for the keyword phrase?

As you start writing, it is good to know how well you are ranking for the topic you are covering. Are you in the Top 10, Top 15, Top 20 or all the way out at 199?

You can use online tools like Web CEO, BrightEdge, and SEOmoz to get ranking data. (To learn more about tools like these, get the “Enterprise SEO Tools: The Marketer’s Guide,” which explores the different platforms that can help you manage, track, and optimize thousands of keywords.)

5. Will my new page adequately mention the keyword phrase?

You can write some incredible material that goes into great detail about a topic with examples and fresh perspectives. But make sure that you incorporate your most strategic keyword phrases along the way. You cannot get by with just one reference in the 13th of 15 paragraphs.

Keyword density “rules” have been debated for a long time. But a top priority should always be to look out for natural opportunities to mention specific keywords. If you are using your target keyword phrase every 150-200 words, you’re probably on track. And don’t worry too much if you use them more often, as long as it doesn’t look like you forced the keyword phrase in where it doesn’t necessarily belong it will be fine. You can always scale back the references after you check on your rankings (which will also be heavily influenced by the page title, page header, the age of the website, inbound links, and many other factors).

6. How much traffic is my website receiving for the keyword phrase?

As you look in-depth into your own website analytics, you should see a lot of keyword data. You can dive deep a couple of ways, including analyzing the initial keywords used to reach your website and your internal site search data when they arrive. For example, you might discover that someone searches for “construction loan financing,” but that may prompt you to look at some options like “construction loan requirements” or “how construction loans work.” You may also need to change your content strategy to work the new keyword phrases into existing or new website pages.

Do not be too discouraged if you find that a keyword phrase is not searched that often, as it may still hold a lot of value. We look at the keyword traffic in light of rankings. For example, a keyword phrase may have only 30 or so searches a month, but that 30 may rank poorly only as a result that no one gave the keyword a boost with serious SEO. On the other hand, a keyword phrase might rank as number two on Google and still bring only a couple dozen visitors. However, this would be okay if the keywords are a good match for the services or products that you are selling. You do not need over 1,000 visitors to connect with good prospects.

We always keep an eye out for multiple keyword phrases on a web page that rank highly in terms of SEO. You might find that a single page could support “free online checking account” and “free checking accounts online.” However, sometimes you cannot get both phrases to rank among the top three positions (maybe one keyword phrase ranks number six and the other ranks number thirteen). You might need a new priority page that just focuses on one of the phrases in order to get it to rank much better.

7. Am I getting website traffic for similar keywords?

I constantly check website analytics to see what relevant keywords people are searching for that I didn’t even include on my list of the most strategic keyword phrases. Existing and new content created in conjunction with SEO efforts can give life to a wide assortment of related keywords and phrases. For example, I may have originally targeted “laptop computer” for a given piece of content, but the way you write your content may give rise to a number of other keyword phrases like, “buying a laptop computer.” You can take credit for the impact by charting search engine traffic growth for those keywords, page views, and more.

8. Is this keyword phrase (or similar phrases) already converting?

You can track keywords through your website analytics and conversion funnels, including e-commerce (associating the keywords with the product sales). Some companies gain greater insights with call tracking services like those offered by Mongoose Metrics and Marchex and others. Call tracking technology has does have many benefits. For example, at keyword level, when someone uses a keyword phrase on a search engine and then reaches a website, a unique phone number temporarily appears in the content (replacing the regular website phone number). The phone call, which is associated with the keyword phrase, can be tracked and recorded fairly easily.

9. Are there calls to action on the page?

It is very important that you target keyword phrases in your content by including very effective calls to action. What is on offer? What exactly does it look like? Is it buried? If you drive traffic through SEO, you do not want the visitor to have to struggle in order to figure out what you want him to do as a result of viewing your content. Make it easily apparent that readers should call a toll-free number, request a demonstration, download a guide, or request more info, and then make sure you’ve made it easy for them to do it. It is also vitally important that you test the placement and colours of forms, phone numbers, and assorted offers. Many people think of SEO only in terms of keywords, but website usability and conversion opportunities can also help ensure that the SEO traffic pays off, rather than be wasted if too many people leave moments after they arrive at a website.

10. Are there related pages that could support an internal link strategy?

You can get high rankings for a single page, but your content marketing strategy will get a boost through SEO if you have related pages created to support internal cross-linking. In simple words, ensure that you create opportunities to cross-link the strategic keywords in the anchor text on several of your pages or posts to improve your odds of higher search engine rankings. It is very important not to forget to include the targeted keyword phrase within your links (or at least near the link). For example, maybe one page mentions “low cost car insurance” in passing, but those words could be included in the text of a link to another page on your site or blog that goes into more detail about the pros and cons of low cost car insurance policies.

11. How will this keyword phrase choice fit into future content?

The keyword selection options for SEO and content marketing should be based on planned content for the upcoming weeks ahead, not just the content you’re dealing with today. With a content calendar, you will start thinking about keyword possibilities even before someone writes up an article, describes a certain service, or creates a blog post. If you have a main set of keyword phrases, your content planning strategies should then reflect your keyword phrase priorities and deficiencies. For example, if you are already ranking very high for “riding lawn mowers,” maybe that doesn’t need your attention. However, you may be ranking poorly for “self propelled lawn mower,” and want to create content to address this in the near future, your keyword plans should keep this in mind.

12. Is the keyword phrase in our domain name?

Google announced in 2012 that it would drastically cracking down on low quality exact match domains (EMD) for websites that want to rank primarily on the merits of their domains. It is certain that Google wanted to deal with obnoxious domains and small websites (like this pretend domain: seocontentmarketingtipsideasforonlinemarketers.com). However, for respectable websites, the domain name still seems to influence search engine rankings.

Conclusion

We are sure you will want to weigh some other factors as well before selecting keywords, but the above list gives you a good starting point.

At a minimum, leverage the keyword research tools available to see if people are actually using the keyword phrase that you are targeting. It is inevitable that you’re going to create content that people aren’t searching for at a rate of 10,000 times a month (maybe you will need to settle for 100 in some instances when you look at alternative keyword phrases). But any new content can be a good opportunity to include your most strategic set of keyword phrases and cross-link them with your existing content.

http://www.jefmedia.ie/blog-detail/12-tips-for-keywords-selection

 

Six Tips for Small Business to Use Social Media Effectively

SOCIAL media is a tricky business for small businesses — how do you build a virtual following and engage your audience, without annoying them?

It’s a fine line, say experts, who claim it’s all in the delivery.

 

Make sure you know the ins and outs of social media because that’s where your potential customers hang out. Source: News Limited

 

It’s not called ‘social’ for nothing.

Business coach and social media specialist Des Walsh says you wouldn’t choose to be intrusive or boring at a barbecue or lunch, so don’t do the same online.

“Find out how to participate in conversations on social media — share information and ideas without constantly saying ‘buy my stuff,” Walsh says.

“That way you will build trust and people will recommend you.

“Don’t follow the businesses who see social media as just a kind of bigger megaphone.”

He says social media is another way of saying ‘the world of business has changed forever’.

“If that is a problem for you, get over it, or accept that if your way of doing business does not adapt — your customers will drift away sooner or later."

 

Be the boss — in a cool way

“Take the lead,” Walsh says.

“One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is to leave the social media part of the business to junior staff, on the basis that they know how it works.

“They may, but they don’t know your business, your products, your services, the way you do.”

He says you have to be willing to learn, and don’t be afraid to ask your younger staff to show you how outlets things like Facebook and Twitter work.

“You might be surprised when you realise they think it’s cool that you want the firm to move with the times!” he says.

Learn to move with the times. Source: ThinkStock

 

Only fools give up

“Be strategic and play the long game so you don’t get disappointed when you don’t get instant results, because you almost certainly won’t,” he says.

“If someone comes and offers you social media services, get them to demonstrate to your satisfaction that their approach fits your business and your priorities.

“Once you get into it, there is no magic about social media — get confident in using one platform at a time.

“You don’t have to worry about making a fool of yourself: at the start, just listen, then listen some more, then when you feel confident, join in the conversation. “You will be way ahead of your competitors who think they can learn how to use social media from going to a business breakfast or a lecture somewhere.”

 

Don’t be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none

Social media expert Michael Grierson from BuzzNumbers says you have to choose the best network to suit your business and your audience — and it may not be Facebook or Twitter.

“Instagram is currently the best-performing social network for marketers and Pinterest generates more referral traffic for goods retailers than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined,” he says.

“Teens are spending their social time on Snapchat and Tumblr as they look to hide from their parents who hang out on stuffy old Facebook.

“Whatever choice you make, it’s important to be fully committed to your new asset.

“A brand page that looks like a ghost town with old content and unanswered questions from customers will do a business more harm than good.”

It pays to have friends everywhere when you are running a small business. Source: News Limited

  

Check in, and start a conversation — and take shortcuts

“People aren’t just going to magically start following your new asset — you need to make yourself visible in order to be found,” Grierson says.

“Look for where people are having conversations about your product or service — join in the conversation and show your expertise, share customer satisfaction stories and generally build positive and lasting awareness.”

He says Facebook check-ins are an important tool to use, and equate to word of mouth in overdrive.

“Your customers’ locations will then be seen by their online friends and will be perceived as endorsements,” he says.

“Set up signs to remind people to check in and consider offering a small bonus for those who do — the results will be worth any small investment.”

 

Remember, it’s not all about you

“When posting to social media, you are interrupting people in their leisure time,” he says.

“They don’t want to be sold to when relaxing at home or bored on the bus.

“Offer content that adds value to your potential customers’ social media experiences.

“Behave just like one of their friends — friends who constantly yell ‘20% off this week’ or ‘buy one, get one free’ are ignored and unfriended very quickly.”

He says if you must sell, save it for special occasions or big sales.

“The boy who cried wolf affect is present in social media — do it all the time and it loses its impact,” Grierson says.

“Act like any other Facebook friend and offer content that is of value to your network.

“This often will not be about your business, but things your fanbase might find interesting.”

 

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/six-tips-for-small-business-to-use-social-media-effectively/story-fn5lic6c-1226832802503

 

 

15 Tips For a Successful New Small Business Website

Getting a new or redesigned small business website up and running can be a bit daunting. There are a lot of options and costs can vary wildly. Luckily there are a few tips you can use to get more traffic, generate more leads and have fewer problems with your small business website.

 

Small Business Website Success Tips

1. Develop priorities for your small business website
You’re certainly not alone if you’re getting a new small business website built because you simply have to have one these days. However, having specific prioritised goals in mind will really help focus your website to achieve these goals. Do you want to: educate prospects, generate phone inquiries, generate sales through e-commerce, capture leads for email marketing, etc.
 
2. First steps to get traffic to your small business website
Unless your website is just there to provide information to you existing customers, you must know how you will get visitors. Website traffic does not just appear by itself. Some options to consider are: online or traditional display advertising, business directories, Social Media, PPC (Pay-Per-Click e.g. Google AdWords) advertising, SEO (Search-Engine-Optimisation) etc.
 
3. Ask what your web designer needs from you early on
To avoid delays, give your website designer everything they ask for accurately and early on. Delays building your website will cost you in lost opportunities.
 
4. Use a common website platform
Choosing a common platform means you have many more options to get help if you need to. One danger with a proprietary website platform is if the company that built it closes its doors. Getting support, upgrades or changes made for your small business website may become very difficult. Common Content Management Systems (CMS) that are easy to update yourself include: WordPress, Joomla and Drupal.
 
5. Ensure your small business website is fast
Many tests have shown websites which load slowly really turn people off. Too slow and visitors just leave. Google doesn’t like it either. Don’t give people another excuse to leave your website and try the competition. Make it clear to your website designer that speed is important to you.
 
6. Ensure your small business website is easy for Google to index
Search engines like certain elements in websites. Things like: A clear structure, sitemaps, meaningful URLs, relevant keywords in titles, etc. Your website should be built with at least basic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in mind. Choosing an SEO friendly CMS like WordPress is a great place to start.
 
7. Use a reliable website host with good customer service
You should satisfy yourself that your hosting company is reliable, and your data is safe. Performance (speed) should also be a consideration. Even if your Web Designer is suggesting a host for your small business website it’s worthwhile finding out about them.
 
8. Keep your small business website design clean and simple
A cluttered website design with poor navigation is a great way to get people to leave your website as quickly as possible. Your small business will best be served by a simple, easy to navigate and clean website design.
 
9. Make your website mobile responsive
This means that your site will rearrange itself when read on small screens. It makes your website more readable and usable on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. A huge amount of people use mobile devices now, so don’t ignore this.
 
10. Avoid Flash technology on your website
Flash in not compatible with most smartphones and tablets. Visitors to your website may be met by an error message or blank screen if you use Flash. This doers not leave a good first impression.
 
11. Capture your visitors’ email addresses
Every small business should be capturing visitors’ email addresses for email marketing. Many visitors to your website will be doing research; they may not be ready to purchase immediately. Capturing their email addresses allows you to keep in touch for when they are ready.
 
12. Maintain brand consistency on your website
Assuming you already have branding design elements like: Logo, colours, fonts etc. these should be maintained on your new small business website. The design of your website should complement any existing marketing material you have.
 
13. Give visitors what they want
Most of your visitors will have some expectations about what information they will find on your website. Certain pages like an about page and contact page are more or less mandatory. It’s important your visitors find what they expect to find; quickly and easily.
 
14. Keep your website current and relevant
A stale and out of date website won’t win you any fans. Ensure you website uses a modern design and is kept up to date with useful and current information. At a minimum, you should check your website periodically to make sure all information is still current. Things like offers that have expired need to be removed when they expire. A regularly updated blog is a great reason for people to keep coming back.

One last tip, just remember that your small business website is not there just to look pretty, entertain (unless that’s your business) or to give you a web presence. Your small business website there to make money. To achieve this it should help people find you, grab and hold your visitors’ attention, and finally convince them to take action.

http://www.resultseasy.com/resources/15-tips-for-a-successful-new-small-business-website/

Small Business Tips: How to Use Social Media to Boost Business

 

Social media is transforming the way business is carried out. A recent study by the Internet Advertising Bureau UK found that nearly 80% of consumers would be more inclined to buy more often in the future because of a brand's presence on social media.

 

For small firms, knowing how to capitalise on this is crucial. Julia Bramble, founder of social media consultancy Bramble Buzz, says: "If businesses haven't got the right [social media] presence then they're really going to be missing out, because customers are expecting to find businesses and brands on there."

 

What SME owners must focus on, says Bramble, is their target market: "The key message is to think about who your customers are, think about everything you know about them, where they live, what their lifestyles are, what their interests are, business wise and outside of business, and that'll give you big clues as to the social networks they're likely to be using."

 

Once you've got your social media strategy in place, she adds, you need to think about how this is going to translate into sales and development for your business. Will it drive traffic to your website? Get bums on seats at an event? Or drive footfall into stores? "How does all that fantastic activity and buzz translate into tangible results for the business? That's the key to getting social media to grow your business," she says.

 

Claire Mitchell, founder of The Girls Mean Business, saw the conversion of her Facebook 'likes' into a business venture as an opportunity she couldn't let pass her by. Having done some business coaching already, she decided to use The Girls Mean Business brand to offer coaching programmes, webinars and e-books for women entrepreneurs.

 

Using Facebook has expanded her reach on a global scale. Her page now has nearly 14,000 'likes', from countries as far and wide as Canada, Australia, the US and South Africa as well as the UK and the rest of Europe. She says: "The Facebook page really took on a life of its own, which was wonderful."

 

Knowing what to do with social media in order to be successful is key and Mitchell found several things to be vital for engaging customers: asking users questions – whether general or business-related – sharing users' quandaries with others, putting feelers out for advice and solutions, and posting inspirational quotes. She says: "I get great feedback that it helps people, because when you're sitting there in your house running this business and trying to juggle it with kids or other jobs, it's a really lonely place to be sometimes and it just makes people feel as though they're not alone."

 

For Adam Ball, owner of the design company Concept Cupboard, Twitter made it possible to expand his network. He says: "Twitter gives you a free platform to let the world know who you are and what you do. When you're looking to approach someone for potential partnerships, meetings and so on, this can be a great tool to reach out to people. A lot of professionals use the platform and it can be a great way to introduce yourself, as long as you're not just spamming people. I've had quite a few meetings set up from a conversation that started on Twitter."

 

While Facebook and Twitter are social networks with the emphasis on social, Kimberley Waldron, co-founder of SkyParlour PR, has found LinkedIn, which is aimed at professionals, to be instrumental in building contacts internationally. She says: "In the past 12 to 18 months it's generated some real opportunities for us. I spent five weeks in New York in February this year going around meeting potential customers and trade bodies, and 90% of all the contacts and meetings I had were set up via LinkedIn."

 

One feature of LinkedIn that has been particularly fruitful for Waldron is the recommendations: companies or individuals can recommend someone as a potential colleague or client. Having a visible online reputation creates an instant transparency and, Waldron believes, makes potential clients more likely to trust you. She says: "We pitched to a big business earlier this week and straight away the guys we pitched to checked out my profile and added me on LinkedIn. They feel that they trust me because they can see my career history and the recommendations from other people, so it takes away a little bit of the, 'Who is this person?'"

 

Emerging social media platforms are also making a huge difference to how small businesses market themselves. Rebecca Mortby, for example, co-founded Greenfinch Graduations, a graduation planning service for the families of international and online students in the UK, in March this year. She has been able to tailor Pinterest to meet her company's specific needs: "We started to share hints and tips on everything from graduation outfits and hairstyles to getting around on the day, useful posts and links for international and online students and news and motivational quotes and stories."

 

Pinterest has also allowed Greenfinch Graduations' customers to tailor their package how they like. Mortby says: "The option to set boards to private has allowed us to share ideas and visions with our clients. They and their family can also then add ideas to the boards and effectively communicate their vision without the need for lengthy phone calls, email exchanges or even a shared language."

 

The success of Pinterest is an example of how effective images are as a stimulus. Instagram is another social media platform which has exploited this, as Lyndsey Haskell, who owns the gardening retail site What You Sew, has found. She says: "Instagram has really helped What You Sow go from strength to strength. I post styled pictures of my stock as well as on-brand images of my gardening adventures; plants, flowers and gardens I've visited. A large part of the What You Sow identity is lifestyle orientated, so not only can people see images of things I'm selling, but they get a real sense of my gardening inspirations too."

 

Bramble adds: "I think the whole world is waking up to how powerful social media can be in terms of growing business."

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/aug/29/social-media-boost-business-tips