Keyword Research: A Beginner’s Guide

We have a saying at Webster when it comes to creating a website – “This isn’t Field of Dreams” – Just because you build it does NOT mean they will come. Don’t get us wrong, we are all about writing beautifully crafted content that draws a user in. However, an all-too-common mistake we see in our industry is a beautiful website with no keyword research.

Keyword research is vital to a successful website. Your content should not only clearly communicate what you do but be the authoritative voice of your industry. Your website will also need to include verbiage that your potential customers are searching for. An equation for you to easily remember:

What People Search For + What You Do = Website Content

So, what exactly does GREAT keyword research look like?

We’re so glad you asked!

Keyword research can take many forms, however the principles remain the same. And we want to share with you what our process looks like.

Let’s jump in!

What Is It You Actually Do?

While this may seem like the most obvious question, this might also be the most important question you ask yourself for keyword research.

While you, the expert, completely understand what you do – is that being clearly communicated on your website? Or do you have so much jargon that only someone in the industry could understand? Or maybe you only list a service or two?

Clearly communicating what you do is vital. Even if what you do is vast. All the better. Content is king when it comes to Google. The more you have on your website that is clearly and well communicated, the more of an authoritative voice you will have and when Google crawls your website, you will stand out – moving you up in ranking!

Pro Tip: Have someone who knows little to nothing about your business/industry check out your website. Can they understand:

• Who You Are
• What You Do
• What Services You Provide

Okay – so what does clearly communicated content have to do with keyword research? Isn’t that the point of keyword research – to clearly communicate to potential customers?

Our response every time:

If the jumping-off point of your keyword research is a jumbled website, you are going to have a lot of trouble ranking when it counts.

How Many Keywords per page?

Phew. Now that we have that out of the way – let’s jump into keyword research.

How many pages on your website do you have?

Great! Now you know how many keywords you can rank for!

We recommend 1 – 2 keywords per page. More often than not, our SEO experts tend to lean toward 1 keyword. If there are similar keywords to rank for, that could be a 2 for 1 deal:

Pro Tip: Start writing a blog over different keywords you want to rank for. That is a great way to add valuable and useful content to your website.  

Finding & Implementing Keywords

Finding the right keywords and applying them to your website can feel overwhelming. We’ve broken it down in 3 simple steps:

1. Write down the main idea for each page of your website
2. Find 1-2 keywords you want to rank for on each page of your website
3. Write your content around those keywords – staying true to what you do while also satisfying the customers inquiry on your service/product

Next question – where exactly do you look?

There are quite a few places. A few of our favorites:

Google Keyword Planner – This allows you to search a specific country, state, and even city!

Word Tracker – While this only let’s you search by country and state, it still provides valuable insight and we often find has keyword ideas the Google doesn’t have.

SEM Rush – A GREAT resource that provides you with key metrics for any keyword and helps you decide what terms to target on your website content and in ppc.

Google Search Console – This tool has MANY features. One we love is how it shares what keywords people typed in to Google to find you. You can really find some high-quality keywords here!

Webster Digital Is Here To Help

Keyword research, not your thing? No worries – that’s exactly what we love to do! Contact us today for a FREE digital marketing check-up and consultation where we give you 10 actionable ways to immediately improve your web presence.