How to Build a Kick-Ass Keyword List

So you’ve created some incredible, eye-catching online advertisements for your company. Maybe your company has a beautiful, newly designed website that needs some traction. What’s the next step? Well, no matter how fantastic your ads or website are, they will not be effective unless they are seen by the right people at the right time. This is where keywords come into play.

Keywords are the words and phrases that consumers use when searching for items, services etc. on internet search engines (e.g. Google) to find websites that match what they are looking for. Choosing the right keywords to include in your search advertisements and website can work wonders for your SEO (search engine optimization) and will help lead your website and advertisements to the top of every Google search results page related to your industry.

Here are some tips on creating a kick-ass keyword list:

Think like your Target Consumer

Take some time to fully research keywords related to your business. This research will help you find the precise words that are most likely to be used by your target consumer. Try your best to jump into the shoes of your consumers and really try to think like they do. How do they search for items on the internet? What words do they search? How would they describe your business to a friend? If the keywords your company is using currently do not match what your consumers are saying, chances are, they won’t be searching them.

For example, if your company specializes in tech repair, you could begin by creating basic categories of terms that consumers might search for when looking for repair services, such as “laptop repair.” After these categories are established, become more specific and break down more keywords that could fall into each individual category. This can be done by adding specific big brand names like “Apple” or “Dell,” or by adding different popular models of computers like “Macbook Pro” or “Chromebook.”

Utilize Commonly Asked Questions

Another tip to grow your keyword list is to utilize the questions that are commonly asked by sales leads or by your consumers, depending on your company. If people are asking similar questions to your company on a regular basis, they are probably going to search similar phrases on the internet to try and find answers. If the search engine thinks that your company’s website or advertisement could potentially answer their question, your content will be ranked higher!

To do this, make a list of commonly asked questions and pull out key words and phrases from each question. Try to come up with other ways the same question could be asked to expand the reach of your keywords. For example, if your company receives a plethora of questions relating to the quality of your product, try using keywords that pertain directly to the quality of your products and/or services on your website and in your search advertisements. It’s as simple as that.

Think Outside the Box

When starting to build a keyword list, it can be very easy to rely on simple words and phrases that describe what your company does and what services or products you sell. Developing an effective keyword list, however,  is not so black and white.

Search Engine Land, one of the top search engine marketing content resources in the industry suggests including jargon and slang words as well as misspellings (definitely include misspellings of your company’s name!) and plurals into your keyword list. Including terms that are not common to your industry will give you an edge on the competition and can be the difference between gaining or not gaining a potential loyal customer.

Still looking to grow your keyword list? Check out Google AdWords for tips and services to help optimize your search advertisements.

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We want to hear from you! What tips do you have for building keyword lists?

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