How to Predict Your Potential Customers’ Keywords
Content creation is one of the most fulfilling yet difficult tasks that SEO Specialists face. The main problem is making the article interesting enough so that people would like. That’s a problem that we tackled in one of my previous articles and today we’re going to be tackling a different debacle – keywords.
Many SEO specialists will tell you that keywords are one of the most important things that you have to master as an Internet Marketer but why is that? Let’s start with the basics.
Keywords – What is it?
Google defines keywords as a set of words that are used to determine what the contents are of any given document. Hubspot on the other hand defines keywords as the central topic of significance in content. What that means is that keywords are what your content is trying to sell. If, for example, your keyword is “Italian Food”, then Google uses that information to classify your content as something that relates to Italian Food. Raising your significance, reputation and visibility is one of the end game factors of SEO and making good use of keywords is a great start in that long road.
Keywords are relatively easy to understand but it takes years of practice to master them. Worth noting is that there are four types of keywords and figuring out which one to use is another debacle that SEO Specialists face.
Broad Keywords
Broad keywords are the shortest type of keyword possible. They are usually made up of only one or two words but they are usually significant to their company’s industry and should be applicable to the content that they are trying to sell.
Examples of Broad Keywords:
SEO
Notebooks
Games
Fat Head Keywords
Similar to Broad Keywords, Fat Head Keywords are often two or three words that are broad in meaning but again, significant to the company’s industry.
Examples of Fat Head Keywords:
School Notebooks
SEO Advice
Online Games
Chunky Middle Keywords
The usual debacle with Fat Head Keywords and Broad Keywords is that many big companies use these keywords to market their own content and products which is why smaller companies often prefer Chunky Middle Keywords; the third type of keyword, Chunky Middle Keywords are phrases or keywords that your customers actually use. These are the words that people think of when they make a quick Google search which is why they are in-demand and extremely useful if employed properly.
Examples of Chunky Middle Keywords:
Affordable School Notebooks
Expert SEO Advice
Free to Play Online Games
Long-Tail Keywords
Usually a longer phrase or a specifically worded sentence that applies to your industry, Long-Tail Keywords specifically defines who you are, what you offer and why you should be considered. Long-tail keywords are similar to Chunky Middle Keywords in that these are sentences that your potential customers are likely to use when they look up specific things that are related to your industry.
Examples of Long-Tail Keywords:
How to find the affordable school notebooks
What is the best SEO advice
What is the best free to play online game
Why even bother with Keywords?
We’ve established that there are many types of keywords. You’re probably wondering why this is important at all. Keywords are significant to any content creator and SEO Specialist because they are the factor that you need to figure out what your customer wants, what their customer persona is, as well as their likes and dislikes.
These keywords are the link to becoming the answers that your customers seek every time they type in a query on Google and your goal is to become a reliable answer that your customers and potential customers can depend on.
Let’s take a more detailed look as to why keywords are important.
Foundation
Keywords are the anchor which sets the tone to your content. They are the things that give your content an identity as well as allowing your potential customer to understand what your page is about in two minutes or less.
Answer
People nowadays are busy which is why they spend less and less time on reading articles, especially people who are making a quick Google search. People will usually skim your content in an effort to find the perfect answer to their question. The best way to retain their attention is through your keyword. If they find their question on your content, then they’re more likely to stay thinking that you have the answer to their question.
Google likes Keywords
One of the most important factors as to why Keywords are important is simply because Google likes good keywords. Search engines will index your content according to the keywords used to help their algorithm understand what your content is all about. In other words, Search Engines use keywords to understand what the purpose of your content is.
Key Takeaway: Figuring Out What Keywords People Use
So here’s our Key Takeaway, figuring out how to figure out what keywords people use is actually relatively simple as long as you work hard on them. I’ve spoken with many SEO Specialists and Marketers and here’s a rundown on our own secret ways on figuring out what keywords people are using.
Customers
The simplest and most direct way on figuring out your customers’ keywords is through your customers themselves! Do your research and try to think the way your customers do. Rely on your customer persona and understand your customers by thinking like them. It’s relatively easy but it does require a lot of research and trial and error.
Simply put, try to forget that you’re someone involved with your product, that you’re simply a customer who needs your product or service. Think like them by asking like them.
Internet
The Internet is one of the best ways to do your research because all of your answers are there. Majority of your potential keywords are listed there, all you have to do is know where to look.
Facebook: Facebook has a graph search tool you can use to figure out what your friends and connections are talking about.
Twitter: Twitter is one of the simplest ways to understand how people think because of hashtags. Hashtags are essentially keywords that are used in social media – and Twitter gives that info out for free. All you have to do is sign-up for an account and follow influential people in your industry. Twitter will do the rest for you.
There are many more Social Media Websites that we can list down such as Google+ and YouTube but most of their uses can be summed up in two words: Understanding Trends. This can be applied to all of the examples that I wrote here but at the end of the day, all you have to do is understand the trends in order to find out what people are talking about these days as well as what’s popular with them.
Perhaps the best answer is hidden in plain sight. Google is one of the best ways to understand how trends work and what people are interested in because of its tools.
Google Trends: One of the best parts about Google is Google Trends because it gives you an intimate look at what people are searching for and how they craft their keywords. The best part about Google Trends is that you can calibrate it to suit your needs by changing regions, languages and the like.
Google Autocomplete: Google autocomplete is the concerned parent that completes your sentences as you say them. With that in mind, Google Autocomplete occurs as soon as you start typing your query or concern on Google. It’s nifty because it presents you possible keywords that people have actually used.
