It isn’t rocket science, it is mostly common sense to understand what customers are typing when they are looking for a certain product or service on search engines.
But along with common sense, you also need to know the little tricks, strategies and tools to make the keyword research for your local business more pertinent.
High-volume keywords are tempting but what’s the use if they aren’t relevant to search terms used by your target audience? You really need to get into your customers’ shoes to start with keyword research.
Over 67,000 searches are entered in Google in every single second and nearly 46% are local searches.
Chances are high that at least in every 15 to 20 seconds, there would be customer/customers who would be in search of products or services you offer. So, the question is, are you visible in the search results? If your web content is relevant to what people are searching then certainly your business would appear in their results.
Keyword research for local SEO is the panacea
How to do keyword research for local SEO?
Being a well known digital marketing agency in Adelaide and with hands-on experience in SEO, we’ll tell how exactly it can be done:
Let’s begin with seed keywords
A keyword as simple as a bat, salon, just one or two words that either describe your product or service is called seed keyword. It is the starting point of keyword strategy. So to begin with seed keywords, you need to do some brainstorming and ask yourself a few questions like what is your business about, what do you sell, what services your offer, what terminology or slang is used for your line of work, which keywords you think should rank better. This will ensure you don’t miss any opportunity to reach people.
Use keyword modifiers
Next, you can take advantage of the keyword modifiers as they help us to find out different variations of keywords. Usually, it is a combination word that will offer potential customers more specific results. It can be any word that adds more value to the keyword.
Examples of keyword modifiers:
- Best
- Ideas
- Top
- How
- Where
- Affordable
- Cheap
- Buy
And the list goes on…
Again you need to brainstorm the words that will direct the searchers to your website through search engine results. Adding a word like ‘best’ or ‘cheap’ instantly changes the meaning of the word and can compel the customers to click. Make sure the keyword modifiers you use are relevant to your industry, products and services.
Use keyword synonyms
If a person is looking for a home, the search term will not just be restricted to ‘home’, it may vary like house, apartment, bungalow, penthouse etc. You have to consider such synonyms or related words while performing local keyword research.
#Tip – Keywords worth targeting + locations is likely to get the best results
Use keyword research tool
There are many tools readily available that you can use to find out local keywords. Every tool has its own pros and cons, you can just play around with few tools and accordingly pick the one that fits your preference.
Start local keyword research for seed keyword then repeat the same process for the synonyms. This will help you to create a powerful list of keywords. Just within a few searches, you can perform deep keyword research.
Competitor analysis of keywords
If you think keyword research is time-consuming and backbreaking then the best shortcut is analysing your competitors’ keywords. Find out what the top competitors are doing and follow the similar keyword strategy for your industry. Use any prominent keyword research tool for competitor analysis.
Focus on the most successful competitors in your niche
You can ignore the keywords that are related to their brand name and irrelevant for your products and services. Not just one, you can spy on multiple competitors at once and get hundreds and thousands of strong keywords.
Determine your list of keywords
Once the list of keywords is ready, start analysing and prioritising it for more effective results. You can analyse the keywords on the basis of frequency and level of competition. Frequency means the number of times a certain keyword is used by users as a search query while the level of competition indicates the number of sites that are ranked in search results for a specific keyword.
#Tip – Pick keywords that have the potential for good profit but has moderate competition
Some of the best keyword research tools
Here are some tools that can assist you in the local keyword search campaign. They are simple, streamlined and surely effective.
- Google Keyword Planner
- KWFinder
- SEMRush
- Moz Keyword Explorer
- Keyword Tool.io
- Keywords Everywhere
Final Thoughts
Incorporating other local keyword research method along with other strategies like citations, brand linking and other brand strategies can help you most with attracting more potential customers. Local SEO is an ongoing task and reap business with many benefits, so do not ignore it in your overall SEO campaign.