You might be the coolest thing since they invented bread, never mind when they started slicing it. You might be the best there is at what you do, no holds barred, excellence-as-a-habit, stone-cold brilliant. You might also do this thing of yours at a very fair price, and value each and every customer like a blood relative. However, all of this is ultimately worthless unless people know about you. That’s why you’ve got to know how to build a keyword list.
What Keywords Should I Use?
Great question. Let’s start with a little reminder about what keywords are: words, phrases or topics that define what your business or brand is all about. They also correspond to what users might be typing into search engines.
This means they’re specific to you, but also broad enough that lots of people might think to whack ’em into Google. So the keywords that you use depends very much on what you’re selling, and where exactly you’re selling it.
How To Build A Keyword List
When you’re looking to build a keyword list, there are a few things you can do to narrow down your options. First off: create the persona of an ideal client. This is the type of person to whom (in a perfect world) you’ll be selling your product. Write a paragraph or two about this imaginary person, and don’t be afraid to get specific! The clearer you can picture them, the better you can pitch to them.
Next, grab a little help from Google’s Search Console and/or Trends to see what this type of person might be searching. You could also check out SEMrush, a handy platform that ranks keywords to tell you how many people are searching for them.
Don’t Always Rely On The Robots
These kinds of metrics and insights are obviously invaluable when you’re planning how to create a keyword list, but you should also apply a little creative thinking yourself. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes and imagine what you might be searching for if you were them and you were, er, looking for you.
Santa won’t get very far with this laughable list of generalised keywords.
General Vs. Niche Keywords
It’s important to divide your keywords into general and niche. General keywords will be tougher to rank for because they’re, well, general – but they’re important to include so that Google and your customers know what your site is all about.
Niche keywords include specific locations and long-tail keywords, which can afford to get a little more detailed. These have the opposite effect: they’re great for high SEO ranking, but have less people searching for them. So it’s important to have an even split between general and niche. General keywords are perfect for main site copy, while niche ones fit snugly into blog posts.
How To Make A List Of Keywords (And Maintain It)
The work isn’t over once you’ve created your list; it still needs tending to now and again. You might introduce new products or services, you may switch or target new locations, or you might simply want to update your list to remain competitive in the merciless keyword arena.
If you manage to rank on page one of Google (huge congrats if you do), a good strategy is to introduce variations of the keyword that got you there. That way you can maximise your chart position and boost your SEO to new heights.
If all this sounds like a big task, don’t worry… we’re here to help! Truth be told, it is a big task. A competent keyword list is designed to set you up for many years of great business. Fortunately, we’ve had a good few years of experience doing just that! Chat to us today about making a list and checking it twice. (Too late for Christmas puns? Tough cookies.)
