A search engine marketing (SEM) campaign is only as good as the keywords you use. It is critical to choose the right keywords, and when you do, the results can be very powerful. In this article, we will teach you the correct way to build a business-specific keyword list, using SEMrush, a popular tool used by marketers and businesses alike for SEO analysis and keyword research.
Why Business-Specific Keywords?
When it comes to SEO and keyword research, most marketers will tell you to start with the general keywords first. This is generally because the general keywords are the ones that are most popular and in high demand, which means they are more likely to show up on search results pages (SERPs).
However, that doesn’t mean you should solely rely on general keywords for your SEO strategy. In order to best position your site in the search engine results, you need to know the exact words and phrases that people are using to find your products or services online. Knowing what keywords your target audience is using can help you create content that is tailored to their needs and interests, resulting in more conversions and greater long-term success.
That is why we recommend starting with business-specific keywords instead of general ones. When users search for a business, they are more often than not seeking specific information about that business. For example, if you are an accounting firm and you notice that the keywords “accounting firm” and “accountancy firm” show up on Google, you might assume that your target audience is interested in accounting or is planning to become involved in accounting. However, that might not always be the case.
If a user searches for “Barclays bank account” without adding any other search terms, the results will only show blogs, news articles, and websites that are related to Barclays bank. In this case, the user is probably seeking information about Barclays bank, and not necessarily seeking an accountant’s advice about their accounts.
Knowing what keywords your target audience is using can help you create content that is tailored to their needs and interests, resulting in more conversions and greater long-term success.
How To Build A Business-Specific Keyword List With SEMrush
If you follow the steps below, you will be able to create a business-specific keyword list that will prove invaluable in the development of your SEO strategy.
Step one: Identify the industries you are in.
If you are not sure what industries your business is in, you can use the industries tab located under the settings section of your Google Ads dashboard. Your industries tab will display all the industries that your business is in association with. If you are associated with multiple industries, you can use the “+” button to add additional industries. When you add an industry, you will be able to see a small card next to it displaying the monthly searches for that industry.
Step two: Identify the popular keywords.
When you have a list of industries, the next step is to find the keywords that are most popular within those industries. You can use the metrics tab located under the settings section of your Google Ads dashboard to easily find these keywords. With the metrics tab, you can choose to show keywords with high, medium, or low popularity.
One way of finding the most popular keywords without using the metrics tab is to enter your chosen industries in the SEO tool of your choice (we will use SEORoot from SEO Powerhouse for this example) and press the “get keywords” button. A list of the most popular keywords will appear. You can either keep scrolling down this list or use the Find Similar Keywords tool, located at the end of this list, to find additional terms. These tools can be invaluable in helping you build a comprehensive list of keywords for your business.
Step three: Use plurals and synonyms.
Make sure you use plurals and synonyms when applying for a business listing with the local government. This is because businesses with a “plural” are more often than not more trustworthy to potential customers and investors. For example, if your business is a law firm, using the keyword “law firms” instead of “firm” will help you show up in local searches more often, resulting in greater exposure and a greater opportunity for growth.
Step four: Use long-tail keywords.
When you start building your keyword list, your main objective should be to include all the possible words and phrases that people might use to find your business online. Tailor your content to include these long-tail keywords, since content published using these keywords will appear above the fold on a SERP, thus getting more exposure.
Creating A Content Strategy
Once you have a comprehensive list of keywords, it’s time to create a content strategy. A content strategy is a plan of action designed to create content that will engage your audience, attract new customers, and boost your bottom line.
To create a content strategy, you will need to start by determining the goal of the content you are creating. In terms of SEO, the goal of your content should be to raise your website’s conversion rate, gain more subscribers, and increase visits to your site. In terms of marketing, your content should be designed to engage your audience and drive them to take a certain action – in this case, make a purchase. When developing your strategy, make sure to consider what is working and what needs to be changed to make it work better.
Next, you will want to create a content schedule. This will include a list of content that you will publish and when you will publish it. Since you have a limited amount of content to work with, you will need to edit and combine content to create new pieces as needed. Consider using content to create landing pages for your website if you are looking for ways to increase your conversion rate, and be sure to monitor the performance of these pages so you can see which content is converting well and which needs to be dropped.
On-page Optimisation
Once you have a content strategy in place, you can start to optimize your content for the maximum effect. This step involves making small changes to your content to make it more effective. When performing on-page SEO, always put your target audience first. Instead of simply producing content to gain more subscribers, you should be producing content that will engage your target audience and keep them coming back for more.
With regards to law firms, if you read the previous section, you will notice that I mentioned using longer keywords. When it comes to inbound marketing and SEO, longer keywords and phrases are referred to as “long-tail keywords” and “long-tail phrases”. When performing on-page SEO, you should look for opportunities to include these long-tail keywords and phrases in your content.
Another important point to make is that you should not be focusing on just one aspect of SEO. Instead, you should be looking for ways to improve your site’s SEO across all platforms, including mobile. If your site is set up correctly, you should not have any problems with mobile SEO. However, if it is not set up correctly, making small changes to fix the issues will increase your site’s performance across all platforms.
To get started, simply log into your Google Ads dashboard, select the “Search Engine Settings” tab, and then select the “Performance” option. From here, you can find and select the “Mobile” option. Next, you can enter your phone number and receive a call from Google, providing you with tips on how to optimize your site for mobile.
Back to our example, let’s say that you are a law firm that is reviewing content for an accounting client. You will want to use the keywords from the above section to find relevant content and then use the keywords from that content in your own blog posts.
Include these keywords on the headings, subheadings, and content throughout your blog posts to ensure that your blog posts will possess good SEO. Make sure to watch your competitors’ websites for inspiration, and use analytics tools to track the effectiveness of your campaign.