the pros’ preferred method and a “cheater” way you may prefer.
by becky livingston
the accountant’s social media handbook
without the right keywords on your site, searchers, clients and leads will have a hard time finding you.
more: what goes into a buyer persona? | 3 big seo changes | how long does it take to rank? | what is seo and why is it important?
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without research, how are you certain you’re using the right keyword phrases to get on your target market’s radar?
there are a lot of tools to help you find the right terms, such as google and bing keyword tools, keywordtool.io, ispionage and more. knowing the right terms can make all the difference between gaining customers and attracting information searchers.
before getting started you must identify your goal. here are four common ones:
- ranking. this is a goal for getting higher search engine rankings. this is often the first step in seo rankings and consists of web page optimization.
- traffic. even though you may be ranking higher in search rankings, that doesn’t mean you’re getting a ton of traffic to your website. this goal is about the type of content you plan to generate to help you meet your seo goals, as well as your business goals. for example, if you specialize in tax planning for construction companies, your content should focus on their pain points and how tax planning can help alleviate the pain. once the content is posted on your website, you’ll add title and description meta tags to help draw readers looking for that content to your website. keywords will also be placed within the page’s content to increase your seo factor.
- conversion. it’s great to get traffic to your website, but if you’re not gaining any buying customers, what’s missing? it might be the conversion piece, which could include downloadable content for which you collect information, such as email, phone, company name and more from visitors. it might be signing up for a newsletter, or registering for a webinar or event. a conversion is more than a hard-dollar value. it can also be intangible, like email addresses for monthly mailings, webinar attendees, increased content downloads or amplified podcast plays.
- engagement. this is often the scariest piece for most business owners. they want people to buy from them, but don’t really want to create a relationship with the buyer. however, without this step, you may lose a potentially great customer who will buy products or services from you for years.
knowing which goal(s) you want can influence the keywords you’re using to draw in potential leads.
example
if you wrote a blog article called “5 tax tips all construction business owners need” then posted it on your website, but at the end of the article simply put a period and no call to action, what do you think will happen? people will read it and close the page. however, if you put a call to action on the page to encourage the reader to do something with the content, you’re thinking more about your end goal.
let’s say you add some “tweetable tips” in the article so the reader can share tips you’ve mentioned. that helps to increase your seo because other people are sharing your content. the search engine finds that to be a very attractive element in search rankings.
also, at the end of the article you could add a call to action, such as “if you like these tips, join our free, monthly construction tips newsletter.” then collect the person’s first and last name, email, and maybe phone or company name. this additional effort is also attractive to search engines because you’re engaging with readers versus just sharing information.
research
here is what i call a “cheater” way to find keywords quickly. i’ll tell you why many seo professionals may frown upon it afterward.
- open a search engine “incognito” or private browser window.
- enter the search phrase you want to know more about in the search box, for example “best seo tips 2018.”
- scroll to the bottom of the search results page. what you’ll find there, in most cases, is a list of phrases the search engine believes are also very relevant to your search geographically.
take a look at those phrases. do any meet your needs? if there are some words you don’t like, don’t use them. if relevant, those phrases could be used on web pages, blog pages, image alt tags and more.
activity
do some research on the keywords for your site/brand/product using either google or bing search.
- open an incognito or private browser window. this step prevents past browser history from influencing your search.
- consider a phrase you want to be found for, e.g., construction accounting firms.
- scroll to the bottom of the search page to see the most common searches done within a 50-mile radius of the computer you’ve entered the term into.
- write down alternative phrases or keywords that are relevant to your goals, e.g., cpa for contractors, construction cpa near me.
- circle or star the ones that you like the most and plan to implement into your site.
your terms:
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seo professionals may frown upon that approach because it’s not scientific and could be influenced by the physical location of the computer. for example, if you’re searching in california, your answers at the bottom of the page may be different than those for someone who is in boston. also, if you’re not using an incognito browser, past searches on that same computer may influence results.
research – the pros’ way
for other ways to help ensure you’re using the right keywords in your content and in promotions, consider one of these more professional ways to find keywords:
- google’s adwords program keyword planner. it’s free to use, but you must have a gmail account. you may also have to submit credit card information to establish the account.
- semrush’s keyword research tool is a simple search to find the right keywords for seo and pay-per-click (ppc) campaigns.
- moz.com has a free keyword tool for “for link building and analysis, keyword research, webpage performance, local listing audits, and more!”
- wordstream has a keyword niche finder based on a seed term you enter (a seed term in your originating term).
of course, there is a lot more information you could read online. i really like information from moz, which discusses keyword value, long-tail keywords, keyword research sources and keyword difficulty.
what is a long-tail keyword?
rather than using generic terms in your website meta data, such as “tax,” use terms like:
- “indiana tax firm”
- “construction tax accounting firm indiana”
- “indiana tax professionals”
- “top 10 indiana tax firm”
the more specific you get, without going crazy, the better the search results will be and the further down the marketing funnel the results.
in this example, the keyword “tax” is too generic. it would draw millions of search results. however, “top 10 indiana tax firms” would draw only thousands of hits, and the person searching for that would be ready to engage in your services.
keyword activity
in the left box, answer the question. in the right box, write the main keywords you found in your answer, or keywords you found in your research.
describe your target audience: who is your ideal candidate (demographics, culture, education, experience, desires, geography, language, etc.)?
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list the products, services, and/or brand names you want to rank for. example: tax services, individual tax return, international tax services
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what do you think your customers are searching for online when they are looking to buy what you sell? these may be the same or similar to the above, but use the terms your customers use … not you. for example, if you offer tax services, but geographically the people you’re targeting use online tax services, then use that phrase instead of tax services.
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what problem does your product or service solve? what are the benefits/opportunities it creates? example: expat tax services, small business audit services, how to prepare for an audit of your financial statements
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what are some common questions your target market has?
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based on your answers, create a title tag, description tag, alt tag for images, and keywords list for a product or services page.
example
title = tax services firm | my accounting firm. description = indiana tax services firm specializing in small- to medium-sized agricultural businesses. keywords = indiana tax services firm, agriculture taxes, farmer taxes. alt tag for an image: my-accounting-firm-logo.jpg
title: _________________________________________________
description: ___________________________________________
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keywords: _____________________________________________
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alt tag: _______________________________________________
now that you have those answers, do the following:
- post the content on your website, adding the keywords in your seo plugin area (wordpress) or in the keywords field on a more traditional site.
- upload the corresponding image to the page.
- write the social media or marketing copy to promote the page.
- use a url builder to add identifying information to your link so you may track website clicks.
- post the promotional copy on social media or other marketing channels.
- monitor your website analytics to see how the promotion went.