A keyword is a word or phrase people enter into search engines to find relevant content. It is one of the most important tools used in content marketing to rank in search engine result pages (SERPs) and drive website traffic.
Keywords are the foundation of search engine optimization (SEO). They shed light on what your target audience is searching for and how to meet their needs and answer their questions.
How to find keywords to use in your marketing strategy
Ranking high in SERPs requires integrating keywords into your content. Follow these steps to find relevant ones and get more website traffic:
1. Identify your target audience
Find your ideal customer profile and track their online behavior and preferences to identify what they might search for.
To do this, use forms, quizzes, and surveys to ask your current customers about their habits, goals, and challenges. With enough data, you can spot trends, group your audience into segments, and understand what your customers search for.
2. Narrow down your search
Use a keyword research tool to narrow down the habits, goals, and challenges you defined in the previous step and create a list of relevant and specific keywords. A keyword research tool lets you browse keyword databases and find out how much people search for them.
3. Analyze your competition
Use your keyword research tool to analyze what your competitors rank for. This will help you spot keywords that work for your business and create your own keyword strategy.
4. Create content containing relevant keywords
Optimize your content to contain keywords relevant to your business. Consider these 3 key factors:
- Search intent: Someone searching “best gold jewelry” wants to buy a product, not learn the history behind it. Content that matches the search intent ranks better.
- Keyword categories: Popular keywords are competitive and can be difficult to rank for. Look for less popular alternatives with similar search intent, or explore keyword variations to improve your chances at a higher ranking.
- Search volume: This metric tells you how many times people in a particular location search a keyword. Search volume is helpful for assessing whether or not it’s worth trying to rank for a keyword.
5. Analyze performance and make adjustments
Use a marketing platform to analyze your website’s performance and rely on these insights to shape your content strategy. This will help you identify gaps in your keyword research and planning, refine your approach, and drive more traffic to your website.
Use Klaviyo’s forms to collect valuable user data. Sign up for Klaviyo to refine your marketing approach and drive more traffic to your website.