A Guide for Those Starting Out

There are a lot of articles floating around Google-land about how to build the best keyword list for your site, or for other applications.

Oh, you didn’t realise there were other applications for a keyword list? Well, it just confirms you’re in the right place. As mentioned, there are many articles out there, and some really good ones too. But now that you are here, you might as well continue reading.

So, let’s great straight into how to build a good Keyword list, for whatever reason.

1. Branded v’s Non-Branded Keywords

Let’s start with deciding why you want to rank on the first page of Google. Everyone starts off by saying, “I want my site on the first page of Google;” and often stipulate unrealistic expectations like with a couple of weeks or a month at best. These people always make me laugh, and probably say a few other derogatory words.

Here’s the cold hard truth readers. If you want to rank on the first page of Google, in less than a month, then no problem. Any SEO person, or even a smart front-end developer can get you ranking on first page for your business name. Yes, your domain name, URL, etc.

For example, if your business URL is www.rankme.com – I, or anyone else can get you on first page, probably within 48 hours of launching your site, sometimes less.

However, this is pointless if you actually want business. Because users who know your domain name already, won’t be searching in Google to find you when they can go directly to your site.

So, other than ranking on first page for what is know as a ‘Branded Keyword Phrase’ or ‘Branded Term’, when users type in anything else, they will never see your site.

If you really want to rank for keywords that users are likely to type into Google, when searching for a Product or Service that you might offer, then you need to build a specific keyword list, and optimise things correctly. Then, getting your site on to the first page of Google will realistically take between 6 and 18 months, pending competition.

Cough, curse, laugh if you want, but reality is reality, and the only way around this is to have shit-tonne of money. Pay a large number of experts to complete an exhaustive list of SEO tactics that can be implemented within a week or so.

And, only then do you stand a chance, notwithstanding competition, to rank on the first page of Google in less than 3 months for what we deem as, ‘Non-Branded Keywords’.

Ok, now that we got that out of the way, and before we go any further, make sure you understand what I just said. If you do, and you’re ready to move forward, then let’s start on building a good keyword list that will help you rank well, and hopefully create the conversion opportunities you want for your business.

2.Target Audience

At this stage, I have to assume you have clearly identified your target audience, and likely created a Buyer Persona that clearly reflects who your target audience is.

If not, get cracking and do one. Then come back to this blog to continue. If you need help doing this, then contact us. We offer this service to all of our clients.

3. Relevant Topics

Next, you will need to make a list of ‘relevant’ topics related to your business / website, or whatever you want to rank for.

For Example, I would create the following for my company:

• • SEO
  • Social Media Marketing
    
  • Inbound Marketing
  • Digital Marketing
  • Email Marketing
  • Marketing Analytics
  • And a few more…

These create a starting point for your final list.

4. Topical Keywords

Now you want to create a mini-list for each of those topics. This will start to narrow things a little further towards what people might actually type in when they are looking for a Product or Service that your business may directly or indirectly offer, in simple terms for now.

Again, for example, this is what I could have done for my company:

• • What is Email Marketing?
  • What are the benefits of Email Marketing?
  • How to set up an Email Marketing Campaign
  • What is the Best Email Marketing platform
  • And more…

5. Head terms or Short-tail phrases

Your list should contain some ‘Head Terms’ or ‘Short-tail’ phrases such as:

• • Email Marketing Platforms
  • Email Marketing Companies
  • Email Marketing Automations
  • And so on…

6. Long-tail phrases

You will also want to include some ‘Long-tail’ keywords that target users who are trying to research a topic that is directly, or indirectly related to your business. For example:

• • How do I create a xxxx?
  • What is the difference between X and Y?
  • What are the best Email Marketing Platforms to use
  • Best SEO & Digital Marketing companies near me

7. Google Keyword Planner

Ok, now that you have your starting list, which is going to be more than 10 phrases already, it’s time to feed them into a tool that can generate a longer list for you.

Ok, so maybe you don’t like the idea of a ‘longer’ list, which is going to mean more work. However, it’s vital that we extract keyword phrases that users are ‘actually’ using today, when it comes to related topics to your business.

Like many other SEO experts out there, we prefer to use Google’s Keyword Planner. There are some other options but I don’t want to explore them in this article.

If you are unfamiliar with how to use Google Keyword Planner, then I suggest you either contact us for help, or research it quickly.

When you enter in some topical words for one particular topic, you can get your first list. Try for each topic, and come up with a very exhaustive but accurate list. Ready to use when optimising your site, or other applications.

8. SOBC Score

If you are looking to take your keyword list to another level, perhaps where it not only provides you with keywords to help rank better, but also create conversion opportunities, then I suggest that you read my article on how to create a State of Buy Cycle score (SOBC Score).

In this article, I discuss how to establish a better understanding about which keywords will help a site to rank batter, but also which keywords will help you rank when users are looking to buy.

If you think you are ready for this level, then click through to get started.

9. Where to Use Your List

Now that you have created a basic keyword list for your business, site, etc., it’s time to apply those keywords correctly. Not only will you use those keywords to optimise each page of your website, yes, each page, but also for any new content to be added to your site.

Additionally, these same keywords can be used in any blog articles you might have time to write, or more importantly, in the basic content used for each social media post, providing you have linked your post(s) to your website allowing users to click-through.

A good keyword list can be used anywhere that you post content about your product, service or brand, to help build a wider web of your online presence.

SUMMARY

So, Let’s summarise what we’ve discussed so far.

• Ultimately you want to build a keyword list that will help your site rank for ‘Non-branded’ keywords.
• You will need to start by thinking about what your target audience would likely type into a Google search page when they are either trying to find a product or service you offer, or they are researching a topic related to your product or service.
• Use the best Tools available to you, to formulate a complete list, and then decide whether you want to evolve that list to identify which keywords will focus more on ranking, or on conversion.
• Then, use your keyword list wisely, and apply to all content created for your marketing efforts.

Lastly, if you don’t have time to do all of this, or don’t have the confidence to do it correctly, then pay us to do it. It’s that simple!

Paul Leonard has been successfully providing SEO and Digital consulting services to a number of international clients over the years.

As a founder of HPL Digital Marketing, we are fortunate to have his expertise made available, to help your business grow in the right ways.