Part of your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy will be figuring out which keywords work for your types of business, so it is easier to gain traffic from organic searches. Carefully crafting your keywords will make it easier to choose keywords with a good return on investment.

1. Know Your Audience

The nuances of your specific audience may drastically change the keywords you use. For example, a neurosurgeon who is designing their website might use a combination of terms so that their website will rank, no matter the medical knowledge of their audience. In addition to the keyword "neurosurgeon," they may also need to incorporate "brain surgeon" since this is the likely term the average person will use. 

Other keywords that might work for this business will be ones related to the specialty that people frequently search. Typically, this information is found by using Google AdWords and other tools provided by popular search engines for their webmasters. The neurosurgeon may quickly realize many people search for surgical procedures related to tumors, epilepsy, and cancer, making these ideal topics to incorporate in their website.

2. Look At PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) information available for webmasters not only provides useful information when developing an SEO strategy, but it also helps if your website will utilize advertising as part of your monetization. The information available regarding PPC will give you an idea of keywords related to your website that are more valuable for advertisers. For people who want to use advertising on their website, they will want to incorporate keywords that have a higher PPC rate. 

Regardless of whether you use advertising, you want to pay attention to the number of searches, the amount of competition for the keyword, and related keywords. Your goal is to find good keywords that relate to your website with a high number of searches and low competition. Related keywords can help you choose better keywords if your original choice was highly competitive or you need additional keywords for your content.

3. Pay Attention To Trends

Another feature from Google that is useful for webmasters is their Trends tool. Incorporating relevant trends into your website can also help you generate traffic and plan your SEO strategy. Businesses that sell different types of products may want to proactively research keywords related to the products they sell so they can plan their content. Generally, the interest in specific products will go through cycles. 

For example, if your business sold computers, you would probably see spikes in searches around the beginning of the school year for both secondary school and college, and again around December. Around these times, you may want to create content about the newest computer technology for the year or what a student should look for in a budget-friendly computer.

Keyword research is invaluable for every website that is providing information and/or selling a product. Spending more time cultivating your SEO strategy will prevent wasted effort and drops in traffic. For more information, contact your local search engine optimization company.