The Importance of Keywords

When it comes to promoting your business online, it’s not enough to increase traffic – you want to attract site visitors who are likely to become customers. The use of appropriate keywords is one way to achieve that aim. Generally speaking, keywords are used in two ways:

* Keywords are “purchased” through a bidding process and then monitored through pay-per-click management, which helps to improve your rakings in the search engines (for a fee)
* Keywords are used “organically,” meaning that they’re incorporated into your site content, which, in turn, positively impacts your rankings (for free)

Purchasing Keywords Wisely
Wondering what it means to “buy” a keyword? It’s actually more like bidding. Essentially, the major search engines allow you to bid on terms relevant to your business. When a user searches one of these terms, your link will appear higher or lower on the sponsored list, depending upon whether you’re the highest bidder. Each time a user clicks on your sponsored link, you pay the amount that you have bid.

Of course, the more generic the keyword, the more expensive it will be. But don’t fret – as it turns out, more specific (and less expensive) keywords can be the most valuable for local businesses.

Here’s an example. Let’s say that you’re a local supplier of landscape materials, based in NJ. You could purchase keywords such as “landscape supplies” or “landscape materials.” But here’s the thing – suppliers nationwide are going to be bidding on those same words. As with anything else, the bidding process for keyword purchases can drive up the price.

A smarter and more cost-effective approach is to choose more specific terms, relative to both your product line and/or your location. So “landscape supplies New Jersey” or “New Jersey landscape materials” might be cheaper, while also more likely to attract site visitors in your region. Not a bad deal.

As you might imagine, a strategic pay-per-click management plan goes a long way toward ensuring your success.

Go Organic
Purchasing keywords, of course, is only one part of a well-planned SEO strategy. You can also maximize traffic to your site by filling it with well-crafted, keyword-rich content. This can include:

* Descriptive product copy
* Supplemental articles or blogs that speak to the latest issues in your industry
* Keyword-rich content, across your site
* The inclusion of up-to-date press releases

A well-known saying among online marketers is that “content is king.” There’s a reason for that. As online search becomes a bigger and more lucrative business, the algorithms used to determine rankings have grown more complicated, and the extent to which content relevance is analyzed has grown. To complicate matters further, each search engine uses its own formula.

What does that mean for you? Using relevant keywords in your site copy, both generic and specific, will go a long way toward improving your “organic” rankings – that is, your placement in search results lists that comes by virtue of your web content, rather than through keyword purchases or ad buys.

The Best of Both Worlds
As you might expect, the best overall online marketing strategy includes keyword efforts both paid for and organic. You should invest in the promotion of your site through pay-per-click management, while also improving the organic ranking of your site by way of keyword-rich content. It takes a little work, but the payoff can be tremendous.

Need the Help of an Expert?
Since 1997, we have created and serviced more than 200 websites for our clients. With expertise in search engine optimization, pay-per-click management, keyword selection, content development, and web-traffic monitoring, we’ll bring your website to the next level of effectiveness.

 

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