A Small Business Owner’s Guide to Keyword Selection

In the ever-evolving world of SEO, keywords have undergone a profound transformation. In the early days, exact keyword matches ruled the game. To rank well, you had to insert that specific keyword in all the right places, even creating new pages for additional keywords. It was a straightforward formula, like teaching a child to follow a strict set of rules. And it came with hours of research to find the most searched version of the phrase knowing that if we got it wrong, Google wouldn’t reward us with visibility.

But in the 20-ish years I’ve been in internet marketing, Google has grown up, moving well past its “drunk toddler” phase to a now sophisticated algorithm that’s more challenging to decipher because it is so personalized for each user. Instead of fixating on search volume, our focus should shift towards understanding user intent in this modern SEO landscape. In this blog post, I’ll demystify the complexities of keyword selection for small businesses, drawing from my expertise in SEO and Google algorithm monitoring, making it easier than ever to stay ahead in the SEO game.

Find Your Audience’s Intent

Keywords go with your audience’s goals. They are the questions they type into Google, YouTube, and other platforms. Whether your content is new or needing a refresh, you can easily align your content to the right keywords in four steps:

1. Start with what you know – what you want the audience to do. Is it sign up for a meeting? Or walk into your business? Pick a goal and create your page.
2. Put yourselves in their shoes – then try to do the thing you want the audience to do. Where do you get stuck? That’s where your content creation efforts go.
3. Write that down – for each area you get stuck, write down what would help you move along. Is it a video? Or is it a blog post? Maybe, it’s a podcast?
4. These are your keywords – and this is your content. For this audience. To solve this problem.

Now, you can do all of that with free versions of analytics like Google Search Console and Analytics (Site Kit Plugin if you’re on WordPress). But this was an example for one audience with one intent. Surely there are more people looking for your services or goods, so you’ll need to put yourself in as many of your customers’ shoes as possible. Ultimately using the free tools and the space you get in free trials won’t support you. So remember, you can also hire someone to do this for you (nudge, nudge). The amount of effort you put into it should provide a direct return in traffic.

Be Your Audience’s Solution

Providing the right content for your audience can be organized into four basic intents (borrowed with love from SEMRush):

1. Informational – How does your audience want to consume information? Posts or podcast? Video or whitepaper?
2. Navigational – Do they need to come to you or can they reach you by phone or online?
3. Commercial – What’s “one more thing” that can get them to make a decision?
4. Transactional – How does your audience want to pay for your product or services?

Again, that sounds super simple, I know. But consider that all of this above has to go into each scenario and content piece written it starts to add up. But that’s what a good SEO copywriter can do. And we do it quickly.

Every small business should remember it’s essential to keep in mind that the heart of SEO lies in addressing user needs. It’s no longer about stuffing exact keywords into every nook and cranny but rather about comprehending user intent and providing valuable solutions. If you find yourself struggling to navigate this evolving SEO landscape, no need to stress! Our expertise in SEO copywriting is at your service. By implementing effective SEO strategies, you set your website up to continuously attract organic traffic and potential customers, even when you’re not actively promoting it. It’s like planting the seeds of success and watching your digital garden grow with minimal ongoing effort.