What Are Focus Keywords And How Can They Help You?

So, you have a website for your small business but you’re not sure how people can find it. You can put the URL on business cards and tell people about it but this is a little bit tedious and will not give you many prospective customers. In this digital world, the best way to lead people to your business’s website is through focus keywords.

WHAT ARE FOCUS KEYWORDS?

Focus keywords function similarly to hashtags on social media. On search engines it is a search term you want your content/site to rank highest.

For example, if you own a landscaping company called “George’s Landscaping” and somebody searches “I need my lawn cut”, as long as you have the focus keywords like “lawn,” “grass,” and “cut,” the customer will have a much easier time finding your business. This is especially helpful if you have blog posts on your website because this gives you a much broader opportunity to integrate focus keywords into your website.

WHICH ONES DO I USE?

You should base your web content around the types of keywords your customers will be searching. For blog posts especially, you should aim for multiple-worded keywords called long tail keywords.

You will often be able to find these if you test queries on Google and see what suggestions pop up. You can also use plug-ins provided by sites like Yoast. Keep in mind, results may change over time so it’s a good idea to monitor relevant searches and see what your customers are looking for.

WHAT IS SEARCH VOLUME?

Once you choose a few keywords, research the search volume. This is how many times a certain keyword is being searched. This can be done if you have an AdWords account and bid on certain search terms. Please note that this can be an expensive option so, instead, we choose to rely on Google Trends.

If you would rather do this another way, track the progress of your own blog posts. If your active web content is doing well with a certain key phrase, we encourage you to keep using that key phrase or similar ones.

TEST IT OUT!

When you have posted your web content, do a search with your chosen keywords and see if your content is on the first two pages. Check to see if the articles that come up are similar to yours. The goal is to get your post to land among these similar posts. We encourage you to gain inspiration from any unique posts you see!

If you have begun integrating focus keywords throughout your site and are not having a ton of luck yet, don’t worry. Choosing the right keywords takes time and practice. You will need to get a feel for your target audience and how they use Google. The more experimenting you do, the better your results will be.

If you have any questions or need tips, we are very experienced with focus keywords and we can help. Do not hesitate to give us a call!