The Scoop on Marketing Keywords
By Christine Jaros | August 8, 2024
Successful digital marketing starts with thoroughly understanding your customers’ search habits. You should know when and why they are searching for you, as well as what they expect to find when they find you and your competitors. Search Engine Marketing is one of the most important forms of marketing in the digital world. For instance, You Tube is the number one video search engine, Amazon is the number one e-commerce search engine, and Google is the number one traditional search engine. A day does not go by when these platforms are not used by billions of people generating billions in revenues, but they didn’t get there overnight. Don’t believe the myth – that if you build it, your brand will naturally appear as a response to someone’s query and sell. Selling online is neither simple nor easy- it really does take work, time, and money. The basis of it all is your selection of keywords.
Keywords are building blocks for your search engine marketing strategy. So, whether you’re using an organic (unpaid) search engine strategy, or a paid one (Search Engine Marketing), your ability to generate a high-quality keyword list is the starting point and will be a critical determinant in your in-bound marketing success. Potential customers are looking for products/services based on their on-line inquiries. Your keyword, if right, provides the answers and solutions’ they seek.
Types of Keywords
Broad Match
This is the most generic choice of keywords. Usually, one word which describes in the most simplistic manner your product/service, like car, flowers, or restaurant. You can use broad match to ensure your brand reaches a wider audience. Some companies start with a broad match strategy to gain learnings quickly and see what search terms or phrases are converting (or not), but you must be careful. The biggest concern in using broad match keywords is that it does not have enough info to match with intent of inquiry. For instance, if the word ‘music’ is used as a keyword for a vintage record store – one would ask, are you providing music lessons, music instruments, or sheet music? It’s too broad. You cannot determine the intent, so everyone responds. Traffic will be high, but conversions will be really low because it doesn’t match. Not only does it push potential customers to other better fitting keywords/companies, but it’s also a waste of time and money.
If you are paying for broad match keywords in paid advertising, you will spend tons of money to get very few conversions. Additionally, if you ever want to rank high on a search return, broad match will not be the pathway. Google has a hard time deciphering your intent as well so it will reposition your ranking based on the returns you get. If paying for search engine marketing, broad match will likely be the most expensive because it is the least targeted. If you start with a broad match approach, the key is active management and optimization.
Within broad match, besides single word use, body keywords are usually two to three words which brings more clarity to your brands intent. Unfortunately, they are often used by all like products/services. For instance, ‘Italian food’, or ‘used clothing’ because they are still so simplistic, they are very competitive and therefore not the best option. The best choice is long-tail keywords. These keywords are four or more words which provide more contextual information helping searchers match their search queries to their ideal brands and companies. Long-tail keywords provide one of the highest opportunities for the generation of leads and conversions. For example, ‘Car window tinting Riverview’ is specific. The traffic may be lower, but potential customer leads and conversions are much higher because it is a higher match to the queries.
Phrase Match
Phrase match lets a search trigger a return of your website/ad when someone searches for your exact keyword phrase (or close variations). Phrase match is indicated by quotes around a keyword or phrase, e.g., “men’s Adidas athletic shoes.” Close variations include misspelled words, singular/plural forms, acronyms, stemming (such as roof and roofing), accents, abbreviations, synonyms, etc. Word order is relevant with phrase match, meaning that your website or ad won’t appear if someone enters an additional unrelated word in the middle of your keyword.
Exact Match
With exact match, you can provide an instant match or return to customers who are searching for your exact keyword or close variant. Close variants include searches for keywords with the same meaning as the exact keywords, regardless of grammar similarities or misspelling between the query and the keyword. Exact match is indicated by brackets around a keyword, e.g. [your company name]. Whether someone is searching for “restaurant- Italian food” or “restaurants serving Italian food,” what they want remains the same; they’re looking for Italian restaurants.
Negative Match
This is a type of keyword that prohibits a search return to be matched with your website or ad. Let’s say you sell printed t-shirts, using negative keywords that include ‘blank t-shirt’, ‘unprinted t-shirt,’ or ‘blouse’ would prevent those queries from being matched with your website or ad. This is a time and resource saver as it helps to filter out those matched responses that will never be applicable or move to conversion based on your current product line. From the above keyword options, long-tail keywords and exact match give you the most control over who sees your website or ad and can result in a higher clickthrough rate (CTR). Remember, the traffic will be lower, but it’s a better fit which increases the odds for generating more leads and conversions.
For effective online marketing, it is important to place keywords in all your online presence including website, selling platforms, social media posts, YouTube channels, profiles, stories/abouts, blogs, etc. Incorporate them into strategic areas like titles, headlines, and content. This can improve visibility and discovery, as well as increased traffic to your business. Additionally, on the back end of your website, keywords used in meta descriptors, alt and title tags, and page titles can improve your search engine rankings as they provide a higher level of clarity and relevance. What does this work lead to? Better targeted traffic, increased leads, and more revenues.
Christine Jaros
Consultants, Jaros, TampaSpecialties: E-commerce, Marketing & Sales, Startup Assistance, Organizational Development Christine Jaros provides business consulting in the areas of startup, business plan development, marketing and sales, e-commerce, finance, wholesaling and retailing, and business management. Before joining the Florida SBDC at USF, Jaros owned her own apparel wholesale sales and consulting business in New York City for 14 years. She has more than 35 years of experience as a professional businesswoman. Jaros built a global-focused career specializing in manufacturing, marketing and sales with organizations including Bidermann Industries, Liz Claiborne Inc, and Hartmarx Corp. Working with iconic brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Liz Claiborne, Calvin Klein, Polo-Ralph Lauren and Austin Reed, Jaros grew her portfolio of skills to include international sourcing and distribution. She is a certified TTI DISC Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst and TTI DISC Certified Professional Driving Forces Analyst and a certified Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP). Jaros obtained her bachelor’s in business management and marketing from Ohio University. She went on to study fashion and apparel in Paris, France, and later received a finance-focused Executive MBA from Pace University in Manhattan.