Be Found: Crafting Keyword Visibility Around Consumer Intent

Consumers are leveraging search engines more than ever before to research products prior to purchase. But what consumers find during this process depends on their search habits and how humanlike a brand’s digital footprints are.

A website’s digital footprints are part of what reacts to search engine queries, and it’s what places products in front of consumers who are in that research stage. These footprints must be cultivated and nurtured. And in order to start this process, brands must ensure that all website copy and blog content is targeted toward the right audience. The trick is to make the website’s keywords what people actually type into Google.

It can be easy to forget that there is a human behind every computer. Users search to find information that solves a need or alleviates a pain point. Smart marketers know to tap into that process and make their clients’ brands the first thing users see on the search results page.

Customers are always on the hunt, so make sure brands’ products and services are easy enough for consumers to find via simple search keywords.

Be Reactive to Trends

As shoppers take the time to know products before they buy, brands should take the time to listen to their consumers before they market. In 2015, successful brands create content with the intent of being found via search and then shared on social media. According to Google, 84 percent of smartphone users evaluate their purchase decision in-the-moment. Being visible and available at their fingertips can make-or-break the buy.

It’s important to use the evolving audience insight tools the digital age provides. The web traffic data gained from analyzing website usage trends is a boon to every writer, webmaster and content strategist that publishes their work online. Marketers can track the path users take across their website and uncover valuable audience insights, such as where a visitor is accessing the website and on what device.

Millennials in particular are heavily influenced by value-driven content that’s inherently shareable on social media. Smartphones are used to search by 85 percent of generation Y, so make sure any shared content is optimized for exposure and visibility on mobile. First impressions are important—even on the Internet—and an unappealing website can make potential buyers try different search results to find their answers.

Research Intent

Keyword optimization all comes back to how consumers find your content. An often-overlooked aspect of discovery marketing is using search terms in the ways users actually search. High Google rankings for commonly searched keywords and phrases will give brands a valuable head start against their competition. Odds are that a sexy, new product will never be seen if website SEO hasn’t been optimized around audience behaviors for the product to appear on the first results page.

Google Keyword Planner is an easy way to gather information on search demand for multiple keyword phrases at once. It’s the most common starting point for any SEO keyword research. Keyword Planner estimates search volume and provides keyword suggestions, which gives measurable value to long tail keywords.

Be an informed writer: Effective keyword use and placement is the right way to bring any website up to speed in the search marketplace and boost reputation. What consumers see and read first can make the difference between turning a reader into a customer.

Keyword research and figuring out the right keyword to use for each page is difficult. Just like trying to find the right doctor, a digital PR expert is necessary to isolate SEO problems and make a website healthy again.

Leverage Data and Tools

Listen to your data when developing your marketing strategy, and leverage proven keywords strategies in your product descriptions to make content effective and easily searchable.

Test if search engines can crawl your web pages with Google’s recently renamed Search Console. Besides diagnostics and error reporting, Search Console provides tools webmasters need to know to create and maintain search-friendly websites.

With countless tools, data and education available to marketers, it’s easy for brands to produce content that is built around audience insights for search exposure and user engagement. With audience insights and SEO expertise at your fingertips, developing a marketing strategy that is human, relevant and shareable for your website or blog is both achievable and essential to generate positive results.

Start early, because the internet never sleeps; use the right tools to execute digital marketing strategies with as much information and expertise as possible; and don’t let your content be a flop on the internet. And remember, write for readers.