Getting your company listed in the organic section (non-paid listings) of the search engines comes down to two core factors:
- Having the proper on-page optimisation so Google knows what you do and the general area you serve. This allows it to put in the index for the right keywords. You do this by having pages for each of your services and then optimising them for specific keyword combinations (Ex. Your City + main service, Your City + service 2, Your City + service 3, etc.)
- Creating enough authority and transparency so Google ranks you on page one (rather than page ten) for those specific keywords. Ultimately, it comes down to having credible inbound links and citations from other websites to your website and its sub-pages. Whoever has the most credible inbound links, citations and reviews will be the most successful.
Here are some details on what to add to your business website – and why. Also what you can do to improve your authority/transparency in Google’s eyes so your website ranks on page one for the keywords which are most important to your business.
Before you start creating pages and trying to do the “on-page optimisation” work, you need to be clear on the most commonly searched keywords relative to the services you offer.
By understanding the keywords, you can be sure to optimise your website for the words that will actually drive qualified traffic to your site. You need to conduct detailed research into the market and the requirements that potential customers have in order to find the optimal keywords which will help you bring in more customers.
Given that different companies might be working in different industries, it is imperative businesses learn the methodology behind selecting the most relevant keywords for their services. We have provided an overview of how to conduct keyword research.
How to Conduct Keyword Research
To determine what your customers are searching for when they need your services, here are a number of tools that can be used to conduct keyword research. Some are free of charge while others have a monthly cost associated with them. Some of the better keyword research tools include Google AdWords Keyword Tool and SEMRush.
For the purposes of this book, we have developed instructions based on the free Google AdWords Keyword tool. To use Google AdWords Keyword tool, you’ll need to:
- Develop a list of your services and save it in a .txt file
- Develop a list of the cities that you operate in (your primary city of service and the smaller surrounding towns) and save it in a .txt file
- Go to www.mergewords.com
- Paste your list of cities in column 1
- Paste your list of services in column 2
- Press the “Merge!” button
- The tool will generate a list of all your services combined with your cities of service
- Go to Google and search “Google Keyword Tool”
- Paste your list of merged keywords into the “word or phrase” box
- Press “Submit”
- You will now see a list of each of your keywords with a “search volume” number beside it
- Sort the list from greatest to smallest
You now have a list of the most commonly searched keywords in your area.
With this list, you can map out keywords to specific pages on your website and rest assured that you are basing your strategy on opportunity rather than a guesstimate.
