What Keyword Should I Choose?

When I worked at an agency, I forbade my team from using a bad word – keyword. When people think of the keyword, they get so laser-focused, they become obsessed and often miss out on big opportunities.

Think About Topics

Google, in its algorithm nowadays, isn’t necessarily thinking of a keyword. They’re thinking more in terms of topic. If you’ve been doing SEO for a while, you probably remember when we used to produce a page for lawyers and another page for attorneys, to hit both words. But now, Google knows they’re synonymous. We need to stop thinking in terms of the keyword and instead think in terms of our topic.

Think About Your Audience

If we start to think about what our potential customers are searching for, it will prevent us from making some common SEO mistakes. We start to think in terms of our customers rather than our own internal marketing jargon. I had a client that was trying to promote high-performance sports undergarments. They spent millions of dollars on a branding campaign about high-performance sports undergarments. That’s great, except that nobody knows what a high-performance sports undergarment is (it’s underwear).

When you think about that example in terms of the client, you might say, “Our high-performance sports undergarment is more than underwear,” but you need to acknowledge that people might search for the wrong phrase. Customers who are searching for underwear might actually be looking for a high-performance undergarment. When you think about the product or service in terms of the audience who will be searching for it, you’re better able to cover all your bases with SEO. And who wouldn’t be happy with that?

Sometimes Customers Search for the Wrong Thing

This is especially true when it comes to B2B companies. We will be happy, I guarantee you, to take money from someone who searched for the wrong thing. So, think about it in terms of how your audience is looking for it.