When most online skin care entrepreneurs think of keywords, they think of Google rankings and website traffic. Despite the popular belief to the contrary, keywords are not just traffic generators. They describe the business and are used for more than skin care SEO purposes. Keywords are what customers use to remember the business. When selecting keywords, marketers should give more thought to how these reflect what the business does.
Businesses usually choose keywords when developing a website, releasing a new product, or rebranding. Many of them begin researching words without first examining their businesses. This is not the best approach because identifying the desired ways for consumers to find the company requires understanding how the business is positioned. Think about the mission, vision, and values of the company, capture the corporate culture in words, and develop a persona of the ideal customer. This information helps to define the business and how it positions itself.
Begin keyword research by asking customers how they search for the business. This can be done through focus groups and surveys promoted via social media. Ask customers what words they would use to search for the company or a company of its kind. Find out what they would do if they were looking for recommendations for new skin care products to use. Learn what they look for when visiting the home page of a skin care website.
Take this information and use Google Keyword Tools to validate it through traffic estimates. To get a realistic picture of what will be required to generate desired results, use the Moz Keyword Difficulty tool. Then, consider the type of queries that will be triggered by these keywords. The goal of online searching is to find answers to questions and there is always a type of action associated with this process. In most cases, the consumer is either looking for information or is searching for a business from which to purchase a particular skin care product. Consider desired page rankings in light of these two different searches.
Google will provide confirmation that the selected keywords are appropriate. Search for the keywords and review results to verify that listed companies are business competitors. If company names are unfamiliar, look for similarities in products, target audiences, pricing, and product positioning. If the search results are filled with competitors, the selected keywords will position the business correctly when used in skin care SEO and other marketing efforts.
*Photo Courtesy of Sean MacEntee via Creative Commons License
