It’s a tale as old as time Google. You create a website selling a service. It looks great and contains useful information about that service. You might even write a blog or two about why you’re the best people to buy that service from. And yet when you search for that service in Google, your website is on page 37 and traffic is non-existent.
I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve been asked “why isn’t my website ranking for the services we sell?” and the answer almost involves keyword strategy.
What are keywords?
Even if you’re just dipping your toe into the world of SEO, you’re probably already familiar with keywords. If not, here’s a quick summary:
A keyword is a word or phrase on your website that matches what people are entering into search engines. Keywords are how search engines know that your site is the right one to show in its search results.
Keywords are the backbone of a good SEO strategy. If your content contains keywords that reflect what your audience are searching for, you’re on the right track.
But how do you identify the right search terms, and create content that to ranks for them? That’s your keyword strategy, and today I’ll cover how you can start creating yours.
What makes a great search term?
An important rule to remember with keyword strategy is that bigger isn’t always better. It’s how you use it.
If you use a keyword tracking tool like Semrush, you’ll see that broadly speaking, there are plenty of high search volume keywords in every industry. These are often shorter phrases or single words like “Marketing” or “IT Support”. These are short-tail, core terms.
The issue with targeting core terms is that while they appear in a lot of searches each month, conversions are spread across every business that uses the keywords, so it’s incredibly difficult to generate any significant ROI. The top spots are also normally taken up by the largest businesses in your sector.
An approach that we’ve seen more success with is to look for low-volume, highly specific, longtail keywords. Also referred to as key phrases, these are longer and more detailed. Although they are searched less overall, they are searched for by people with specific intent.
For example, a marketing director isn’t going to search for “Marketing” (they probably already know what that is), but they might search for something like “B2B social media strategy”.
Longtail keywords have less competition, allowing you to target an audience with buying intent and generating high-converting traffic to your site.
How to find the right keyphrases for your business
This is something I’ve been covering in my recent series of SEO shorts, but we can go a bit more in-depth here.
Identifying long-tail keyphrases that work for your business starts with understanding your audience. You’re looking at the questions they’re asking, and how they plan on finding the answers.
Here’s how to start:
- Listen to your customers: Review customer inquiries, emails, or even feedback forms. What specific language do they use when talking about your products or services? Analysing real customer interactions is something a lot of digital marketers miss, and it’s often your best source of usable insights.
- Use keyword tools: Tools like Google’s Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest can reveal related, longer search terms people are using. Start with your core services and look for more specific, less competitive options that have search volume but aren’t too broad.
- Check out your competitors: Look at the search terms your competitors are ranking for. Tools like Semrush or Ahrefs allow you to analyse their keyword strategies. The goal isn’t to copy them—it’s to find the gaps they’re missing.
- Think local and niche: If you’re a local business or cater to a specific niche, include those specifics in your search terms. For example, instead of “IT Support,” try “24/7 IT support for small businesses in Manchester”
By combining customer insights, competitor research, and the right tools, you can identify long-tail keyphrases that not only attract visitors but attract the right visitors.
How to put your strategy into action
Once you’ve identified your long-tail keyphrases to target, it’s time to put your keyword strategy to work and start creating content.
Start by integrating your long-tail keyphrases into your website naturally—blog posts, service pages, meta descriptions and FAQs are great places to start.
Naturally is the important word here though. Google will actively flag any site it sees “keyword stuffing”, so the value and readability of your content should be your first priority.
Next, track the performance of your content
- Monitor your traffic: Tools like Google Search Console can show you which keywords are driving traffic to your site. If your long-tail phrases are gaining traction, you should start seeing more specific searches leading visitors to your site.
- Track keyword rankings: Use tools like Semrush or Moz to monitor where your site is ranking for your target keywords. You’ll be able to compare progress each month, and update content where needed.
- Watch conversion rates: Traffic is great, but it’s not the end goal. By using long-tail keywords, you’re more likely to attract visitors who are ready to take an action—whether it’s making a purchase or booking a call.
Why this all matters
A strong keyword strategy doesn’t just increase traffic—it delivers the right traffic. Long-tail keyphrases target a more specific, motivated audience. This often leads to better conversion rates because you’re attracting visitors who are closer to making a decision.
Over time, your strategy will help you build authority in your niche. As you start ranking for multiple long-tail phrases, search engines will recognize your site as a relevant source of information for your industry. This not only improves your overall SEO but helps you stay top-of-mind for potential clients looking for exactly what you offer.
So there you have it, instead of creating a keyword strategy targeting 100 individual keywords, do the following:
- Look for 10-20 highly relevant keyphrases to target
- Add these phrases into your website content with blogs, landing pages and FAQs.
- Track your site position for these keyphrases
- Track conversions
- Repeat.