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What is Digital Marketing? 

What is Digital Marketing? 

by | Jun 20, 2022 | Digital Marketing

Digital marketing. It’s one of those phrases which gets said often but most people don’t really know what it means. Is it the latest viral Stranger Things meme or is it those helpful online guides telling you everything from cooking to cats? 

Well, I can tell you this…it can be both! Now, not every business will need guides and not all businesses fancy a spicy meme but what does your business want?  

Digital marketing which can also be called online marketing is a phrase referring to all marketing efforts that take place on the internet. 

It can cover many forms such as social media (yes, that can include a good meme) to email marketing, website SEO and strategy. In practice, any marketing which uses electronic devices is digital marketing. 

Digital marketing is usually compared to ‘tradition marketing’ methods which are not found on the internet, this could include billboards and flyers. There are differences between digital marketing and traditional marketing, other than the obvious which we will cover later. 

Read on to find out about the different types of digital marketing, what the difference is between digital marketing and traditional marketing, and how digital marketing can benefit your business… 

Types of Digital Marketing 

As previously mentioned, there are many different forms of digital marketing to ensure that you can reach all audiences depending on your marketing needs. Many people will use multiple, if not all, of these types of digital marketing on their business journey, so let’s take a closer look: 

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) 

Search engine optimisation, also known as SEO, is the way in which you can get your website found online. By improving and optimising your SEO you can drive more traffic to your website and therefore generate more sales (no one’s going to be complaining about that!). 

SEO includes many factors which you need to consider including: 

  • Mobile-friendliness 
  • Keywords 
  • Backlinks 
  • Meta descriptions 
  • Headings 

The main reason is to rank higher on Google, the algorithm is like a living organism which is always changing which makes it important to monitor the success of your website and make SEO changes accordingly. Click here if you want to find out your SEO ranking now. 

Content Marketing  

We love creating articles (blogs), posts, quotes, and top-notch content to deliver to your audience through your website, email campaigns, and social media. 

Did you know that 90% of digital marketers who used content marketing in 2021 have continued to invest the same amount in 2022? 

Content marketing and SEO go hand in hand, with SEO perfectly complementing your content. Using these forms of digital marketing in sync will ensure that your content reaches the right people and your ideal clients. 

Email Marketing 

Email has been with us for some time, but do not underestimate the power and reach of regular email marketing campaigns. 

With current digital technology, you can make your email marketing campaigns completely unique to your business and reach your clients in their own inboxes. 

Small business? Try including your customers’ names in the subject line to make it personable. 

Quirky brand? Don’t be afraid of emojis and puns! 

When in doubt, play on current events! Here in the UK, we have just dealt with a heatwave turning sunbathing into sun-baking! Use current affairs in your email and subject line to intrigue your customers. 

One of our last email campaigns which got our HIGHEST open rate was titled “DO YOU HAVE TOO MANY POINTS OF ENTRY? 😉” 

Email marketing software allows you to create personalised marketing campaigns which then can automatically be sent to your mailing list/s and then will collect analytics such as the open rate. Many websites, such as Mailerlite,  are drag-and-drop editors which means you can create interesting emails without having technical knowledge! 

Social Media Marketing 

Today, social media is used by the majority of the population and most businesses for good reason. Social media marketing is the way in which you can drive traffic and build brand awareness by engaging your audience online. 

The main social media platforms which businesses should utilise, depending on your specific audience, are: 

  • TikTok 
  • LinkedIn 
  • Pinterest 

Social media marketing is becoming more popular every day with it being the most popular form of B2C marketing at 96%! Social media marketing involves audience participation and is therefore a great way to connect with your audience through posts, videos and even MEMES. Depending on your targeted platform, many have built-in engagement metrics which allow you to track how well your business is performing. 

Your main goal of social media marketing may not to create a direct impulse purchase. If your target audience is older or if your product/service is not appropriate for impulse purchases then you may focus on building a community, starting the dialogue and being informative. 

Pay-per-click Marketing (PPC) 

PPC marketing is when you post an ad on a platform (such as social media) and pay every time someone clicks on it. 

The complicated part is how and when people see your ad. On Google, for example, the algorithm will prioritise ad slots based on many factors such as ad quality, keyword relevance and page quality. 

PPC campaigns are built towards goal conversions such as signing up for a newsletter or making a call. You can choose your target goal conversions which you can then track to see how well your campaign is performing. 

What is the Difference between Digital Marketing and Traditional Marketing? 

Digital marketing and traditional marketing are both valid forms of marketing, but they serve different purposes.  

Traditional marketing focuses on media such as magazines and newspapers whereas digital marketing looks at websites and social media. Some businesses utilise both forms of marketing, but it often depends on your business. 

Digital marketing has overtaken traditional marketing in effectiveness and cost so let’s take a deeper dive into the benefits of digital marketing… 

Benefits of Digital Marketing 

It is no secret that digital marketing is becoming more and more popular in this technological age. People are using the internet more and more often so it only makes sense that your marketing should take place there too.  

Making the switch to digital marketing over traditional methods can be scary, especially if you have a tried and tested method which is no longer working the same so let us tell you a few of the many benefits of digital marketing: 

  • Broad reach. Think of posting a flyer through a door, that piece of information is only able to be viewed by the people in that house. Now imagine posting an ad on Facebook using the same information, which is going to be seen by more people? Marketing your business digitally also enables your customers to share your business with others with ease. If you know your business relies on referrals, then digital is the way to go. 
  • Measurable results. One way in which digital marketing excels over traditional marketing is that you can measure digital marketing. You can view how many people open your email campaign, how many people purchased your product on any given day, where people have landed on your website and more. This allows you to change your marketing strategy as and when you need to so that you get maximum results.  
  • Personalisation. You can’t personalise a billboard but you can personalise an email campaign! No matter the size of your business, you want your customers to feel important and valued and the best way to do this is through personalisation. Simply including your customer’s name in an email campaign shows that thought has gone into that content to tailor it to that audience.  

Who are CREATIVE in TiME? 

We are a digital marketing and business advice agency. We audit, advise, mentor and manage your marketing requirements underpinned with business advice and support capabilities. CREATIVE in TiME specialise in SEO (search engine optimisation) and expert business advice. 

We specialise in being your partner on your business journey, and our customers appreciate having access to director level, manager at level and team level expertise in business and marketing without the need to employ all levels at great cost to your company. 

If you would like to find out more about the individuals at CREATIVE in TiME then click here to see what our team is all about and put some faces to this work! 

Why Is Digital Marketing Important 

Why Is Digital Marketing Important 

by | May 12, 2022 | Digital Marketing

We all know that the internet is big right? Right?! So, what if I told you that the number of people who go on the internet every day is STILL increasing? 

That’s right, “constant” internet usage among adults has increased by 5% in the past 3 years. This has also meant that people are shopping and purchasing more online than ever! 

You need to market to where your customers are looking, which means if you aren’t already, it’s time to go DIGITAL with your MARKETING. 

Digital marketing is important for a variety of reasons because it connects your business to your online presence and your ever-growing digital customer base.  

Digital marketing is effective in all industries and all businesses should utilise it as such, if you aren’t using digital marketing then it is time to jump onto the bandwagon and get rolling! 

Utilising digital marketing allows you to connect with ideal customers through search engines such as Google using search engine optimisation, through social media using social media marketing and through email using email marketing. 

So Why Is Digital Marketing Important? 

1. Affordability 

If you want bang for your buck, then digital marketing is for you. It is considerably less expensive than more traditional forms of marketing, however, this is dependent on what you are doing, but generally, overall spending tends to be lower with a higher impact. 

It is also more affordable as you can narrow down where your money needs to go by selecting the correct platforms. If your followers are most active on Instagram, then you should focus your efforts there and not on Twitter. If you are looking to advertise to other businesses, then try LinkedIn rather than Facebook.  

Digital marketing can save you time and money by excluding people who would never buy from you and digital marketing agencies can often be more affordable than hiring a marketing team for your business. 

2. Mobile-Friendly 

Mobile-friendly - Why is digital marketing important?

Did you know that over 48 million people in the UK use their mobile phones to go about their business such as mobile shopping and social networking? If you are looking to reach this large audience, then you will need to hone in on this mobile market. 

When someone is interested in your niche, business or product, the first thing they will do is take to the internet to research you. In the age of mobile phones, this can be done with just a few taps on a screen making it even more important to take care of your online presence. 

If your customer can’t find you online or finds you have a subpar online presence then they may assume your business is illegitimate, inactive or just not worth buying from. 

You need to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly so that visitors can experience your content easily. You do not want large blank areas or cut off text boxes, no one likes having to scroll to see full images or menus. This may involve creating a different page structure for desktop vs mobile. 

Look at your website from a user perspective, what would you change? 

3. Flexibility 

When you market yourself digitally, you open a wide range of possibilities for strategies, and with your marketing strategy at your fingertips, you can make real-time changes such as stopping poorly performing campaigns. 

You can make tweaks and changes depending on the interest you receive; this is something you would not be able to do if you used a different form of marketing such as using paper leaflets. 

Flexibility also means that you do not have to wait to produce leaflets, flyers and posters. You can create content and post it immediately, perfect for keeping up with special dates, doing flash offers and even amending typos. 

4. Creativity 

Creativity - Why is digital marketing important?

If you are looking for creativity, then digital marketing will steal your heart! You have the opportunity to create banners, email campaigns, social media posts, blogs, and the list goes on and on! With digital marketing, you have the creative freedom to bring your visions to life using your brand colours and style. 

Your creativity should flow across all of your digital marketing streams to create a cohesive brand image. When a user views your social media or a blog post, they should instantly know it is your business. If you are interested in creating a social media strategy, then click here to find out the best strategies for social media marketing in 2022. 

Top Tip: Avoid using different names, colour schemes and writing styles as this can give the impression of different businesses which have the same/similar names. 

5. Tracking 

As well as connecting and communicating with customers, digital marketing allows you to track their activities. You can see how many people open your email campaigns, how many people engage with your social media platforms, where people spend time on your website and how they get to your website amongst other things. 

This is valuable information to hone in on your target audience and find out what is or isn’t working and adjust your strategies accordingly. 

When dealing with an audience, a marketing strategy which you think will do amazing could flop or vice versa so it is vital to keep track of how each part of your strategy is performing. 

Digital marketing is a valuable asset to any business and is important in all the previously mentioned ways, it can however be time-consuming to get right especially since you will need to research and implement an effective digital marketing strategy to get the full potential out of your marketing. 

Yes, unfortunately, digital marketing isn’t a one-hit-wonder and needs constant work! 

If you are a business owner who wants to improve their digital marketing but doesn’t have the time or expertise, that is where digital marketing agencies such as CREATIVE in TiME come in. 

We understand the people, the resources, the processes, and the tools that go into making your business run smoothly and we get the struggles which businesses experience in the world of digital marketing. 

Do you need help with your digital marketing? Get in touch now to find out how we can help you. 

Strategies for Content Marketing in 2023

Strategies for Content Marketing in 2023

by | Apr 14, 2022 | Blog, Digital Marketing

Picture this, you have a business (old or new), and you are ready to smash your target market but have you considered your content marketing strategy? 

Your strategy, which worked in 2020, may have been successful then, but the likelihood is that it will not be successful in 2023. Traditional marketing methods of the past are becoming less desirable, irrelevant paid ads are a great example of this.  

People want to search for solutions as and when they need to. This is where content marketing is king, and creating an effective strategy can leave you victorious. 

So, what is content marketing and why does your business need an effective strategy? 

What is Content Marketing? 

Content marketing is a form of marketing that involves creating and sharing online content such as blogs. The objective of content marketing is not to explicitly promote your brand but to pique interest in your services/products and build your authority on the topic. 

When people consistently notice your content being informative and worthwhile, your business will be at the top of their minds when they need to buy what you sell. 

Now, you may be thinking, “Great!” but still be wondering what content marketing actually entails. 

Different Types of Content Marketing 

There are many forms of content marketing but that does not mean your business needs to utilise every single one to be effective. You need to know which forms of content marketing are appropriate for your business, audience and products. 

To help you along this journey, let’s look at the most common and effective forms of content marketing which you may wish to implement for your business. 

Blogging  

When you think of content marketing, I’m sure the first thing that came to mind was blogging, and for good reason, blog posts are the most popular form of content marketing and the easiest to start with. 

All you need to create blog posts is a website and content. 

Blogging is an ever-growing market and the need for information from the internet is constantly increasing. There are currently over 600 million blogs in the world! 

Well-written blogs are key for both your business and your users. For you, they provide more traffic to your website, increased lead generation and build site authority. For your users, they provide useful information, create trust and become a source of information in the future. 

The main reason businesses avoid blogging is because they don’t know where or how to start. If you want to find out how to start blogging in 2023, just click here. 

Video content 

Video content is the up-and-coming new kid on the block in terms of content marketing. It has swiftly become one of the most popular forms of content marketing, and that is down to one platform, YouTube. 

Where blog posts can often lack creativity and engagement, videos soar and thrive on their interactivity and ease of distributing information.  

Some of the best ways to use video in content marketing are: 

  • Behind-the-scenes videos: people love seeing the people behind the brand. It allows for a human connection and shows authenticity. Customers get to experience your brand and may view it in a new light, especially if you are a small business. 
  • Demonstrations: whether your product is simple or complicated, has two steps or 20, you can bet someone out there needs help using it for the first time! These should be descriptive, informative and clear- imagine you are explaining it to your mum. Would she understand it? 
  • Customer Testimonials: never underestimate the power of a review. Videos of customers are high-quality pieces of content marketing that you can use on all platforms. 

Podcasts 

Following the use of video, another form of content marketing is podcasts. 

Podcasts have the opposite pull than videos as they are solely focused on audio instead of visible information. 

A podcast is the most convenient form of content marketing, all you need to do is press play and listen! This allows your listeners to multi-task whilst listening especially since 69% of podcast listeners use a mobile device to listen. This can be especially important if you are marketing your product to another business, busy people need accessible information otherwise they won’t listen. 

Podcasts are also a vital way in which you can become a thought leader in your industry and build credibility in your business. If you are providing valuable content which helps or educates your listeners, then they will begin to think of you and your business as an expert in the field. 

Try answering customer questions, problem-solving, discussing how the product is made, any industry news which could be relevant, having guests on your podcast to bring in new listeners, and making sure your podcast is engaging and entertaining. 

Infographics 

Infographics are another engaging form of content marketing due to their eye-catching and fun nature. 

This makes them great to use in all forms of content such as the previously mentioned blogs and videos. Being able to repurpose your content is key to success, spreading it to all platforms is vital to reaching the widest audience. 

Infographics have another benefit…they make you look smart! Sharing content that is both colourful, valuable and informative is a sure-fire way to gain interest from other people in your industry, especially on social media platforms such as LinkedIn. 

They are also a great way to show tangible data in a digestible way that people can understand without technical knowledge. Similarly, they can be a game-changer in niches that could be called “boring” as they capture and retain user attention. 

Why is Content Marketing Important? 

We have just explained to you the most prominent forms of content marketing to begin your journey, but why is it important? 

Content marketing is a vital form of marketing, did you know that 70% of marketers actively invest in content marketing? This is because, in comparison to other forms of digital marketing, it has a greater return on investment (ROI) in the long run, exactly what you want to hear! 

Content marketing has many benefits for you and your customers, let us tell you some now: 

  • Improve ranking in search engine results (SEO) 
  • Builds a community 
  • Builds customer relationships 
  • Helps with lead conversion 
  • Raises brand awareness 

So, does content marketing sound like it could benefit your business? Depending on your business, you may wish to implement one of these forms of content marketing or all of them! There is no right or wrong amount as long as they are relevant to your business. 

If you want to start but need some expert help to get you off on the right foot, get in touch now! 

Top 4 Best Keyword Tools for SEO 

Top 4 Best Keyword Tools for SEO 

by | Mar 21, 2022 | Blog, Digital Marketing

When running your own business, using keyword tools for SEO can save you lots of precious time and they are often free or inexpensive. 

Do you know what an SEO keyword is? If not, click here to find out. 

As a small business owner, your time is valuable, and time spent finding keywords for your SEO and blogging can feel like it is taking you away from other responsibilities. We understand this and have created a comprehensive list of our top 4 keyword tools for SEO to help streamline and improve your SEO.   

Learn from the experts, this is what we do! 

Ubersuggest 

Ubersuggest is a free to use keyword tool which assists in keyword idea generation and aids in search engine optimisation (SEO). You can also pay for it which unlocks more useful analytics and allows you to search for keywords without a limit. 

When used to search for keywords, you can see search volume, keyword suggestions, how difficult it will be to rank for the keyword and even more.  

You can use Ubersuggest to analyse your competitors and see what keywords they rank for. This allows you to see what is working for them so that you can adopt your strategy accordingly.  

As well as seeing related keywords, you can also see a table of 100 Google search results for that keyword. It included estimated visits, a domain score, backlink numbers and how often that page is shared on social media. 

A useful feature of Ubersuggest is the ability to analyse your websites SEO as it can tell you any SEO issues which need fixing such as headings and meta descriptions. 

AnswerThePublic 

Do you ever want to create a blog post but need help knowing what people are searching for? Or not know what questions people REALLY want the answers to?  

AnswerThePublic is a free online keyword tool where you input a keyword and it will tell you the most common questions searched in relation to this keyword.  The information can be viewed in a list or as a visualised infographic such as in the image below. 

This is a useful tool as the keyword suggestions are based on Google and Bing’s auto-suggest feature. The free version of AnswerThePublic is great but you can also pay to be able to complete more searches per day. 

SEMrush 

SEMrush is an SEO tool used to perform keyword research. Using the keyword overview tool, you can find out everything that you need to know about your selected keyword such as how many people are searching for it per month, how its trend is changing and all sorts of other useful information. 

You can also use it to find out similar keywords to use alongside your keyword and it also shows a list of organic search results for competitor research. 

Using the topic research tool can give you an extensive set of related topics to your keyword which can guide you with your content and blogs to improve SEO. 

Google Trends 

You can use Google Trends in two ways to perform keyword research, let’s look at the first. 

The first way is to enter a specific keyword and then take a look at the “related queries” section to find out what other people have been searching for regarding this keyword. This can help you find more keywords, questions that people need answering and what everyone is searching for. 

The second thing you can do is view whether your keyword is growing or declining in popularity. Take the image below as an example… 

In blue is the term “digital marketing” and in red is “content marketing”. You can see that digital marketing has been growing and staying at a steady search rate whereas content marketing has plateaued and is no longer gaining momentum to improve.  

Now, this doesn’t mean that content marketing is a bad keyword, it is searched less which means you will have more chance at ranking highly for it whereas for digital marketing you may struggle to make a dent. 

Keeping track of keyword trends allows you to switch up keywords if suddenly another keyword has a rise in searches. 

All of these keyword tools for SEO are brilliant but you may wish, and we would also recommend, using multiple tools as they all serve an individual purpose. AnswerThePublic does not show the amount each keyword gets searched whereas a tool such as Ubersuggest does show keyword traffic. 

If you need help with your SEO keywords and want our marketing agency to work on your keywords then get in touch now. 

Strategies for Social Media Marketing in 2023 

Strategies for Social Media Marketing in 2023 

by | Mar 4, 2022 | Digital Marketing, Social Media

Are you looking to up your social media marketing game in 2023? We think you should and now is the perfect time to get started with a new social media strategy. 

In 2023, social media marketing is more important than ever and giving your business a stellar online presence could give you an edge on your competition. 

A social media strategy for your marketing allows you to focus on what IS working and cut out what is NOT working. If you have a social media strategy already then click here to learn how to up your social media game! 

More goes into creating a social media strategy than just making an Instagram account and posting pictures of your product but what else does it need… 

What Are Your Goals? 

Before you create a social media strategy, you need to decide what your goals are going to be. You cannot form an effective social media strategy without targets to achieve. Below is a list of example goals to get you thinking, you may choose one of these or decide on your own. 

Example Goals: 

  • Increase brand awareness – Do you want your name out there? Do you want people to know your brand?  
  • Grow your audience – Do you want more followers? Bringing in new followers means that you are introducing your brand to people who haven’t heard of your brand before. 
  • Generate sales and leads – People don’t purchase your products by accident, they need encouragement and a reason to. Are you showing off your product catalogue? Showing customers new products and promotions? Running new deals?  
  • Boost engagement – Do you want followers to interact more on your social media? 
  • Increase traffic to your site – Do you want more people visiting your site from social media? 

Whatever goal you pick, make sure it is realistic for your brand and size. If you have a small business, then it is unlikely to expect to gain thousands of likes if you are currently only getting 10. Set manageable targets that you can reach, once you have reached them, set new targets and so on. 

Who is Your Social Media For? 

Once you know what your goals are, you need to find out WHO your target audience is and WHO your social media strategy should be for. 

Your target audience can determine which social media platforms you should use, what content you should put out and even what time you should post! 

Looking at your current social media can be a good start, who is currently following you? Who is engaging with your content?  

Many forms of social media have their own insights/analytics section for businesses which can show you your current demographics. 

Let me ask you this, do you monitor your metrics? Do you know if/when/how you are being interacted with? Check out our breakdown of important metrics to watch: 

  • Clicks: This is exactly how it sounds; it is the number of clicks you get on your content or account. 
  • Engagement: This is the number of social interactions divided by the number of impressions. This is how willing people are to interact with your content. 
  • Reach: Your reach is the number of unique users who see your post and how much of your content is actually reaching your users’ feeds. 

What Platform Should I Be Using? 

With the number of social media platforms, it is vital to understand that each social media platform attracts different audiences. Once you know who your target audience is, you need to find out where you should focus your efforts. 

Social media is not one size fits all!  

We have curated demographics for the most used social media platforms so that you don’t have to! It is always imperative to do your own research, but this should guide you in the right direction. 

Demographics  
  • Facebook: 52% of Facebook users are female whilst 48% are male. The largest demographic is between 25 and 34 years old with 11.2 million users in the UK.  
  • Instagram: The largest demographic on Instagram is 25-24 with 30.8% of users and then 18-24 with 23.1%. In 2021, 57.42% of women and 42.68% of men reported using Instagram. 
  • Pinterest: As of January 2021, 75.2% of Pinterest audiences in the UK were female and 19% were male. The main age group using Pinterest is 18-24 with 55%! Pinterest currently has 16.7 million active users in the UK. 
  • LinkedIn: As of 2021, LinkedIn had 33 million users in the UK. 57.2% were between 25-34 years old. 57% of users are male and 43% are female. 
  • YouTube: More than 35.6 million people in the UK use YouTube! 46% of users are female and 54% are male. The main demographic is 25-44 years old. 
  • TikTok: TikTok had over 3.7 million users in the UK in 2021 and the number is climbing. The main demographic of users are between 18-24 which is 26% of all users. In 2020, 65% of users were female and 35% were male. 
  • Twitter: In 2020, 58.5% of users were male and 41.5% were female. The largest demographic group of users is 18-29 which is 37%. The next largest group is 30-49 at 25%.  

Create your Content 

Now, to top it all off, you need to create your social media content! 

Once you have discovered your target audience, the social media platforms you’ll use and which goals you are trying to achieve, it is time to create your own unique content. 

When creating your own unique content, you should try to stick to a theme. This is something that all well-loved brands do. It means that when you see a post from that brand, it feels like theirs. 

This could mean sticking to a colour palette, tone of voice, writing style or even using the same fonts in all your images. If you have a website, keep your branding cohesive across all your content. This increases brand consistency and avoids any confusion. 

When building your brand presence on social media, one of our top tips is to respond to followers on social media ASAP. This is especially important for negative comments or questions. Doing this shows that you care about your customers and their experiences.  

Show off your human side! People like people, simple. Show the people behind the business and do not make every single social media post focused on sales. Post behind the scenes images, employee birthdays, the office dog, work get togethers!  

If you need more information about the do’s and don’ts of building an online presence, then click here to read our Social Media Do’s and Don’ts. 

One of the main forms of content which you may consider creating is video content, if you are wondering whether it is worthwhile…well we have a whole section below on it so what does that tell you? 

Video Content  

Don’t underestimate the impact of video! Did you know that 54% of marketers say that video is the most valuable form of content for reaching your social goals? 

Whether this is on YouTube as full videos, stories on Instagram or clips on TikTok, video is the future of social media marketing, and you should definitely include it in your social media strategy if possible. 

One great use of video content is to put faces to the business and show that your values and ethics are worth engaging with. Similarly, to other content, showing your personality and employees can help customers feel welcome and comfortable interacting. It is easier to interact with a person than a faceless brand. 

Is your Social Media Marketing Strategy sorted out for 2023? 

As this guide shows, starting up your social media presence well is more than just posting out content for the sake of it on all social media platforms. Quality over quantity is key here. 

That said, this doesn’t mean that your social media must be a chore. Your social media should serve you however, it can be a long process, if you are strapped for time and want someone else to handle your social media for you then get in touch now! 

See how CREATIVE in TiME can build you an effective and goal-driven social media strategy now through a free SEO and social media audit.

What is an SEO Keyword?

What is an SEO Keyword?

by | Feb 17, 2022 | Digital Marketing, SEO

SEO keywords are ideas and topics that explain what your content is about. In terms of SEO, they’re the words and phrases that searchers enter into search engines, you may also hear these called “search queries.”  

If you boil everything on your page down — all the images, video, copy, etc then your SEO keywords are what will get you FOUND. 

Why are keywords important?  

When you optimise your content around words and phrases that people are searching for, your website can rank higher for those terms.  

Also, ranking higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs) can help drive more targeted traffic to your website. Therefore, finding keywords people are searching for is step #1 of any successful SEO campaign. 

What makes a good SEO keyword? 

Your target keywords need to meet four criteria — significant search volume, high relevance, strong conversion value, and reasonable competition. If any of these are missing, your SEO is likely to fizzle out and not make a BANG! 

When choosing your SEO keywords, focus on keywords which have a high search volume and a low SEO difficulty. Keywords with low search volumes and high competition are not good choices for SEO keywords. 

What are examples of keywords? 

Keywords are the words and phrases that people type into search engines to find what they’re looking for. For example, if you were looking to buy a new jacket, you might type something like “men’s leather jacket” or “black leather jacket” into Google.  

Even though these phrases consist of more than one word, they are still SEO keywords. 

How many keywords should I use for SEO? 

We recommend that you focus on one main SEO keyword per page while also including two or three SEO keyword variations.  

Each of your pages should be focused on a single topic with the most important keywords for SEO purposes being included. This means that each page can rank for its individual topics by using different keywords.  

You should pick one to three keywords centred on your topic for each page. For example, if you are writing content about beds, you will struggle to rank for such a broad keyword. However, you may want to use “storage bed”, “ottoman bed” or “lift up beds” as your 3 keywords. 

How do I add SEO keywords to my website? 

First, use your main keyword in the first couple of sentences of your content, or at least within the first paragraph.  

Next, use that keyword and variations of it throughout the rest of your content. The best practice is to include latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords rather than the exact keyword every time. 

How do I find SEO keywords? 

  1. Study your niche: Once you decide on your niche, you need to study it. Find out exactly WHAT you are looking to rank for. 
  1. Define your goals: Decide what you want from your SEO keywords, do you want to rank higher or rank for more keywords or something else?  
  1. Make a list of relevant topics: What are topics related to your niche? Make a list of all of them. 
  1. Create a list of keywords: Form a list of keywords that you would like to include. For example, if you run a cooking blog, you may want to include “quick recipes”, “vegetarian recipes” and “one-pot recipes”. 
  1. Use good keyword research tools: Use research tools like Ubersuggest and Answer The Public (more on that later) to research your keywords. 
  1. Study the search intent: What are people searching for? When are they searching? Are your keywords dependant on seasons? 
  1. Identify long tail keywords: Long tail keywords are more specific than normal keywords, these are usually less competitive and are closer in relation to how people make search queries. 
  1. Find out about your competitors. Do you know your competitors? I’m sure everyone knows a few other businesses in their niche who could be a competitor. Look into them and find out what they do. 

Now you know how to find your keywords, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Here are some common mistakes that people make when starting out with SEO keywords: 

  • Only doing keyword research once. Where’s that going to get you?!?   
  • Targeting keywords that are too competitive. Don’t make it so difficult for your pages to rank! Target keywords that have a high search volume but low competition.  
  • Forgetting to update and expand your keyword list. We suggest performing keyword research weekly/monthly. ALWAYS update your keyword list.  

Once you have found your keywords, you need to know where to use them:  

  • Title  
  • URL  
  • Throughout the page text  
  • Image alt text 

If you want to read up more on where to use keywords and other amazing website SEO tips, click here.  

SEO Keywords Best Practices  

Google Suggest 

A lot of people struggle with SEO because they target keywords that are WAY too competitive. If you’re just starting out with SEO, we recommend focusing on long tail keywords. These keywords are far less competitive and easier to rank for.  

For example, let’s say you have a Pizza Oven business. It’s going to be super hard to rank for keywords as such as: ‘pizza’ or even ‘pizza oven’. Whereas ‘Garden Pizza Oven’, or ‘Outdoor Pizza Oven’ are not going to be too difficult to rank for.  

Finding long tail keywords has never been easier too with Google Suggest. When you hop on Google and you start typing in the search box, what appears below? Suggested keywords. Generally, you will see 3 – 5 suggestions, sometimes however 10 suggestions are displayed.  

A user that is performing the search can click on any keyword from the Google autofill list and immediately see the search results page. This experience is both fast, convenient and a method we use to perform keyword research daily. 

Answer The Public  

Do you ever want to create a blog post but don’t know what to write about? Or what questions people REALLY want the answers to?  

Answer The Public is a free online keyword research tool where you input a keyword and it will tell you the most common questions searched in relation to this keyword.  

This is useful to understand your audience and create content that will appeal to them. No one wants to waste time creating a blog that no one is going to read.  Click here to check out more of our top marketing tools for business. 

Are keywords still important for SEO? 

In 2022, keywords are still important and useful in SEO, but they aren’t the most important factor. This is because SEO is far more complex than putting SEO keywords on a page.  

Keywords are still important for SEO however there is much more to it than that. To optimise your SEO, keywords cannot be your only focus. 

If you want to optimise your SEO but do not know how to start, get in touch now! It’s what we’re good at! 

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