Keyword Research 101: Building the Foundation for SEO and Google Ads
Keyword research is one of the most important details to retain when learning about digital marketing. To truly understand how to use keywords to its true ability, you have to understand trends from the topic or idea you are trying to market. The key to doing that is putting yourself in the different perspectives of a consumer. When you make that connection from consumer to the market, then that’s where the magic happens with keyword research.
The introduction of the keyword planner made understanding consumer ideology in searching that much easier. Google’s keyword planner made it so a marketer can see the trending keywords, no matter if the topic is consistent with your topic or not. For example, if you had a marketing campaign about pretzels, if you really wanted to, you could look up a keyword search for pringles and if the word pringles is looked up a significant amount, you could choose to add that keyword into your own search campaign to have your pretzel product show up sometimes when pringles are searched up.
I believe the best way to use keywords is in a ranged topic for a campaign. Like if you are marketing a campaign for basketball sneakers, then you have a lot of leeway to work with. You could have Nike, Adidas, etc. in your search. You could also have certain basketball players who have known shoes in your keyword search, like LeBron James or Stephen Curry. I think a search campaign can go very far with a marketer who is not only smart, but creative with their choice of keywords and phrases.
Another good thing to look out for is how keywords are implemented into the website when you look them up. On a google search, a keyword is usually always in the first link you see on a website. You want that keyword to always be incorporated into almost everything you do, but especially the website links.
One important thing to remember is that a lot of keyword research is simply just understanding the competition. Some keywords may be simple and easy, but when you search them on Google, most major brands or very credible websites already dominate the results. This makes it harder for a smaller website or new campaign to get ranked.
Keyword research can also help the creation of campaigns. Instead of trying to figure out how to get into a certain market, we look directly at what people are searching for and build content around those questions or needs. This can help your content be relevant in search results.
Keywords should also be placed naturally within content. While keywords are important for search engines, they have to be placed in a simple manner so that they are understood easily. Google Ads rewards clear and honest content. If keywords are forced into sentences where they do not belong or spammed in longer clumped together paragraphs, then the content will be marked as spam or clutter. The goal is to have the keywords flow smoothly inside your content so that it is still understood clearly and the consumer leaves your page with a good impression or even a conversion if applicable.
Keyword research is also useful for ads, blogs, and videos. As a marketer, we are supposed to understand how people search gives insight into how they think and what language they use. Keywords act as a sort of bridge between what a business offers and what a consumer is looking for.
To sum all this up, Keyword research is simply about understanding the consumer. It requires a lot of creativity and time to find the right keywords. Paying attention to your market trends and competition can help make smarter decisions and build campaigns that are effective. Keyword research helps connect ideas with answers, being a bridge to different ideas in marketing campaigns.
Here is a quick video that sums up this blog with more detailed examples below:
Paid Search Explained: How Businesses Reach Customers with Google Ads
Paid search in Google Ads is the best way for businesses to promote themselves on Google. This also connects with the same idea of keyword searches. The ads for a business will be shown more if it matches with the keywords that you put in your campaign. The ads will then be labeled as sponsored so the people online know that it is a paid spot of course. Paid search is very useful because it allows businesses to reach people who are actively looking for specific products, services, or information.
The foundation of paid search is keywords.When a business creates a Google Ads campaign, they choose keywords related to what they offer. For example, a pizza restaurant might choose keywords like “pizza near me” or “order pizza online.” There is also broad matching and exact matching, which are two concepts that go hand in hand with the keywords,but it is all subjective to your business. For the pizza, a keyword could be a certain type of pizza you specialize in such as a “mushroom pizza”, which would be an exact match. If someone said, “specialty pizzas near me”, that is more so a phrase match, so it is more vast.
Google Ads is set up to work as an auction system. Every single search on Google, an auction is taking place to push ads or websites that might help you. Businesses bid on specific keywords by leveraging a certain amount of money to push their content to the top. This is called cost per click. The highest bid will not always win. Google also looks at the quality of the ad to decide which ads appear and in what order, so it is important to have believable and good looking ads to sway people into clicking on it.
Quality Score is also a very important part of paid search. Quality Score measures how relevant and useful an ad is to users. Based on your specific set of keywords, the ad text, and the landing page experience, your quality score can be very good for a very long time if you are consistent with the management of your content. If an ad is helpful and matches what users are searching for, Google will reward it with a higher quality score. A higher quality score can lower your costs and improve ad placement due to you having a more credible place in the Google Ads system.
Landing pages are also very important in paid search. A landing page is your selected webpage someone is redirected to after clicking your ad. The page should match whatever information the ad is telling or displaying and the user should be able to understand exactly where they are at. If someone clicks an ad about track shoes, the landing page should show track shoes, not timberland boots. A good landing page leaves a good impression and experience on the user and helps you lower your ad costs.
Paid search campaigns can be controlled with budgets and targeting. Businesses can choose how much they want to spend each day manually (or automatically now with the Google Ads AI) and can stop or adjust campaigns at any time. Targeting options allow advertisers to show their ads to specific locations, devices, and languages, at any time of day. This accessibility makes paid search useful for both smaller and large businesses.
Another great benefit of paid search is speed. SEO can take months to show results, while paid search can bring in traffic almost instantaneously . This makes it helpful for limited time promotions or new products to get pushed out to users as quickly as possible. Businesses can quickly test keywords, messages, and offers to see what works best for their campaigns.
Tracking and measurement are also key parts of Google Ads. Advertisers can track clicks, impressions, conversions, and costs at any time. This data helps businesses understand what is working for them and what needs improvement. Over time, campaigns can be optimized by adjusting/adding keywords, and quick bidding changes.
Here is a quick video that sums up this blog with more detailed examples below:
How Display Advertising in Google Ads Builds Brand Awareness
Display advertising in Google Ads is one of the best ways for businesses to show visual ads across the internet. Display ads are the ones you see pop up on websites, apps, and videos while you are using the internet. They usually appear on the sides of pages, above a search bar, or right above an article/text. Some display ads include animations or interactive parts. These types of visual formats help grab a user’s attention more than just a text sometimes. Most display ads appear on websites or platforms that are part of the Google Display Network.
The Google Display Network contains news websites, blogs, mobile apps, social media apps such as YouTube, etc. When a business runs a display ad campaign, Google shows their ads on sites to people who might have some interest in your business based on their search. This makes display advertising very useful for building brand awareness and pushing the creativity of your marketing efforts.
Targeting is one of the most important parts of display advertising. Instead of just worrying about which specific keywords to use, display ads focus on an audience. Google allows advertisers to target people based on their online search habits. For example, East Bay used to show ads to people interested in fitness or basketball. It helped advertisers reach that specific audience even if they are not searching for a specific product or brand.
One targeting option is placement targeting. This allows advertisers to choose the specific place, such as websites or apps, where they want their ads to appear. This comes in handy when a business knows exactly where its audience lurks online. There is also contextual targeting, which shows ads on webpages related to certain topics or keywords. For example, an ad for Dove lotion might appear on a blog about skin care.
Another targeting option is remarketing, which is one of the most useful parts of display advertising. Remarketing shows ads to people who have already visited or interacted with your website or app. For example, if someone visits an online store but does not make a purchase, they may later see ads reminding them of that store. This keeps your brand in the mind of the consumer, especially if you have an established brand.
One important aspect about display advertising is that it is flexible with budget and control. Advertisers can set a daily budget, choose between different bidding strategies, and pause or change campaigns at any time. If you know that you are targeting an audience that is in a different time zone than yours, you can make the majority of your bids happen on that target time. With costs, they are mostly based on impressions, which is how often the ad is shown, or interacted with. This makes display ads very accessible for both small and large businesses.
Measuring performance is another important part of display advertising. Google Ads provides data such as impressions, clicks, conversions, and engagement. This information helps advertisers understand how their ads are performing and whether the campaign is reaching out to the right audience. This data is used to improve the accuracy of the placement of ads, when they are placed, and the relevancy of ads to the targeted consumers.
While display advertising may not always lead to an immediate sale, it is still a huge factor in brand awareness and the long term growth of your business and campaign. Seeing a brand repeatedly builds a relationship with consumers, even if they haven’t bought anything. When people are ready to make a purchase later, they are more likely to choose a brand that they either recognize or have known for a longer time versus a newer business.
Display advertising in Google Ads helps businesses visually connect with potential customers across the internet. By using interactive ads, smart targeting tactics, and consistent information, businesses can stay seen and build their credibility.
Here is a quick video that sums up this blog with more detailed examples below:
Offsite SEO 101: Backlinks, Mentions, and Online Reputation
The best way to think about offsite seo is do anything outside of your website to increase your credibility and reputation. You really want to focus on connecting with other websites or pages that would promote your business or is related to your business. One of the reasons offsite seo is so important also is because it plays a majority role in the google ranking system for your ad.
Backlinks are the most important and known part of offsite seo tactics. You can connect backlinks on any web page and that gets the attention of google. You should just put backlinks on everything though. The more credible web sites that have you backlink on them, the more credible your business/company will seem, and the more likely it will have a positive impact on your google ranking.
If your company or businesses are already credible, then you can implement certain strategies and numbers to look at when doing a marketing campaign. For example, if you are known as one the best cookie companies in metro Detroit, then you might get put on a list that details the best cookies in the area. You don’t even necessarily have to be a top 5 option on that list. The simple mention of your company on that list can register as a keyword, which in this case would be your company. Now, you can plan a campaign around getting your company on this list or being mentioned in multiple different places of credibility where your keywords are naturally being pushed without you having to do much action or movement. When you put that concept with the keyword planner, you can see what your reach is and how to cater your company in some new areas in this case.
Another option is posting blogs on websites about your company and providing backlinks in your blogs to push your company. This not only helps your ranking, but also the blog websites ranking, so in the end it is a win-win situation.
One big thing a lot of people don’t know is that becoming a verified source of information or recurring listing information helps your offsite seo in a huge way. When you think about a site with a lot of information, the first place that might come to mind is Wikipedia(even though the information isn’t 100 percent accurate) or a site like Brittanica.com. They have a lot of information packed into them with a list and an abundant amount of information. They have been around so long where they are the first couple of search results in a search engine. If your website can get a consistent topic or audience to cater to with information to list off like those websites, you can have a good standing when it comes to your ranking and be a good reference point that articles might recommend with you backlink on their website.
While all these options are good, the key that was emphasized to me was time. Time is the key for making all of this work. The quicker you as a marketer or advertiser puts your information and backlinks out, the more credibility you build in the Google system to help you get ranked quicker.
Context is also key when putting your information out there. People aren’t going to really pay attention to your information if they aren’t in the right place at the right time. For example, no one is going to want to read a blog about upcoming hybrid cars on a website that usually posts blogs about restaurants in your local area.
Onsite and offsite seo work hand in hand when it comes to pushing your ranking in Google’s ranking. While offsite does do slightly more for a website over time, onsite seo can be the deciding factor if everything is set up correctly like the landing page and the information displayed.
Here is a quick video that sums up this blog with more detailed examples below:
Onsite SEO Explained: Improving Rankings From Within Your Website
Onsite Seo is making a website as good as possible when it comes to how the website looks when you first click on it, the information displayed on the website, if the information is easily retainable, etc. It has to be a good balance of everything for Google to look at the website as very credible. The more credible and good a website looks, the higher ranking it will have on Google.
For a website, the most important thing you need is content. The more content the better. Over the class, the Professor mentioned to us on multiple occasions that our websites need to be packed with information. With more information on a website, that means more web pages will need to be made. And more web pages means more backlinks, which is another key part of a website that factors into the ranking system partly.
Keywords also play a very important role in Onsite SEO. Every website is going to have its topic and with that certain topic, there are going to be specific keywords that will be the essence of that topic. For example, if the topic is CVS, very important keywords would be pharmacy or flu shots. Everything weaves together to make a cohesive unit to help in the Google search ranking system.
Just as it is easy to add content with keywords and boost your content, you have to keep in mind that the wrong information can do just as bad for your ranking. Even if you have the correct information, you have to make sure that it is structured correctly. Google searches through your whole website when choosing how credible your website is and most times, the scale does take into account how the information is presented to a reader.
One of the biggest things in Onsite seo is the page title and meta descriptions on Google search. You want to make sure that whatever business you are working for, you include their keywords in almost every page and link that shows up on google search results. Also make sure your keywords are too long, especially when they are in the meta descriptions. Google search likes when the descriptions are concise and get straight to the point when describing the webpage that the hyperlink will take you to. It makes sense because if the consumer can understand your business/brand on the simplest terms, then that is how it will register in the system.
Some other good things to look out for when making a website is the navigation. That is almost as important as the display in my opinion. Everything could look nice when you get on the page, but if you can’t access the information easily, you will make a user have a short stay on your website. A website should be easily accessible, crisp, and shouldn’t have just straight information packed in with no context.
There are also the smaller intangibles to have on your website, such as having either images or videos on your website. Images and Captions are always welcomed, especially if they can display what you are trying to convey in your writing. Videos could also fit in your site too as long as the creator of the video is relevant to your business and the information is valuable. If your website has enough traction, I would even recommend implementing ads on your website to give it a more common official look to a website.
Onsite seo is one of the easier things to remember to take care of in digital marketing. I would say to treat it as a part of you. When someone walks into your house, do you want your house being dirty to be the first impression to them? Obviously not, so keep your website looking spiffy and clean, easy to navigate and packed with useful information or products.
Here is a quick video that sums up this blog with more detailed examples below: