You, without a doubt, often hear keywords in the marketing world. Whether you cover social media, search engine optimization, or digital ads, keywords play a significant role in these strategies. What exactly are Keywords? Keywords are words used to find particular products, services, or content on search engines. For example, if I were to go on Google and type in the words “vintage t-shirt” Google would show me all the top-rated images, videos, and websites that use the word “vintage t-shirt” in them, which makes “vintage t-shirt” the keywords in this scenario. So why are keywords so important to marketing? Moz describes keywords as important because they are the linchpin between what people are searching for and the content you are providing to fill that need. Basically, you need keywords as a part of your marketing to help people find your company. 

The Evolution of Keywords

Keywords became popular in marketing during the early search engine optimization days. When search engines were still relatively new, the algorithms used to operate them were programmed to scan the internet for websites that used the keywords in their content, much like they do now. The problem was that these words were often out of context and didn’t necessarily result in what the person typing in the word was looking for. Things got even worse when marketers caught onto how these search engines were choosing what web pages to show. Many of them began inserting keywords numerous times just to get more website traffic, even though their content wasn’t precisely what searchers were looking for. Over time they changed the way search engines would find top results based off of keywords so that they would produce the best quality and most relevant content possible.

Marketers over the years often tried to find the loophole that would allow their content to rank the highest on search results and digital ads. Suddenly getting your content to rank the highest on search engines was challenging; it took a lot of time and knowledge of how search engines worked to get your content on the first two pages. Knowing there was a lot of money to be made by getting people’s businesses right in front of potential clients, marketing companies provided a way for other websites to make it to the first page, and that was through digital ads. Keywords became just as important in digital ads as organic SEO, and knowing the right keywords and phrases to use to market your business was essential.

Keyword Generation

Generating the right keywords for your company is essential for things like SEO and PPC ads. Keyword generation involves researching and implementing all the keywords related to your business. You have to figure out what people type in search engines, also known as search terms; people type into a search engine to find products, services, or content like yours. If you sold vintage t-shirts you would keep a list of keywords and phrases like: vintage, vintage t-shirts, old t-shirts, t-shirts, shirts, vintage t-shirts near me, vintage t-shirt store, etc. You would constantly research words and phrases that you can use on your content or digital ads to help potential customers find you. Not only do you want to find out what these words are, but you’ll also want to determine which ones are the most valuable. Which keywords or phrases will be put into search engines most often to find your business. There are tools and websites that research for you and can help you determine which keywords and phrases you should be organically adding to your website and paying for in your ads.

SEO and PPC can get complicated, and if you need to know what your doing could be a lot of wasted time and money. If you are interested in getting some help in this part of your marketing or have more questions about keywords, contact us here at Bear Necessities Marketing.