How Keyword Research will Grow your Business

If you’re a small business owner, you probably know how important it is to market your business. Marketing comes in many forms, including referral marketing, email marketing, SEO, social media marketing, and more. In particular, when it comes to the online world, there’s a key form of marketing within SEO – and that’s keyword research.

Keyword research is a part of SEO; however, it also crosses into content marketing. This means identifying high-volume commercial or transactional keywords that your customers are searching for and optimising existing content or creating new content to match the search query.

This article takes a look at the importance of keyword research and how you can use it as part of an SEO campaign. I’ll also provide some specific examples of keyword research that I’ve done and how I get keywords to rank.

First, what is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the process of getting a website to show up in search engine results. This is the organic search results you see when you perform a Google search.

From a top level, SEO involves optimising content, having a fast and user-friendly website, securing quality backlinks, and optimising for the keywords people are searching for.

The process of performing SEO now, really leans into content marketing. You see, search engines want to show the most helpful and useful content to their users. Gone are the days of black-hat SEO tactics, such as keyword stuffing, creating keyword-only content (with no value), and hiding keywords on a page.

As a business owner, your challenge is to find out the exact keywords people are searching with. Then, you’ll want to craft content that’s as useful and offers as much value as possible, and that’s going to encourage them to take action.

Why are keywords so important?

Keywords are still so important because they’re the exact search terms or phrases that people are typing into Google.

It’s kind of like a question and answer game. Someone asks a question, and you want to give them the best answer. Well, the question they have asked includes keywords.

Keyword search examples

Here’s an example of a local keyword search. 

Someone is looking for a local chiropractor in their city. Let’s say it’s Sydney. The keyword ‘chiropractor Sydney’ is the keyword they are searching with. This is a very important keyword to rank for if you are a Sydney-based chiropractor. It’s high volume, with approximately 2,200 searches per month.

To rank for the keyword ‘chiropractor Sydney’, you should have a dedicated page of content, such as your homepage or a specific service page, optimised for that keyword. Here is how I would optimise a page of content:

Include the keyword here:

• SEO page title e.g. ‘Local Sydney Chiropractor | Sydney Spinal Care
• Meta description e.g. ‘Highly rated Sydney chiropractor. Effective relief from musculoskeletal aches and pains. Instant claims. Book online now.’
• H1: Local Sydney Chiropractor
• Copy: include this keyword 2-3 times on page and then publish different variations, such as chiropractor in Sydney or Sydney chiropractic care.
• Publish an image on the page with file name and Image alt tag ‘Sydney Chiropractor’

That’s what I’ve done to get Sydney Spinal Care ranking on Google page 1 for this keyword.

Here’s an example of a nation-wide industry keyword.

If you work in the health or medical industry, say you’re a medical aesthetics distributor, your clients are going to be looking for keywords like medical aesthetics suppliers or distributors.

Therefore, if you’re in that industry, you should have a page on your website with content focused on medical aesthetics distribution. You might discuss the brands you distribute, minimum order quantities, the efficacy of treatments, studies that demonstrate their effectiveness, and additional information about the medical aesthetics industry and your clients.

To rank for the keyword ‘Medical Aesthetics’, you should have a dedicated page of content, such as your homepage or a specific service page, optimised for that keyword. Here is how I would optimise a page of content:

Include the keyword here:

• SEO page title e.g. ‘Medical Aesthetic Supplies | Wholesale Distributor | EnVogue’
• Meta description e.g. ‘Medical Aesthetic Supplies + Skincare Distributors Australia. Welcome to EnVogue Skin. Stock our brands in your clinic and grow your business.’
• H1: Medical Aesthetic Supplies
• Copy: include this keyword 2-3 times on page and then publish different variations, such as medical aesthetics, medical aesthetic distributor, medical aesthetic brands.
• Publish an image on the page with file name and Image alt tag ‘Medical Aesthetic Supplies.’

That’s what I’ve done to get EnVogue ranking on Google page 1 for this keyword.

What is keyword intent, and how can you use it in your marketing efforts?

Keyword intent is a relatively new aspect of keyword research and SEO. The ‘key’ to effective keyword marketing is understanding the intent—what someone means or is looking for when they perform a keyword search.

You need to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think about what they might be searching for.

Often, the keywords or search phrases they use may be quite surprising or different from what you would expect.

Using a keyword tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush helps to identify the intent behind specific keywords.

There are four main types of keyword intent:

1. Informational intent. The user is seeking information, answers, or solutions to a question (e.g., “how to bake sourdough bread”).
2. Navigational intent. The user is trying to find a specific website or brand (e.g., “Facebook login”).
3. Transactional intent. The user is ready to make a purchase or complete an action (e.g., “buy running shoes online”).
4. Commercial investigation. The user is researching products or services before making a decision (e.g., “best DSLR cameras 2024”).

By understanding the different intents, you can create content that directly addresses what users are looking for. This could be service copy, an explainer page, local city keyword content, or an informative blog post.

How to use keyword research in your website

Here is a step-by-step overview on how to make the most of keyword research in your marketing efforts.

1. Sign up for an SEO tool like Ahrefs or SEM Rush. Pay monthly, and you probably only need it for a few months while you are doing keyword research. Once you’ve identified your keywords, you can cancel the subscription.
2. Enter the keyword or search term that is related to your product or service or that you think your customers are searching for.
3. Take a look at related keywords, the highest-volume keywords, keyword clusters, and commonly asked questions.
4. Record all of these, including their monthly search volume and keyword intent
5. Now, review your website and identify new or existing pages for each keyword. Cluster related keywords into single pieces of content around specific topics.
6. Then, create the content. Easier said than done. I recommend hiring a contract copywriter to craft expert copy that addresses the topic and resonates with your audience. There’s nothing worse than reading AI-generated content or content so thin and unhelpful that it causes users to click away from the page.

After all of this is done, you’ll be benefiting from keyword research. By understanding the search terms your customers are using and creating targeted, high-quality content around those keywords, you can increase your visibility online, attract more relevant traffic, and ultimately boost conversions.

While it takes time, it’s an important component of online marketing that any small business owner should take time to invest in.

Author: Marshall Thurlow is the Director and Founder of Orion Marketing Pty Ltd. He is a digital marketer with expertise in SEO, website design, content marketing and project management.