Planning an SEO keyword strategy - 10 steps to success

How to identify the keywords your business should be targeting in regards to SEO.

1. Firstly, you need to establish what keyword search terms you want to improve your Google ranking for and have a clear plan of what your keyword strategy should be. There is likely to be more than one search term you want to target.

2. Do your research to see how many monthly searches are being carried out for those search terms and adjust your target keywords accordingly. You can use the free tools within Google Adwords or use this online tool https://searchvolume.io. There is little point in targeting keywords with very low or no monthly searches. Equally, it is best to avoid those keywords with huge numbers of monthly searches as it will be far harder to compete. You should look to find the sweet spot of a high volume of searches for more niche terms, without competing with massive corporations (10-2,000 searches)

3. Do your research to see where you currently rank for those keyword searches (ie: You currently rank on Page 1, position 8 for the search term estate agents in Putney). Only by understanding how you are performing now can you hope to improve and monitor the work you are doing. You never know, you might be surprised at how well you rank for certain keyword phrases. It's also important to understand if there are any keyword search terms you rank highly for, so that you can replicate the reasons for this on other website pages

4. Identify what pages you'd like to rank highly for each of your chosen keywords. The different pages of your website should provide different information, so it's important to match your keywords to the relevant page to help your potential customers find the content that's relevant to their search

5. Make sure your page content contains the keyword search terms you are targeting in the relevant context. For example, there is little point talking about your recent charity work on a page that's supposed to be about Landlord information.

6. You need to ensure the word content on your website pages is relevant, informative and useful in the context of the website page it's being used on. It should use the keywords you are trying to target, particularly in any Titles, your main Content blocks, and in the Window Title and Meta Description of the website page.

7. Continue to monitor your website and track if your changes are having an effect on your Google ranking for the relevant keyword search terms. You cannot measure your success without continued data analysis

8. Don't expect instant success - it can take up to two weeks for Google to begin to see your changes. It can take many weeks or even months depending on how competitive your chosen keyword search term is. Remember - Google is looking for consistency, so even if your website is now performing well, you can't expect to simply bump off another website that has been performing well for many months and instantly be #1.

9. Don't get obsessed with your position and ignore your success. Whilst your Google ranking is important, it's vital you also monitor how many visitors to your website are getting there through Google. Use Google Analytics to track how many visitors to your website arrived after submitting a Google search, as this is as much a measure of success and ultimately the goal you want to achieve in the first place; more website visitors.

10. Think about what you're potential customers will do once you get to your website. Put yourself in the position of your potential customer. Read your website as a customer, not an employee. Does it give the relevant information you would need? If not, the chances are your potential customers won't stay on your website for long. Make sure there is also a clear action for the user, such as submitting an enquiry form, or some other means of lead generation. Visitors to your website alone are pointless if you aren't generating leads.