Forgive the title – I want to address businesses who want to do SEO but have a tough time finding keywords that have much demand. Most businesses rank naturally in the top 10 for their branded terms. For example, I should rank highest for the term Newspapergrl. However, that doesn’t describe what I do and only reaches people who have already heard of me.
I’ve noticed some clients who have a name that doesn’t describe what they do and they provide a service that isn’t searched for online. This is the time to get creative.
Go to SpyFu and type in your URL to get an idea of what keywords you rank for. Here’s my list (this isn’t always accurate). This used to be better but as you can see it’s all over the map. As you can see I’m ranking for terms that aren’t very helpful – I’d rather rank for terms such as “Online PR” “online press releases” etc. It also shows my top competitors online. If they have nothing to do with what you do, you need to focus on relevant keywords in your writing.
I have focused on my blog design, getting my professional services page updated, and many things. Just writing regularly has been a challenge. Now that I’ve gotten past a lot of the most difficult parts I need to focus in on SEO more again. I also need to finish my online PR book and get a web site up about online PR.
According to SpyFu this is what I rank for (if you pay they’ll give more results). It’s far different than what I used to rank for.
14 jeremy palmer affiliate high performa…
27 innuity
32 email marketing guide
41 affiliate marketing article
42 www optimizemysite com
44 calling libya
45 replacesearch
49 corporation attorney
Back to the point about SEO for businesses where people aren’t actively searching out what you do online. One creative way to approach finding keywords is to think about problems you solve or the audience you want to reach. If your audience is small businesses you might search “for small businesses” and see what comes up. Use a keyword tool such as freekeywords.wordtracker.com or Google’s Keyword tool.
You also want to look at what your competition ranks for, or who you want my competition to be. Or even who you work with or want to work with. For example, I put PRWeb into Spyfu. Since I write optimized press releases that I distribute with PRWeb, they are a complementary business.
I notice PRWeb ranks on terms that have nothing to do with press releases. Obviously they are ranking for their actual press release content, not for what they do. They’re not ranking on “optimized press releases” or “online press releases.” A blog is an excellent way to build your rankings for keywords and create your own content. Even though PRWeb is one of the most known online press release services, smaller online press release businesses are ranking for terms relating to their business.
Sometimes there just isn’t demand or it’s so small that you need to focus on other tactics after ranking for the obvious terms like your brand name. For most businesses that is easy. You may then turn to getting mentions in blog posts, leaving comments, being active in forums or social networks and other ways to build your visibility online. This is where relationship building is key. It’s vital to find out where your audience is spending time online and getting creative about how to reach them.
Rather than focus on SEO you will need to identify publications, associations, bloggers, groups and complimentary businesses and work on those relationships. See if you can offer content in exchange for a link and some publicity. Try advertising in newsletters, running contests, and finding other ways to engage with your audience. Most of all produce content that your audience will relate to. See who is ranking well for your audience and see if you can partner with or engage them.
These are ways that I found effective, but it’s something I’m always thinking about. Each business challenges me to think of new ways to market online. What creative ways have you found to market your business online when SEO and keywords aren’t a good fit?
