Your SEO Strategy’s Secret Weapon
How Adwords can ensure your SEO is focused on the keywords that count the most
Even in the face of having to adjust your SEO to Google’s constant changes, few can deny the benefits of being ranked well by Google. With that said, are you confident your SEO investment is optimizing for the right keywords?
SEO is constantly changing
So you’ve covered the basics, you feel your content is polished, and you’ve created a great user experience, now what? One of the big misconceptions I see is that most treat the optimization of their website as something you do, then cross it off the list. For those that think about SEO in this way, you’re missing the point. How people search is constantly changing. And if the questions your potential visitors are searching for continues to change, that means your strategy needs to change along with it.
The keyword optimization gap
I love Google’s keyword tool. It allows you to put some data behind your hunches. Enter the first few terms you feel your visitors are using, and presto you have instant validation. There’s a catch though. The most granular you can get to is the level of the country. So while it’s a great tool to help you know where to start, knowing the keywords your target audience are using in the specific areas you are targeting requires a bit more percision.
Adwords Paid Search to the rescue
Want to know exactly what your customers are typing in? Running an Adwords Paid Search campaign provides two key benefits. First, is that paying for your ads means you jump the SEO line. Rather than using webmaster tools or the keyword tool to look at what keywords you have a shot at qualifying for, your product or service can almost instantly be in front of exactly the person you are trying to reach. Second is that every search entered into Google that resulted in a click of your ad, and a subsequent visit to your site can now be used to inform and adjust your SEO strategy.
Adwords + Google Analytics = SEO Magic
Wait, it gets better. You don’t have to stop there. Take one more step and you can determine not just the keywords that got people to click your ad, but exactly the keywords that resulted in the visitors that want your product or service. Simply connect Adwords with your Google Analytics account and now every keyword that results in a visitor completing a goal within Google Analytics can be served to you on a silver platter.
Change the SEO conversation
When your evaluating how much of your marketing budget needs to go into SEO, make sure your strategy includes a way of validating your SEO efforts to begin with. It’s not enough to “optimize” a page. Your SEO budget needs to be focused on results as much as any other marketing tactic.
Using Adwords to speed up this process will allow your SEO to produce not only more organic search traffic, but organic search traffic you know produces quality results.
