Utilizing a keyword strategy for your blog or website is pivotal in order for your center to rank among Google’s top search results. More often than not, when people are searching for specific services, they’re going to do a quick Google search to evaluate their options. You want your center to be one of the very first options that pops up. The more specific your keywords are, the easier it will be for prospective parents to find your website.

Here are some items to consider when researching keywords:

  1. Who is your target audience?
  2. What is your audience searching for?
  3. How specific do you need to be?

When it comes to reaching your ideal audience, step one is to identify your ideal buyer persona. One way to do this is by putting yourself in your customers’ shoes and contemplate what you would search for if you were trying to find a specific product or service. Including these keywords in your blog post or website content will increase your visibility and increase your ranking on search engines, thereby engaging your prospective leads. Another rule of thumb is to research your competitors and which keywords their websites include. Not only will this help you to expand your list of keywords, but you’ll also be able to identify opportunities that they may be missing. We recommend making a list of your top competitors and doing your due diligence in order to get a leg up.

However, it’s important to have a grasp on some of the basics of keywords when it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). There are various types of keywords that all serve to achieve the same essential purpose: to increase your business’s visibility to prospective leads. Of course, it’s important that you’re strategic when it comes to choosing which keywords you use in order to reach your target audience.

“Long Tail Keywords” vs. Short Keywords:

“Long tail keywords” are exactly what they sound like: keywords that are a combination of at least three phrases or words that narrow down exactly what your product or service is. While these types of keywords have a lower search volume, they’re far less competitive, and will direct more relevant leads to your website, and will therefore tend to convert leads more often than short tail keywords. Short tail keywords, however, are especially broad and far more competitive when it comes to ranking. They tend to be three words or less, and are typically used to find more specific variations of that keyword.

Pay attention to these factors:

There are a variety of factors to consider when developing your strategy. Of course, competitiveness of your keywords is a prime factor when considering which terms to use. There is also a variety of other factors to keep in mind when formulating your keyword strategy, such as:

Search Volume

Paying attention to how often a certain term is searched for is crucial to determining how likely your keywords are going to result in high clickthrough rates and conversions. It’s important to note that there is a delicate balance between high search volume and low search volume. When certain keywords are only getting minimal hits, you’re not likely to make a conversion, as not enough people are searching for those terms. With high volume searches, where keywords are getting thousands of clicks per month, it can also be difficult to make conversions due the competitiveness of those keywords.

Relevance

Relevance of your keywords, for instance, is equally important when increasing your website’s visibility to prospective leads. The more relevant your keywords are, the better your “CTR” ( (click-through rate) will be, thus leading to more conversions. For example, if your chosen keywords are “child care center”, and you own faith-based Montessori school, you may want to adjust your keywords to be more specific. The more specific your keywords are, the more relevant your leads will be.

Intent

The intent of keyword strategy refers to the idea that if specific terms indicate a buying interest from the lead, those are the keywords that you should be focusing on. This is especially important to take advantage of if you want to make a conversion. An example here would be “Enroll at a child care center”. In this case, you want to make sure you’re able to grab that person’s attention, as he or she is essentially ready to make a decision.