Keyword Targeting: Broad Aims
In the world of SEO, it’s amazing how frequently you’ll hear people talking about “dominating” a particular market or sector. Is this something that’s possible to achieve for a small business?
The answer to that question rather depends upon your idea of what a market or sector actually consists of. If you have a small business that primarily targets customers within an area that’s local to you, then it may well be realistic for you to take a dominant position within that geographical space. It’s likely to be much harder for you to take on competitors on a national or international level.
But you may be in a fortunate position. You may have identified a real niche area. You may even have “first mover advantage”, allowing you to strike before others have realised that there are possibilities.
As can be seen, it would be wrong to imagine that the same process will work for all businesses. When keyword research is being carried out, it’s absolutely critical that it should reflect realistic aims and possibilities.
There’s often a temptation to aim big. The thought process here may suggest that you’ll still gain something, even if you miss the main target. Although this is an approach that may pay dividends, it would be unwise to assume that it will work for you. In fact, it may make more sense to try and take control of a smaller niche as a first step. That should give you a first building block.
What is clear is that good quality keyword research is vital to the success of any SEO project. Without it, there’s a strong chance that your optimisation approach will not produce the hoped-for results.
We would suggest that the keyword research phase needs to be a two-way conversation between the digital maketing agency and the client.