What are LSI Keywords? and how do they help you succeed in SEO?

Latent Semantic Indexing.

Sounds complicated. Even by SEO standards.

Maybe you’ve heard the term before. Maybe you’ve avoided diving deeper into what it means. And how using Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords can be even more effective than using individual keywords.

But we assure you. Where LSI keywords are concerned, you have nothing to fear. They’re your friends, in fact. So let’s take that deep, latent, semantic dive. And learn everything there is to learn about LSI keywords. And how they can have a positive influence on your search engine rankings.

 

What is LSI?

(LSI) is a mathematical method search engine algorithms use to scan data. A natural language processing technology able to recognise specific underlying relationships between certain words. Like synonyms.

Or words like “light” and “house” that have simple definitions of their own. But assume a new meaning once compounded into “lighthouse”.

LSI improves the accuracy of data retrieval by attempting to better understand the structure of language. And how people use it.  

And it’s invaluable to SEO. Because the better Google is able to understand your content, the higher Google is going to rank it.

 

What are LSI keywords?

Dictionary.com defines latent as, “present but not visible, apparent or actualised; existing as potential”.

And semantic as an adjective meaning, “of, relating to, or arising from the different meanings of words or other symbols”.

So what makes a word latently semantic then?

LSI keywords are words, or word groups, that are related to your primary keywords.

They can be words that share context with primary keywords, words often used together with primary keywords or words with special relevance to a page’s theme, topic or content.

The LSI mathematical method puts a greater emphasis on synonyms and phrases than it does on individual and specific keywords. Because a semantic search isn’t looking for just keywords. It’s looking to determine the intent and contextual meaning of a user’s search.

Today, almost all websites use some kind of SEO. Even if it’s just basic stuff. So it’s likely you and the competition are chasing the same or similar keywords. With LSI, multiple keywords and semantically related keywords help you stay a step ahead of competitors. And rank better with search engines.

 

Why you should use LSI keywords

Keywords are the foundation of your search engine ranking. But keyword stuffing is dead. Search engines are evaluating content based on its overall context. Not keyword density. So overusing keywords is only going to reflect poorly on your site in the eyes of the algorithm.

Using LSI keywords is a tactic that can help you reach a desired result without breaching search engine etiquette.  

Remember, you’re writing for people. Not bots. And even the machines recognise that. It’s Google’s goal is to deliver the most relevant, highest quality content it can return.

So the quality of your content should always be Priority #1. Because high quality content keeps users and search engines happy.

LSI keywords improve the quality of content with meaningful phrases and semantic language. And help search engines determine the purpose and value of your content.

 

Where you can find LSI keywords

Now you know what LSI keywords are. And why you should use them. But how do you go about finding them?

The good news is, there are lots of excellent tools out there that can help you generate the perfect LSI keywords for your content.

You can try Google Keyword Planner for linking synonyms to main keywords. Answer The Public, a ​visual keyword research tool that supplies relevant LSI keyword options. Or LSI Graph, a tool specifically designed for LSI keywords search.

Website Auditor can help determine which LSI keywords your competitors are currently using, and how often they use them, by using the Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) analysis, a tool that defines the relevancy of content for visitors on the basis of different keywords placed around the main keyword.

These are all kinds of ways to get ideas for LSI keywords. So if digital tools aren’t your thing, there’s a much simpler way of creating LSI keywords – Google’s search result page.

Every time you write your keyword in the search tab, you’ll get search suggestions. Plus related searches at the bottom of the results page.

Take the time to get creative with your search, and you’re sure to find the most effective variety of LSI keywords for your content.

 

How to use LSI keywords

Once upon a time, keyword density was the only metric search engines had to measure the relevance of a page to a search query. But it wasn’t long before people found a way to abuse the system by overloading content with irrelevant and repetitious keywords.  

And that’s what caused search engine algorithms to start keying in on LSI keywords instead.

There’s no hard and fast rule to the number of LSI keywords you should use in an article. But the copy should always feel natural. And not like an effort was made to squeeze certain synonyms in as often as you could. Remember – people not machines.

Pepper LSI keywords throughout the article the same as you would primary keywords. Try combining LSI keywords and long-tail keywords. Or using them in places like your first heading, anchor text, image alt text, meta description and even the page name.

LSI keywords complement main keywords as specific keyword variations. They help eliminate keyword stuffing. And better explain your content to search engines. Which helps rank your content higher with Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Using Google Analytics is a great way to check which keywords are driving traffic to your web page. It’s information you can apply to your next piece of content. And use to determine future LSI keywords. Which will help increase organic traffic, pull more visitors and earn your site higher rankings with search engines.

Users and search engines agree. Nothing beats original, high quality content that’s relevant, informative and reads natural. And meaningful LSI keywords are a tool that make it easier for you to create this kind of content.  

Which will come in handy. Because the more relevant content you’re able to offer users, the better you’ll rank with search engines. And that’s what it’s all about.

Article first published here: What are LSI Keywords? and how do they help you succeed in SEO?

Digital Marketing – How To Create A Successful Plan

How to create a successful digital marketing plan

Digital marketing has come a long way in a short time. Looking back just a few years, it was still something of a novelty. Today it’s downright essential. Without a strong digital marketing plan, your business is never going to see the kind of growth it otherwise might.

Because the digital marketing plan influences everything else you do online. It’s your foundation. So it needs to be solid. And distinguish your brand or business from the competition.

When you start strong and have a proper plan in place, you’ll be amazed by the marketing effects that come next.  

 

Why a digital marketing plan is important

If you don’t know where you want to go, you’ll never get there.

So in the same way you make preparations for a road trip, and remember to pack a map or GPS along, getting a quality digital marketing plan together will help define your journey towards success.

Whilst focused, a good digital marketing plan needs to remain flexible too. In anticipation of any unexpected changes you might encounter on the way towards accomplishing your goals.

A solid plan gives you room to breathe. Because you aren’t wasting time, effort or money making impulsive or uninformed decisions. Costly decisions that can add up in a hurry.

Without a digital marketing plan in place, it’s easier to lose focus. So understanding how to put one together is fundamental to finding success today.

 

How to create digital marketing plan

The first time you try anything is usually the hardest. So if it’s your first attempt at creating a digital marketing plan, and you’re a little intimidated by it all, that’s understandable.

In so many ways, the digital rulebook is still being written. With new strategies and techniques emerging all the time.

So whether this is your first go at putting together a marketing plan, or you’ve been there before and just want to get more out of things this time around, our easy-to-follow, 5-step method to creating successful digital marketing plans is here to help you figure out where you want to go – and then get you there safely.  

 

1. Set your digital marketing objectives

First things first, ask yourself, “What do I want to achieve?”

Is it bigger sales? More customers and leads? A better position in your market? Or something else all together?

These objectives become the goals of your digital marketing plan. And need to be clear, measurable and achievable.

They should also be specific. Because the next step in creating your digital marketing plan is determining key performance indicators (KPIs) for those goals.

KPIs are what you use to measure the progress of your plan. Depending on what you’ve established as goals, these KPIs could be metrics like cost per lead per channel, conversion rate or return on ad spend.

Growth is good. But it’s accomplished over time. Not over night.

So when setting the value of your KPIs, it’s important to keep expectations in line with previous digital marketing achievements. You want to aim high enough to see an improvement on the previous year, but need to keep it real too.  

Once your goals are in place and you’ve figured out the KPIs you’ll be using to measure progress, it’s time to decide on the method you’ll be using to measure that progres. Luckily, there are lots of great options out there.

Like Google Analytics, a fantastic free tool that measures conversion. Google Analytics also provides valuable social media analytics you can use to track your social media effects.

Or BuzzSumo, an awesome tool used to evaluate the marketing success of your content.

 

2.     Review the effects of your current digital marketing strategy

Mistakes are nothing to be ashamed of. So long as you’re able to learn something from making them.

So before drafting a new digital marketing plan, review the previous year’s plan. Continue doing anything that might be working. But where things aren’t working, start thinking about how to change up your gameplan.   

It can be really beneficial to evaluate the marketing strategies of your competition too. Because there’s often plenty to learn from what they’re doing right. And if you can learn from a mistake the competition’s made before making it yourself, that’s one less hole you’ll never have to dig yourself out of later on.  

Benchmarking Reports in Google Analytics is a great way to keep tabs on the competition. And SEMrush can provide you with valuable insights into competitive SEO strategies.

 

3.     Create a new strategy and set a plan of action

You’ve got your goals and KPIs in place. You’ve taken a long, hard look at the best and worst of the previous year’s efforts. And have a pretty good idea of what’s working (and what’s not) for your competitors.

Now it’s time to build your new digital marketing plan.

Which includes everything you’ll need to focus on in for the following year.

• What needs to be done?
• Who’s going to do it?
• What resources will be required to accomplish this?

Use KPIs to determine what digital marketing actions are going to work best for you. And remember your goals.

Are you looking to increase your number of leads? Then it might make sense to create more high-quality content with relevant, authoritative backlinks.

Looking to convert more leads to customers? Try a more proactive approach on your next marketing campaign.

Get practised at gathering data, adjusting your strategy on the fly and aligning yourself with the right partners, and you’ll be that much closer to mastering the art of creating successful digital marketing plans.

 

4.     Build a team of capable people and get resources

A team is only as strong as its weakest link. We’ve heard the expression a million time. And there’s plenty of truth to it.

Because even the best laid plan struggles to come together if there isn’t a team of dedicated professionals committed to implementing it. A team 100% focused on the marketing goals as outlined by your digital plan.

And since resources are defined in line with your business goals, you need to set a budget – and stick to it.

Slight deviations here and there are one thing. But significantly exceeding the limitations of your set budget will bring things down overall. And a year from now, when reviewing the old plan, it’ll be one of the things you make a note to avoid when plotting next year’s plan.

 

5.     Transform your digital marketing plan into the action

Potential energy is nice. But kinetic energy is active. And it’s the kind of energy that gets you results.

A plan is nice too. But until that plan is active and put into action, you’re never going to see a result.

Define your timeline. Target customers and make them an offer the competition either can’t, or won’t.

Think big picture and consider everything that contributes to SEO and earning higher rankings. A solid digital marketing plan is a comprehensive one. So make time for social media and influencer marketing.

Keep your website updated. Be mindful of factors like page load speed that can have an adverse effect on user experience. Regularly assess your progress. And be willing to make adjustments to your digital marketing plan as conditions call for changes to be made.

Article first published here: Digital Marketing – How To Create A Successful Plan

The Best SEO Google Chrome Extensions

Google is kind of a big deal. Hence the endless amount of SEO ranking options you’ve got in front of you. 

So big, it’s made itself into a verb. It’s something we do.

Something we now do on average more than 2 trillion times a year. Google is easy the most often used internet search engine in the world. And they know it.

So if your brand or business expects to rank high with Google, Google expects you to put in the effort.

But they’re fair about it too.

On top of providing business owners, webmasters and digital marketers with a set of useful SEO guidelines, Google Chrome also offers users a number of valuable extensions that can help boost SEO results.

 

What is a Google Chrome extension?

Extensions for Google Chrome are software programs that let you customise the browsing experience for users; intuitive features built on web technologies like HTML and JavaScript where you can customise site functionality in response to specific user needs and preferences.

Most of them are free. And you can use them online or download them.

They can save you heaps of time, correct simple mistakes, get your site ranking better and most importantly – help you optimise SEO moving forward.

There are a ton of different Google Chrome extensions out there. Ready for you to start using right now. But these are some of our favourites.

Moz Toolbar

MozBar is a powerful extension that estimates the authority of your web page.

It uses more than 40 different metrics to rank your website with a grade from 1-10. And considers important metrics like how old your website is, how many links you have and your website’s current popularity.

There’s a free version that you can use to assess Page Overlay, Link Metrics, Custom Search, Social Metrics, Data Export (CSV), and On-Page Links. The extension takes all this info and uses it to help determine your ranking.

Best part is, if you like what the free version is able to do for you, there’s a paid version available that you can upgrade to that gives you access to even more cool analytics tools to work with.

 

Keywords Everywhere

Keywords Everywhere is an invaluable SEO extension that can help you find out how many similar keywords you have, where they are and how they affect your rankings.

It’s a time saver that shares Google search volume and Cost per Click data for your keywords. It’ll even  show you how many times a keyword is used on the internet, not just inside Google searches.

It lets you see variations of your keywords that people search for.

And can be used together with Google Analytics or Search Console to get monthly volume and CPC data for the keywords that had the best SEO effects. Which will help you put together a stronger keywords strategy resulting in higher Google rankings.

 

Majestic Backlink Analyzer

Majestic Backlink Analyzer is the SEO chrome extension that takes a dynamic approach to analysing backlinks.

Use it to view data related to links on your web page. Get tools such as Trust Flow, Citation Flow, and Topical Trust Flow to count and analyze your links and check the authority of your domain.

With Majestic Backlink Analyzer, you’ll be able to accurately estimate your chance for good ranking. And see anything that needs to be changed.

You can even try out the Check My Links SEO chrome extension to help find  broken links on your web page. It marks good links in green and broken links in red. Which is huge. Because fixing broken links is one of the best ways to increase your chance for higher rankings.

 

Open SEO Stats

Open SEO Stats is an SEO chrome extension that used to be called PageRank Status. It’s awesome for producing useful date like SEO stats, link stats, page speed, traffic stats and detailed page and site info.

Combine this extension with other SEO chrome extensions to achieve advanced SEO effects and start seeing more daily visits to your site.

 

Page Analytics

Page Analytics is a chrome extension that lets you log into your Google Analytics account and view web page metrics in real time.  

With Page Analytics, you can always check your site’s bounce rate, see how many unique page views you’ve gotten since last checking in and find out how long the average visitor spends on your site.

The extension also shows you which pages on your site are getting the most visits. And which ones are getting the least. So you can make informed choices and adjust content accordingly.

Page Analytics is more than just another SEO traffic report. It’s useful information that will help tell you more about your site’s traffic.

 

ShareMetric

Social media shares may not have a direct effect on search engine rankings. But having your content shared on social media does increase organic traffic. Which influences Google rankings in a roundabout, but significant way.

ShareMetric is an extension that monitors your social traffic and keeps track of how many times your content has been shared.

With ShareMetric, it’s easy to review the number of likes, comments, retweets, and shares you get. Which is great for SEO since number of shares is also visible on search engines results.

 

Page Load Time

 

It doesn’t matter how good your content is if your site makes it clunky or difficult for people to access it. Which is why user experience is one of the most important factors affecting search engine ranking results.

Use the Page Load Time extension to check your website’s loading speed. The faster your site loads, the better user experience you’ll be offering site visitors.

Because if your site is slow to load,  visitors will probably quit waiting and move on to another site to find what they need. Page Load Time is a handy way to diagnose problems with loading times. And finding ways to solve those problems with detailed analytics for your posts and pages.

 

Mobile Friendly Checker

People are spending more time than ever on mobile devices. And that’s a trend that won’t be changing anytime soon. So your website needs to be mobile friendly.

The Mobile Friendly Checker extension gives your site a mobile score between 0-100. The higher the value, the better your site is performing on mobile. The extension even lets you preview what your website will look like on mobile devices before you publish it.

So take your pick. Try your luck. Mix and match. Because you can’t go wrong with the right combination of the best SEO chrome extensions.

Article first published here: The Best SEO Google Chrome Extensions

The 5 best FREE SEO plugins for WordPress

The internet is growing at a breakneck pace; almost doubling annually its size in recent years. For users and consumers, that means almost infinite results when it comes to search. So in 2018, how are you supposed to get your website ranking in such a hyper competitive market?  

You can start with WordPress, and the huge variety of free SEO plugins that go along with it. 

WordPress is the popular open source website creation platform that powers a whopping 28% of the internet. And here’s a lot to dig about it.

It’s easy to use, search engines love it and WordPress doesn’t require any special knowledge of HTML editing or FTP software to build a beautiful website with.

But one of the biggest reasons people are gravitating to WordPress in record numbers is for the free SEO plugins.

Plugins are software extensions easily added to WordPress sites that enhance performance and increase functionality. And there are literally thousands of them available for free.

Here are 5 that we happen to really like.  

 

Yoast SEO plugin

Keywords and quality content are what drive traffic to your website and help it to rank higher with search engines. Which makes the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress on of the most valuable free plugins you can upload and add to your brand or business’ website.

Yoast analyzes your content to ensure you’re using keywords to their fullest potential.

Using too many keywords (keyword stuffing), or using keywords without any real purpose behind them, will result in search engine penalties that lower your ranking.

But if you’re not using keywords enough throughout your copy, your content won’t register any SEO effects at all.

The Yoast SEO plugin is a tool that checks how many times you’ve used a specific keyword in your content. It shows you where the keyword appears and how your content will look in search engines results with a convenient Google Search Result Snippet preview.

Yoast SEO for WordPress lets you add meta descriptions, meta titles and meta tags;  generate XML sitemaps and plenty more. It’s the plugin that increases click through rate, improves organic search results and helps your site rank higher by helping you make the best possible use of keywords.

 

All in One SEO Pack

The name kind of says it all. The most complete of all free seo plugins. 

Which makes the All in One SEO Pack one of the best free seo plugin options business owners, webmasters and digital marketers can use to improve SEO.

It’s list of features is impressive. But so is the plugin’s flexibility. Installing the All in One SEO Pack doesn’t lock you in to using all of the plugin’s available options. Only use the features you want – the way you want to use them.

Features like XML sitemap and canonical URL support, Google Analytics integration and the ability to optimise content titles and generate meta tags automatically.

The All in One SEO Pack provides free WooCommerce integration (a feature premium packages usually charge for) and the option to enter your data manually or have it taken care of automatically.

The All in One SEO Pack is compatible with hundreds of other plugins. And available in 57 languages with a pro option upgrade that’s loaded with even more advanced SEO features.

 

SEO Framework

It may not be as well known as Yoast or the All in One SEO Pack, but SEO Framework is a super-useful plugin popular with savvy WordPress users, and often nipping on the industry leaders when it comes to free seo plugins. 

With SEO Framework, you can set meta titles and descriptions. And add social meta information that helps increase social shares.

The flexibility of SEO Framework allows you to “set and forget” basic schema information, sitemap functions and other search engine settings for all posts. Or you can change the settings for individual posts manually at any time.  

The plugin provides support for bbPress, WooCommerce and other custom post types and even gives helpful recommendations for what’s best for your SEO as you go.

 

Smush Image Compression and Optimisation

Right now, Smush is the most popular image compression plugin out there, and a great free SEO plugin to add to your kit. People use because its effective. But they love it because it’s so simple to use.

When the images on your site are properly optimised, it saves on bandwidth. And gives the loading speed of your pages a boost; two effects that can have a big impact on search engine rankings.

With Smush, resizing full images is easy. As painless as moving a slider to adjust images individually. Or clicking your mouse once to initiate an automated process that scans all the images on your site, compressing any that haven’t already been optimised.

 

SEO Ultimate

SEO Ultimate is another free SEO plugin for WordPress.

It’s a tool that lets you rewrite titles so they’re more suitable for SEO. Imagine being able to automatically generate Open Graph data for all elements of your web page. Including attachments and user profile pages that improve social network sharing.

SEO Ultimate also includes a Deeplink Juggernaut; just set up your keywords and the plugin will automatically generate internal links on your website.

There’s a Rich Snippet creator for improving the look of your content and supplementary Search Engine Results Page (SERP) data that will help you increase organic search results. The SEO Ultimate plugin lets you highlight your Google+ profile picture to attract a bigger audience so your brand or business name ranks better with search engines too.

Improving SEO isn’t easy. It takes effort. Long hours. And many sparks of creative thinking. WordPress plugins help too.

From simple, easy-to-use add-ons like Yoast, to more dynamic tools offering advanced features, there are hundreds of free seo plugins out there that can help capture the results you’re after. No matter where you’re at on the SEO learning curve.

Increase organic traffic, attract more visitors from your social networking platforms, optimise content, earn higher search engine rankings, improve online visibility and make your site easier for users to find – and do it all for free.
That’s the power of free SEO plugins for WordPress. Start putting them to work for your brand or business today, and you’ll start seeing measurable SEO improvements sooner than you think.

Article first published here: The 5 best FREE SEO plugins for WordPress

Why Google My Business reviews are so important

Want business? Be easy to find online.

Visibility remains important as ever. But these days, just being found isn’t enough. It’s what people find once you’ve been discovered that counts. That’s why customer feedback, reviews and star-ratings are so valuable today.

Glowing reviews get people’s attention. And when a consumer sees a review that glow, they’re more likely to convert into customer.

There are all kinds of places customers can leave reviews online for your product or service. But Google My Business reviews are perhaps the most influential of them all.

And the reviews most important to the growth of your business.

Just think! How many millions of people discover brands, businesses, products and services through the simple act of “Googling”?

There is strength is those numbers. And because Google makes anonymity so difficult to hide behind, there’s a credibility to Google My Business reviews that other platforms struggle to compete with.

 

What are Google My Business reviews?

Local SEO delivers the best results for local businesses.

And Google My Business is one of the most effective ways a global platform can attract business locally.

Google My Business is an online tool that a company can use to monitor and manage their digital presence across Google Search, Google Maps and Google+. And improve SEO while they’re at it.

A resource like Google My Business can be particularly valuable to smaller businesses without huge resources to invest in SEO. Because it’s free. Google My Business is the zero-cost, easy-to-use tool that can help you:

 

• rank better in search engine results
• attract new customers
• communicate your brand story

 

It starts with creating a listing. Good Google My Business listings should include basic information like:

 

• business name
• address
• phone number
• website link
• email(s)
• business description

 

But Google My Business is more than just an online directory. It’s a platform your customers can use to leave reviews.

Reviews are a way for customers to make unbiased and transparent commentary on their experience with your brand. Positive or negative, this feedback becomes part of your brand story.

Because Google My Business reviews are a part of every Google search. They’re one component of the data Google’s algorithm uses to determine search engine results.

Positive Google My Business reviews appear in organic search results and Google Maps search results in the form of star ratings. The more stars your business has, the better results you’re liable to achieve.

Think about it from the customer’s perspective. Why wouldn’t they go with the best reviewed product or service on the market? That makes simple Google My Business reviews an incredibly powerful marketing tool.

Because when customers praise your work, you can count on the attention new customers.

That’s why Google My Business reviews are as important for attracting new visitors who hopefully convert into customers, as they are important for improving a business’ presence. And earning them better search rankings.

It’s 2018 and ‘word of mouth’ is strong as ever. Only the platforms and means of delivery have changed. And that’s exactly what Google My Business reviews are – online, ‘word of mouth’ recommendations from satisfied, active customers to undecided potential ones.

 

Why Google My Business reviews are important

The function of customer reviews operates quite simply.

Provide quality products and impeccable service to your current customer base, and expect positive feedback that brings in new buyers.

When others see positive feedback in a Google My Business reviews, they’re more likely to choose your brand over the competition.

Positive Google My Business reviews help brands sell. Because they reach a lot of visitors. Visitors one quality-offering away from converting to customers.

Google My Business reviews are also your chance to interact with customers by responding directly to their reviews.

Responding to reviews is a great way to build stronger customer relationships. It’s the kind of personal touch that reminds existing customers you care. And makes potential customers want to be cared for by you.

If a review is positive, your response might be as simple as thanking them for their time. And saying a few words about your appreciation for their feedback.

In the rare case that a review is less than dazzling, don’t panic. It happens to the best, brightest and biggest businesses. How you handle your response is what counts.

Never ignore negative feedback. Just look at it as another opportunity to demonstrate prompt, exceptional customer service with a reply that improves the situation.

Remember, you’re not the only one who’ll be reading customer reviews. Or your responses.

 

How you can enhance your Google My Business reviews

Any customer request that’s within reason is a customer request you should strive to meet. Because if you don’t, someone else will. But it’s not always easy.

Dealing with customers can be a challenge. That’s not an indictment. Just facts. But getting through difficult and demanding situations is part of providing the kind of service that’s going to score the positive reviews you’re after.

If you’ve set up Google My Business but still aren’t receiving reviews, don’t be afraid to ask for them.

These days, most customers understand the significance of reviews. They know words are powerful. And their opinions make a difference. If you feel like you’ve provided a customer with exceptional service, let them know you’re listed on Google My Business and would love to get their feedback. You might see a glowing new review posted in the next few days.

Once listed, make a habit of checking your Google My Business reviews regularly. And thoroughly.

It’s another way to really get to know your customers. And learn what about your business they appreciate most. Is it quality, price, the additional services you provide, your professionalism, speed or something else all together?

Find out with Google My Business reviews. It’s information that can help you improve current offers, attract new clients and keep regular customers coming back for more. All things that help a business to grow.

When you make time to work on your Google My Business reviews regularly, you’re making time to work on the future of your brand. And what could be more important than that?

Article first published here: Why Google My Business reviews are so important

Top 5 free keyword research tools

When it comes to search engine rankings, it’s hard to argue that keywords aren’t one of, if not the, most important aspects of any SEO strategy.

After all, SEO keywords are the words and phrases that make it possible for potential customers to find your site when using search engines online.

The idea is simple: find the keywords that will give you the best chance for higher rankings

But how do you know which keywords or phrases are going to be the most effective for your site?

It’s called conducting keyword research. And there are number of online tools available to help you determine exactly which keywords your content should be focusing on.

Yes. There are a number of premium, paid keyword research tools that provide users with advanced options. But there are also plenty of 100% free keyword research tools out there that can be just as helpful.

Today, we’re taking a look at five of our favourites. And the different ways they can help you find the perfect combination of SEO keywords.

Keyword research methods

Good keyword research will help you choose adequate keywords in line with your content. It tells you which keywords have the highest search volumes. Which keywords your competitors are currently using. And helps you create a map of long tail keywords. All stuff that will help you to rank better with search engines.

One keyword research method suggests you might get better ranking results by loading up on keywords that are the same or similar to your main keyword.

Another popular strategy is based on researching competitors’ keywords and achieving effects to your benefit by using better keywords than them.

Different keyword research methods yield different advantages. So the best results are often gained from using several of them.

 

Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is the web’s most popular free keyword research tool.

It’s part of the Adwords family and can help improve your ranking on Google by finding the best keywords for your content.

First, enter your seed keyword in Google Keyword Planner. Then set filters based on location, language and other relevant factors. Not only will Google Keyword Planner suggest appropriate keyword suggestions, it will also offer estimated traffic volumes, competition levels and average monthly searches.  

You can ask Google Keyword Planner to show you negative keywords that you’ll want to avoid. Or you can enter the URL of a competitor to see what keywords they’re using.

However, results are not customised. All users stand to get the same results; thus all users can use the same keywords. So use Google Keyword Planner in tandem with other tools. And try using different variations of the suggested keywords.  

 

WordStream

WordStream is a tool similar to Google Keyword Planner.

Once again, you start by entering your seed keyword. From there, Wordstream will give you a long list of recommended keyword variations and their relative frequency.

Wordstream awards each keyword a competition score and estimated cost-per-click (CPC).

Wordstream also supplies you with valuable, industry-specific information plus information regarding niches where your keywords are currently being used. This can help determine which keywords are most suitable. And help you put together a practical marketing budget.  

 

UberSuggest

UberSuggest is among the best free keyword research tools out there today.

Because it provides keywords that you will not get using the Google Keyword Planner. So when used alongside Google Keyword Planner, you’re bound to get the best results possible.

UberSuggest also provides with you with some great ideas for long tail keywords starting with the seed keyword you entered. UberSuggest even provides users with great ideas about content for the website based on suggested keywords and long tail keywords.

 

Serpstat

Serpstat started off as humble keyword research tool. But now that competitor analysis, backlink analysis, rank tracking and site audit functions have been added to its suite of features, it’s now much more of a complete SEO tool.

Its keyword research reports give you lots of useful information divided into several sections.

In the SEO Research section, you’ll see matched keywords and related keywords, top pages where that keyword is used, the names of competitors using the keyword and other suggested keywords for you.

The PPC Research section provides real world examples, the Content Marketing section shows you relevant search questions such as, “Ask the Public” and the SERP Analysis section gives you up-to-date data on the top 100 Google results for that keyword.

In addition to a keyword volume search, Serpstat gives you the estimation of your chance of being in the top 10 search results based on the grades below:

•       0-20 – easy
•       21-40 – medium
•       41-60 – difficult
•       61-100 – very difficult

 

Wordtracker Scout

Researching the competition to find ways of overtaking them in search engine rankings is a viable strategy. And the Wordtracker Scout Chrome extension is just the tool to help with this.

Simply enter the competitor’s URL and press “W”. Wordtracker Scout will prepare a full report of their used keywords; invaluable data when estimating your own keyword strategy.

Use variations of these keywords, long-tail keywords, and LSI keywords. Better yet, use the same keywords, but more efficiently, inside your content.

Paid services like SEMRush can provide you with more detailed data. But even a tool like that is available with a 30-day free trial so you can see for yourself if all those little extras justify the cost.

There are a number of free keyword research tools out there. These are the ones we like. Combine them to achieve the best results

Instead of guessing which keywords might be best for ranking, use free keyword research tools to find the keywords that really are.  You may not get get perfect instructions from a single resource.

But once you begin using multiple keyword resources to narrow down the words and phrases best suited to help you with organic search results, the more you’ll begin to see that incorporating search words throughout the content of your web site is a surefire way to gain to new viewers – and hang on to the loyal viewers that check your site out on a regular basis.

Article first published here: Top 5 free keyword research tools

Top 5 digital marketing strategies in 2018

We’re already well into 2018. But if you haven’t summed up your marketing efforts for the year that was 2017, and put together a revised strategy for this coming calendar year – don’t worry. There’s still time to right the ship.

The ins, outs, trends and algorithms that shape digital marketing are always changing. What’s working now may not be effective 12 months from now. Or it could be twice as useful.

That’s why you must be timely with the marketing methods you use.

You can’t go back in time and fix what didn’t work. And there’s no crystal ball that gives a guarantee on what’ll be hot this time next year.

But you can be hyper-vigilant, super-aware of what’s presently rewarding in the digital space. Start by adapting these top 5 digital marketing strategies in 2018.

 

New types of content and advertising formats

High-quality content, authoritative backlinks and other proven SEO techniques are evergreen. They’re always going to be effective. And as popular in 2018 as they were last year.

But relying on old, stalwart tactics alone won’t earn you the marketing improvements you’re after. Not with so many new types of content and advertising formats out there to play with.

This year, put an extra emphasis on local SEO. Micro-targeting is going to be huge in 2018; one of the year’s most important digital marketing strategies, in fact.

Focus on your target audience. And personalise your web content.

Create in-depth content pillars like eBooks, reports or guides that break down your core, informative piece of content into different sections, pieces and materials.

Try topic clusters; groups of interlinked, narrowly-focused webpages built around a single piece of more broad-topic content.

Never discount the importance of storytelling in advertising.

A well told story doesn’t have to have an epic word count. A capable storyteller can get the job done with a few short, sharp words or lines.

Well told stories, even in a medium like digital, have a capacity to attract new users. And an even greater capacity to deepen the relationship with an existing audience.

Video content was massive in 2017. And its popularity will only continue to swell as we move into the future. By 2021, it’s said that 80% of all internet traffic will be video content.  

Video content allows you to be far more visual and personal with your marketing. And that can make it much more convincing.

Dynamic advertising, or dynamic ads, consider factors like browsing history, location, interests and time of day to display a range of content to groups of relevant, highly targeted users.

Bottomline, you can expect better results when you start communicating more personalised messages that use new types of content and advertising format.

 

Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing isn’t anything new.

Advertisers have been using endorsements from influential individuals as a marketing strategy for ages. And in recent years, social platforms like YouTube and Instagram have created millions more of these potential influencers.

So, if influencer marketing wasn’t part of your marketing mix in 2017, you may want to give some real thought towards trying it on for size in 2018.

But if imploring or employing internet celebrities to endorse your brand or product is not in your price range or outside your moral threshold, that’s ok. There are cheaper and less egregious ways to make influencer marketing work for you.

Like blogger outreach. Which remains an effective method for boosting SEO. If you’re persistent and patient with your blogger outreach efforts, you’re likely to see steady and significant improvement sooner than you might think.

 

Social media marketing

Social media’s ubiquitous popularity makes for endless marketing opportunities across different platforms.

Well into 2018, Facebook is still at the top of the social media heap; an undisputed champion. For now.

YouTube and Instagram are top contenders, depending on your target demographic. Twitter’s gone up a weight-class from  140 to a beefier 280 characters. And Linkedin has been steadily working its way up the card with more than 800 million users and growing.

Your next digital campaign could benefit from conducting the right kind of digital marketing via any of these social media platforms.

Part of the reason platforms like Facebook remain so popular with advertisers is because it lets you target ads using its own sophisticated database of integrated data. And because other popular platforms like Hubspot and Messenger have integrated into Facebook.

Facebook also offers a live video function that digital marketers love to use because live video content tends to appear at the top of Newsfeeds. And with video overall looking to be among 2018’s most important ranking factors, social platforms that provide an easy outlet for it are bound to make an impact.   

 

Personal communication

Messenger bots are apps that recognise users’ preferred methods of communication. They yield excellent results for advertisers by using this information to approach the right target audience(s).

There are currently around 1.3 billion active users on Messenger. And one-on-one communication always has a tremendous effect. So effective, in fact, that the click-through rate (CTR) for messenger marketing is around 80%, while the CTR for emails is around 1%.

 

Artificial intelligence marketing automation

In line with advancing technological developments, some of the newest trends in digital marketing revolve around machine learning and marketing automation.

The machine learning RankBrain from Google is one of the latest must-have tools for savvy digital marketers.

This also applies to big data analytics tools, chatbots, apps for marketing and sales processes.

These are mostly prediction tools that help collect and analyse customer data. The more you know about customers, the better the chance at converting them from leads to customers.

Live chatbots serve the same purpose. You can better understand your customers if you’re able to track their actions. And with tools like Intercom, you can personalise offers for customers even more. Which increases loyalty and ultimately profits.

Follow the latest technological trends and you’ll keep pace with the market. So consider a budget increase for digital marketing strategies for 2018.

And don’t forget the common idiom; “There’s more than one way way to shear a sheep.” So much is true with digital marketing as well.

 

There’s no proven, singular method for increasing reach and improving engagement. Rather, a myriad of evolving strategies. And whilst there is data that supports the effectiveness of each, it’s up to you to discover the mix of digital marketing strategies that’s going to work best for your brand or business in 2018.

 

Article first published here: Top 5 digital marketing strategies in 2018