Has some slick search engine optimization (SEO) person kept saying how important ‘keywords’ are for your website? Think keywords sound too complicated to figure out or impossible to use without being a tech genius? If you would like more people to find your website without spending money on ads, then read on for helpful tips.
Keywords are words you type into a search engine to find information and sites helpful to you. No doubt you’ve typed in a phrase before and, looking at the results, thought “Oh, that’s not it” and reworded your query for better results. Understanding your customer will help you find the best keywords for your food and farm business.
What goes into picking good keywords?
There are a few factors that go into picking good keywords. Here are several different ways, try the one that is most interesting to you:
Popularity
Using common words that people are familiar with is a first place to start with keywords. We can use tools to help us find related keywords (we’ll get into that below) by starting with a general search.
For example, by searching ‘microgreens’, we can see other suggested keywords and their relative volume of search. Tip: To create more traffic, use clear words and phrases that people will naturally look for. Keep it simple.
In the example above, you will see that there are words (or phrases) as well as the volume of search they experience. For example searching ‘microgreens benefits’ gets 1,900 searches in the US. These numbers give us the relative popularity of the words.
Relevancy
Using relevant keywords to your business will help you narrow down the list of popular options. For example: ‘grow microgreens’ might be more popular than ‘buy microgreens’ but if you aren’t helping people grow microgreens with your products or services, you won’t end up getting the right people to your website.
My favorite example of relevancy came up while doing keyword research for an environmental non-profit. I discovered that ‘gulf stream’ was a popular search term. When I saw the other relevant searches, I quickly realized the popularity (looking at ‘related terms’ searched) was about recreational vehicles and not the Atlantic Ocean. While putting the words ‘gulf stream’ all over their website might have gotten traffic, that traffic would have immediately clicked away when they realized that the page was not the topic they were looking for.
Intent
There are certain kinds of words people search when they are ready to make a purchase (or considering one) versus when they are looking for more general information. It’s easy to see in our example of “Related Keywords” that there is a difference between searching ‘how to grow microgreens’ and ‘microgreens for sale near me’ in terms of intent to purchase. It’s perfectly fine to give information, but attracting those who are ready to buy is ultimately something that most businesses want.
Competition
Like any business, food-based businesses are competing against national and international brands. Let’s say you want to rank on the first search page of Google for ‘tea’ but odds are Lipton, Twinnings, and multiple other international brands can likely out market (and more importantly outspend) you. Can you rank for ‘tea Canton NY’ or ‘CBD chamomile tea’? Probably, since they are much more specific either in their locale or a niche product/service. Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific keyword phrases to use and can narrow down broad searches.
Other ways to see the competitiveness of a term is by looking at the Cost Per Click ( what people are paying to advertise to that keyword) and some keyword tools like the one above. If a keyword is worth more, that means more people are bidding on ads for it, making it more competitive. Rather than trying to outbid a giant business, you can look for words that have less competition but are still being searched.
Tools To Get You Started
Now that you know what goes into picking good keywords, how do you find them?
Starting with some kind of online tool will help you generate your list. Our first objective is to make the list of possible words as large as possible and narrow it from there. To keep your information straight, you can put words and information about them (volume of searches, etc.) into a spreadsheet, or save it in the tool you are using.
Remember to put yourself in your customers’ shoes as you use these tools and start with what you think they’re searching.
Google Trends
Google Trends is a great way to check keyword popularity over time and compare them to other words. You can compare up to five keywords at a time and see popularity by country, time period, and other metrics. Scroll lower on the page to see suggested keywords and then try those.
Google Trends is great for light keyword research and if you want to find your top 5-10 keywords. Keep in mind that the data is relatively limited, especially if you want to focus on competition.
Keyword Research Software
To get a more comprehensive search of keywords, a keyword research tool is in order. Most keyword research tools allow for a free trial period or a number of free searches each month. Below is a comparison of some of the popular software with features and costs:
| Cost | Trial Period | Notes | |
| Keywords Everywhere | $10/100,000 credits | N/A | For reference, I bought the $10 plan 6 months ago and I still haven’t used half my credits yet. |
| Moz Keyword Explorer | $99/month+ | 30 Days | The differing price points seem to allow you to save different amounts of keyword data (300 keyword rankings for the $99/month plan) |
| Keyword Discovery | Free plan or $49.95/month | There is a free trial, maybe a one or two week time period. | The free plan seems pretty comprehensive. |
There are plenty more tools than this but as you see, you can likely get a lot of (or all of) your keyword research within the trial period or for a relatively low cost. The time these tools will save you and the data they will provide make it well worth using them.
Today’s take away:
- Find the best keywords that work for you, be specific in your choices.
- Use these keywords consistently on your website.
- Keep a spreadsheet, and continue to update it, making note of which words are best for your business.
If you can find 10-20 good keywords then you are on your way. If you have too many or have more than that you want to work into your website, we’ll get into more details in part two, so stay tuned.
Nicole Ouellette, an internet marketer and food enthusiast, has been hired by small businesses over the past 14 years to improve their marketing. You can learn more about her here or pop into Anchorspace Potsdam, the coworking space to say hi.