One of the most frequent questions we get asked is:
What should my search terms be?
Around two thirds of our clients run local businesses. These are business like plumbers, electricians, hairdressers etc. Often when they sign up they will go with very broad search terms like "plumber", "cheap electrician" or "good hairdresser". This is where we tend to step in and make some suggestions.
Lets take a look at search result volumes and how this affects your timelines
The term "cheap electrician" has 823,000 search results on Google. That's a lot of competition and therefore that would be a long term SEO campaign. However if you were to add a local or geographical word to this search term like "cheap electrician Nottingham" then you're looking at just 177,000 search results. So in theory you will get noticeable ranking 4 to 5 times faster for that search term.
The search engines (in particular Google) are putting progressively more emphasis on tailoring their search results specifically to each user. One way they are looking at doing this is with more geographically relevant content. They're almost creating a local directory within their overall search results.
Isn't this just Google Local?
You may think that this simply exists with Google Local. For those not in the know Google Local is where you are able to submit a website to their local listings. The way Google verify your location is by sending a postcard to your mailing address, on this postcard is a code that you then enter to verify your location.
Although Google Local is something that's well worth opting in to, the main organic search results are by far the most clicked on element of the Google search results.
Traffic Vs search terms
While keeping your search terms specific and geographically Local wherever possible it's also important to make sure they are worth bothering with in terms of traffic. It's a fine balance between selecting terms you can achieve fast results on which at the same time have a decent search volume. This is where we can help!
Whether you're a prospective or an existing client we're here to help. Get in touch and we will analyse your business alongside Google search volumes helping you decide on the best search terms for your business.
We hope you found this article helpful!