How to Use Keywords for Internet Marketing

In modern history, advertising and marketing have been economically slanted. A big audience meant spending big bucks, whether you employed TV, radio, or periodicals. In a way the Internet has changed all that. With the right approach to digital marketing investment, you can have an international audience of millions without spending millions.

The right approach starts with keywords: the words and phrases your buyers type when they are already looking for what you sell. You use them in two ways, organic (unpaid) search listings and inorganic (paid) pay-per-click ads, and you run both as a plan that you measure and improve. Here is how to use keywords for internet marketing.

Internet Marketing: A New Digital Approach

It is said that broadcasting and publishing are really just modern day medicine shows. Most of you are probably familiar with these legends of the past; travelers who went from town to town to put on a small show that could include music, magic acts, comedy skits, or even a freak show, all with the purpose of gathering a crowd in order to hawk something to them. (Yes, frequently it was some kind of elixir, but not always.) Television, radio, magazines, and even newspapers serve that role in the modern era. Attract an audience by whatever means possible, and then try to sell them something.

While pop-up and display ads still follow that model, Internet marketing built on search is a completely different paradigm. Millions of people use the Internet every day, and not just to be entertained, they use it to get information. They search for information about products and services they want and need; products and services that you can provide. When they search the Internet, are they going to find you or your competitor? The answer depends largely on whether your pages and ads use the same words your buyers use.

The Internet, in fact, presents a great opportunity for small and medium size businesses. Instead of having to continually cast a wide net in hopes of catching the attention of a few fishes, now you can throw out a small hook and wait for the fish to swim to you. Internet marketing gives you the opportunity to reach those who are not only interested, but who are already actively looking.

To make sure people and businesses searching on the Internet will find you takes an intelligent and reflective approach. Instead of using demographic breakdowns to find target audiences, Internet marketing is all about the effective use of keywords and phrases.

Two Aspects of Internet Marketing

Internet marketing can be divided into two very distinct areas, and any business that is serious about success should be making efforts to effectively employ both of them. Let’s call one approach organic Internet marketing and the other inorganic Internet marketing. Essentially, one is a natural or unpaid campaign, while the other is a paid one. Although there will be a significant amount of overlap between the two, how you apply keywords for the two approaches will be different.

Inorganic Marketing: PPC

Inorganic marketing involves the concept of pay-per-click advertising (PPC). Search engines such as Google and Bing let businesses choose keywords and phrases, and when Internet users type related terms into the search engine, your business name and a brief ad can appear. When someone searches on Google, an ad can become eligible to appear based on how closely your keywords match the search terms, along with your keyword match types. (See Google Ads Help on keywords.) Your maximum cost-per-click bid is the most you are willing to pay for a click, and Google’s ad auction uses both ad quality and bid to decide where an ad appears. (See Google Ads Help on bidding.)

Paid listings are labeled so searchers can tell them apart from the organic or unpaid listings. Google groups text ads on the search results page under a single Sponsored results label. (See the Google announcement.) But effectively employing PPC is not just a matter of buying up some keywords and letting the money roll in. Keyword match types decide how widely each keyword reaches. A broad match keyword reaches the searches covered by equivalent phrase and exact match keywords, plus additional related searches. (See Google Ads Help on match types.) Broad reach can bring in searches you never intended to pay for, so review the actual search terms and add negative keywords for the ones that do not fit.

Getting the most value out of your PPC budget means creating a coherent, intelligent plan based on research, history, and even a little intuition. How effectively you monitor and improve your ongoing PPC plan, however, should not be left to chance. Effectively using PPC means constantly monitoring business metrics, reflecting on what the results mean, then making improvements based on what you have learned, and then once again measuring results.

Most PPC services will provide you keyword data such as impressions and clicks. Google Ads counts an impression each time your ad is shown on a search result page or another site on the Google Network. (See Google Ads Help on impressions.) From there, you should be using conversion tracking and analytics software to tell you what happens with leads and sales. Conversion tracking shows which keywords, ads, ad groups, and campaigns are best at driving valuable customer activity. (See Google Ads Help on conversion tracking.) For a broader view of paid search, read about search engine marketing strategies.

Organic Marketing

You can boost organic traffic with better SEO keyword research. Organic Internet marketing is about integrating keywords and phrases into your website in order to make your web page appear at or near the top of the search engine results list when users search for certain topics or keywords. Google advises thinking about the words a user might search for to find your content, because different readers describe the same thing in different ways. (See the Google SEO Starter Guide.) Use those words naturally in page titles, headings, and body copy, and write for the reader first. Excessively repeating the same words is tiring for users, and keyword stuffing is against Google’s spam policies.

Equally important here is the collection of inbound links that link external sites (like referrals) into your website. Earn those links with useful pages, partners, suppliers, and local associations that genuinely refer people to you. Do not buy them. Google’s spam policies treat buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam. (See Google Search spam policies.)

Unlike PPC, where budget constraints can affect what keyword property you own along the information highway, organic Internet marketing has no per-click cost. It is not free, though. The costs are your time, content, and tools: the effort to create an effective plan, monitor results (where do you appear when people search using certain terms?), and enact improvements. The Search Console Performance report shows the queries people typed, along with clicks, impressions, click-through rate, and average position for your site in Google Search. (See Search Console Help.) For a small-business plan, see this small business SEO strategy.

How to Choose and Use Your Keywords

Whichever approach you use, the keyword work follows the same steps. Work through them once, then repeat them every time you review results.

1. List seed topics. Write down your products, services, and the problems they solve, in the words customers use on calls and in emails, not in internal jargon.
2. Expand the list with a research tool. Google Keyword Planner suggests keywords related to your products, services, or website and shows estimates of how many searches a keyword gets each month.
3. Sort by search intent. Decide whether each phrase signals someone learning, comparing, buying, or looking for a local provider. Match the phrase to a page that serves that intent.
4. Favor specific phrases first. Longer, more specific phrases usually face less competition and bring buyers who are closer to a decision.
5. Assign one primary phrase per page. Give each page a clear job so your own pages do not compete with each other.
6. Decide organic, paid, or both. Use PPC for phrases you need traffic on now or cannot yet rank for; build organic pages for phrases you want to own over time.
7. Record and review. Log each phrase, its target page, and its results, then review impressions, clicks, leads, and sales on a regular schedule.

For setup details on the research tool, see Google Ads Help on Keyword Planner. To track your phrases over time, use the Bizmanualz keyword log template.

Keyword Planning Worksheet

Use this worksheet to plan your keywords. For each phrase, fill in six fields:

• Seed topic: the product, service, or problem the phrase belongs to.
• Keyword or phrase: the exact words a buyer would type.
• Search intent: learning, comparing, ready to buy, or looking for a local provider.
• Approach: organic, PPC, or both.
• Target page: the single page that best answers the search.
• What to measure: the lead or sale that tells you the phrase is working.

The rows below are a hypothetical example for a small bookkeeping firm, included only to show how to fill it in.

Sales and Marketing is a Business Process

You may notice a recurring theme in the above discussion. It is the concept of making a plan, executing the plan while measuring key performance indicators, then reflecting on what the measurements mean and using them to find ways to improve. This is the continuous process improvement philosophy that Bizmanualz uses as a lynch pin for all of its business improvement line of products.

This approach is also applied to topics such as Marketing Planning, Marketing Tactics, and Sales in the Bizmanualz Sales and Marketing Policies and Procedures manual. The Sales and Marketing manual also includes a special supplement on Internet Marketing that covers key topics such as organic and inorganic Internet marketing, lead generation, website design, and security concerns.

For the most bang for your buck, check out the Bizmanualz CEO Management Series of policies and procedures.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between short-tail and long-tail keywords?

A short-tail keyword is a broad term of one or two words, such as bookkeeping. A long-tail keyword is a longer, more specific phrase, such as monthly bookkeeping for restaurants. Long-tail phrases usually reach fewer people, but those people are closer to a decision, so many small businesses start there before competing for broad terms.

How do I find out which keywords my customers actually use?

Start with the words customers use in calls, emails, and quote requests, then check them in a keyword research tool and in the queries your site already receives in Search Console. Keep the phrases that match what you sell and the page that will answer them.

Should I bid on keywords my website already ranks for organically?

It depends on the keyword and the competition. Treat it as a test: run the paid ad for a defined period, compare total leads and sales with and without it, and keep the spend only if it produces results that the organic listing alone does not.