How to Build Yourself a Keyword List
Your keyword list is the engine in your digital marketing car. It is the spine of your digital marketing skeleton. It’s the rudder of your digital marketing boat. It is the pointy end of your digital marketing toothpick!
What we mean is, your keyword list is the foundational marketing asset that the rest of your marketing activities will be built on.
Creating a targeted keyword list is essential for any new business or startup (or any existing business that's making a meaningful change to products or services or brand positioning). Just like all of our other work in Performance Marketing we want to make certain we're targeting the right audiences to drive growth.
Follow these four steps to developing a keyword list that can act as the core of your marketing strategy. And, truly, once your keyword list is done, you'll hate marketing a whole lot less.
1. Understand your business & target audience:
Define your niche: What specific problem do you solve? Who are your ideal customers?
Identify your value proposition: What makes you unique? Why should someone choose you?
Research your target audience: What are their needs, interests, and online behavior?
2. Brainstorm & research seed keywords:
Brainstorm relevant terms: List words and phrases related to your business offerings, products, services, and target audience.
Consider three types of terms
Brand terms: keywords which focus on your brand and include your business and product names. For example, if our company name is ACME Candy, and we’re a selling minty-fresh gum Mintiest, our brand terms would include the company name, ACME Candy, and the product name, Mintiest. Your brand terms list is likely to be a short one. Ours only has one phrase, “Rock Creek Growth Partners.”
Category terms: keywords that define your product or service using related. The terms we’d use might be “business growth consultant,” or “digital marketing experts.”
Use terms: Use terms are adjacent to the phrases that are used a given category. Getting back to our minty-fresh gum example, we might include a use term like, “stop bad breath,” or “bad breath treatment.”
Adjacent terms: This is where you can get creative.
Use keyword research tools: Explore options like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and others to uncover search volume, competition, and related keywords.
Leverage competitor analysis: See what keywords your competitors are ranking for and consider relevant variations. Use a tool like Screaming Frog SEO Spider to get content detail, metadata and a whole lot more from your competitors’ website.
3. Refine & categorize your list:
Group keywords by theme: Organize keywords based on topics, product categories, or user intent (informational, transactional, etc.).
Prioritize high-value keywords: Focus on keywords with high search volume and lower competition for initial targeting.
Include long-tail keywords: These specific phrases represent higher buying intent and less competition.
4. Optimize & expand your list:
Monitor and update regularly: Track keyword performance and add new relevant terms as needed.
Consider local keywords: Target geographically relevant terms if applicable.
Use negative keywords in ad campaigns: Exclude irrelevant searches to avoid wasting ad spend.
Bonus Tips:
Focus on quality over quantity: A smaller, targeted list is better than a massive, irrelevant one.
Consider user intent: Match your keywords to the user's search intent (e.g., "buy running shoes" vs. "best running shoes").
Utilize long-tail keywords: They drive higher conversion rates and lower competition.
Don't forget mobile: Optimize your list for mobile searches, which are increasingly dominant.
Seek professional help: Consider consulting SEO or marketing specialists for advanced strategies.
Remember, building a strong keyword list is an ongoing process. Continuously refine your list as your business grows and the search landscape evolves.
If you’d like to make time to talk about building valuable keyword lists, you can get growing here.
