Understanding the Importance of Keywords for Store Traffic
When people hear ‘keywords’, they seem to get a bit blinkered about the whole thing. Not their fault, really, because that’s what the internet keeps repeating - keywords are the magic beans that sprout sales. But if it was as simple as that, then I’d just use the word ‘fashion’ in every sentence and call it a day.
That’s not how keywords work though. And don’t even get me started on the numbers game with algorithms - it takes more than stuffing every possible phrase you can think of into your site. For example, let’s say you sell dungarees.
Now, if you want to sell more of them through your website, then yes, using the phrase ‘buy dungarees online’ might be a good idea. But you can’t just rely on that one keyword to do all your heavy lifting. It’s easy to tell when content is SEO-driven; there’s a hollow ring to the whole thing.
People don’t want to read paragraphs of copy written for Google bots, and robots aren’t going to wear dungarees anyway. It can get complicated very quickly if you’re new at this sort of thing (trust me). I mean - is it better for me to use ten different phrases that are highly specific and technical or three general ones. I still haven’t quite figured out that bit myself but here’s what I know - whenever I search for anything online and end up clicking on something random on page 10 of Google results, it’s only because they happened to use a keyword somewhere and not quite right either.
So keywords are important but you need to find a way to place them without making your readers feel like they’ve stumbled into an awkward conversation with someone repeating things for emphasis or being needlessly vague about things. You want Goldilocks-Esque SEO - not too much and not too little.
Researching High-Impact Keywords for Your Business
People tend to get a bit precious when it comes to keywords. Too clever by half, if you ask me. You might think it’s about dreaming up the most obscure words you reckon people are putting into search engines.
Like when someone says “granite benchtops” instead of “kitchen countertop”. But it’s more than that - keyword research is as much about having the digital version of an eavesdrop at a local cafe as it is about your product offerings. You want to really listen for how people in your region, city or neighbourhood speak and write and refer to your business.
It’s tough figuring out what people are interested in, and even harder to know what words they’ll use to get there. It can get quite difficult when you’re trying to match your audience’s curiosity with all the bells and whistles Google throws at you with tools like their Keyword Planner. But say you make wedding cakes and want everyone searching for cake, cake toppers, wedding catering and other queries landing at your homepage - then those phrases are your golden tickets.
At the end of the day - well, not really, but you know what I mean - high-impact keywords are slightly about figuring out what *your* tribe of customers want. If no one in Melbourne refers to kitchen counters as benchtops (and I highly doubt that), then there’s no point saying that word over again on your website. And if you’re going after customers in another city or country, then looking into what search terms they’ve used for services or products like yours gives you a better understanding of how different people are engaging with your business online.
Optimizing Your Website for Local Search Visibility
Most retailers assume that if you build a website, customers will come. But it doesn't happen like that anymore, I think. There’s a lot more involved now, and it doesn’t hurt to be proactive. Right from finding the right platform to making your web pages ‘searchable’, there are several things to consider.
You can’t have full control over who visits your website and ends up at the store, but you can quite a bit definitely point them in your direction using certain clever tactics. One of these tactics is search engine optimisation (SEO). When shopping for something online or using the internet to find a retail store near them, shoppers expect to see relevant content right away - often on the first page of their search engine results.
Based on their location, these searches become localised so that results are more relevant than before. Localised SEO has thus become all about optimising your web presence so you appear on people’s search engine results pages (SERP) when they run searches about things they want to buy or services they want locally. But establishing and building this presence requires keyword optimisation, too.
Who you are as a retailer, what you are known for in terms of products or services and also what people are looking for - all go into building your list of keywords. For instance if someone searches for “coffee shops in Sydney”, they may simply type “coffee shops”. If your website is equipped with those as possible keywords along with other details such as zip code or other commonly looked up information about coffee shops in Sydney (does it allow pets. ), your chances of ranking high in local SERP increase significantly.
Sort of. Using tools such as Google Trends and Google Business Profile can help understand how keywords can work for your business and see where optimisations can be made so even those hidden gems make an appearance on Google searches.
Leveraging Long-Tail Keywords to Attract Targeted Customers
People tend to think being at the top of the list is all about big, popular keywords. After all, doesn’t everyone want lots of customers. But in practice, it’s not about more — it’s about better.
Drawing large numbers of random people to your website isn’t going to help you out much in terms of conversions. It’ll just increase your site visitors and make you look like you’re on top of things.
I’ve found that long-tail keywords — those longer, more detailed keywords or key phrases — are far better than broader ones. What makes them so attractive is that they narrow down what a potential customer is looking for. While the volume might be lower for such keywords, the traffic is more focused and targeted.
So even if only five people click on those longer search terms per week, they’re more likely to convert and buy something from your website — especially if your description matches exactly what they were looking for. Of course, there’s some uncertainty around which long-tail keywords perform better than others, and getting this information involves a fair bit of guesswork. Using a tool like Google Keyword Planner can show you just how many searches were made for a specific phrase and its relevance score in the past month.
That way, you can create content based on those results or incorporate these phrases in your website copy. To get started with long-tail keyword strategy creation, I usually begin by looking at customer queries and reviews on products relevant to my business or store offerings, then use keyword research tools to see how often these queries come up online. You can also play around with product titles; using “running shoes” instead of “shoes” will already help narrow down traffic to your page significantly.
Utilizing Social Media Keywords to Drive Foot Traffic
Here’s a thing I often see with store owners - they’re so busy throwing out random hashtags or buzzwords on social media that the context gets lost. It’s not the intention. But it can’t be helped sometimes. The sense is that using every trending keyword will lead everyone to your store, but that’s rather unlikely.
Keywords need to be just as strategic as they are current. They need to resonate with your brand, audience, and the platform in question. It seems like i think people forget just how important audience research is here, but there are times when even this isn’t enough. Social media audiences can be quite fickle - not because they’re whimsical, but because there’s always more content vying for their attention.
Some days, driving foot traffic by utilising the right social media keywords seems like a far-fetched idea. Those moments of uncertainty are valid.
Here’s what I’ve found works - and no, it’s not a magic fix - customer listening. Constantly keeping an ear out for what the customers who matter to you talk about when they mention products similar to yours or that you stock.
There’s also something to be said about specificity and context in using social media keywords for driving foot traffic to your store. Mix things up between short-tail, long-tail, and geo-specific keywords on all platforms with consistent value-driven content - you want people seeing these keywords on posts that actually mean something to them while also telling them why you matter in their lives, and that you have exactly what they’re looking for at your store. This only solidifies how important relevance is in crafting a strong keyword strategy for social media if you’re hoping to drive foot traffic with it too. Find those words and phrases that speak their language while also describing what you offer best so they know where and why they should walk into your store soon.
Measuring the Success of Your Keyword Strategies
It’s not uncommon for people to think keyword strategies are one-size-fits-all, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Many retailers go into it wanting an immediate return on investment. They’ll get upset if their website doesn’t shoot to the top of Google almost instantly, but the truth is, it takes time. Well, that and a whole lot more too.
You’ve got a strategy of your own now, so what’s next. The fact is, measuring the effectiveness of your keyword strategies can be a bit of a mixed bag in the beginning. It’s not all about Google Analytics either – you want to look at a bunch of different things like which pages have been getting more traffic recently and which ones seem to be stuck on the old hamster wheel. Have you ever seen more foot traffic in-store lately.
It pays to stay open-minded when it comes to tracking. I mean, sometimes you can do everything right and still don’t see results for months. You could get worked up about it but it helps if you realise even Google works in mysterious ways at times.
Some things might take longer than others so don’t let impatience get in the way of objectivity. Checking on conversions is just as important too because you do want website visitors turning into customers eventually (not just. Visitors).
And they may keep coming back too, who knows. All the more reason you’ll want to stay on top of things. Being consistent with strategy evaluation helps you make adjustments when and where needed instead of waiting until something gets out of hand or simply loses touch with your business goals.
If you have someone working on marketing or SEO for your brand, make sure they come with experience and experience that actually matters – there’s no use getting someone who hasn’t worked much in retail before or who hasn’t seen how effective keyword strategies work for other local businesses. Shopping habits change quickly these days so if there’s something not working for you anymore – drop it like its hot. There’s always something better down the line anyway as long as you’re staying vigilant.