Picking the right set of keywords is one of the most important aspects of any business’s content marketing strategy.
If you own or work for a SaaS startup, you’ll need a SaaS blog—and the most effective keywords and keyword phrases to make it successful.
But that isn’t as simple as it may sound. Building a keyword strategy that helps your business bloom is a tricky task.
And finding keywords that connect directly to your target market takes a lot of time and research.
According to recent research, over 14% of startups and small businesses fail due to poor marketing.
Now, similar research shows that a major factor contributing to poor marketing is using keywords that seem relevant to the target market/niche but are completely irrelevant in reality.
You need to have the right keywords and phrases on your website, your blog, and your social media profiles. And if you don’t, you will struggle to get your message in front of the right target audiences.
To make sure that content and SEO are your business’s strong suit, we’ve gathered some details that you should help you move in the right direction.
Types Of Keywords With Examples
Let’s go through the types of keywords needed for successful marketing with examples, and some additional information that you should know.
Ready? Let’s get started!
Keywords By Length
Short-tail Keywords
Head keywords or short-tail keywords are search phrases with only one or two words.
It is beneficial for you to focus on short-tail keywords, because prospects search most often for them.
Mid-tail Keywords
Mid-tail keywords are a fusion of high-ranking short-tail keywords and the conversion-driven long-tail keywords (see below).
These keywords are usually 2-to-3 words in length.
Here’s an example: best SEM training online.
Long-tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are search phrases (3+ words) that are very specific to whatever you’re trying to sell or to whomever you’re trying to sell it.
Because of this specificity, they are searched for less frequently but the competition to rank for them is much lower than with short- or mid-tail keywords.
Buyer Keywords
Informational Keywords
Informational keywords are search phrases regarding a particular topic, person, product, or service.
Your target audience is expected to use these keywords to gain knowledge that simplifies their decision-making process.
Here’s an example: What is SEO.
Navigational Keywords
Navigational keywords are what searchers use to get a clear idea about specific products, services, and brands.
They’re also helpful when prospects want to see if they have found the right solution.
Here’s an example: SEO services near me.
Transactional Keywords
Transactional keywords take your audience all the way to the last stage of the purchase funnel.
These are what your target audience is expected to search for right before they decide whether or not to buy what you are selling.
Targeting Keywords
Market Segment Keywords
Market Segment Keywords are basically common terms that your target audience searches.
These keywords are generic, and are directly or indirectly connected to an industry or brand.
Here’s an example: productivity tool.
Customer-defining Keywords
Customer-defining keywords are terms or phrases that define a specific set of the target audience.
These are what your audience uses to define themselves.
Here’s an example: tools for marketing teams.
Product Keywords
Product keywords, as the name suggests, are the type of search phrases that define the product.
Your target audience uses these keywords to state that they are looking for a specific kind of product.
Here’s an example: best team chat apps.
Branded Keywords
Branded keywords are terms and search phrases that include a specific brand name along with another descriptive search phrase.
Here’s an example: Slack team chat.
Competitor Keywords
Competitor keywords are the keywords that focus on competing businesses, products, or services.
Here’s an example: for brands like Slack, Flock, ProofHub, etc, a good competitor keyword could be Basecamp alternatives or alternatives to Basecamp.
Geo-targeted Keywords
Geo-targeted keywords are search phrases that focus on a specific location.
Searchers use this kind of keyword to find results for areas they’re interested in.
Here’s an example: professional SEO services in Austin, Texas.
On-site Keywords
Primary Keywords
Primary keywords are the keywords that you always use before other secondary keywords on your webpages, blog, or in your other SEO-focused content.
These keywords are an important part of the whole keyword optimization approach and are quite effective in improving search traffic and search rank.
Here’s an example: project management.
LSI Keywords
LSI keywords — or related keywords — are search phrases that are a variation or a synonym of the primary keyword.
Here’s an example: If your primary keyword is project management, then your LSI keyword could be project management software or best project management tools.
How To Pick The Right Type Of Keywords
Below are a few tips to help you choose the right keywords and generate results that are worth your every marketing effort.
Think Like the Target Audience
Put yourself into your target audiences’ shoes when you are creating an initial list of keywords for your marketing plan.
Think about what you would type into Google if you were searching for a specific kind of product or service.
You can also consult your team and your current customers to get a clear idea of phrases they would use for your products and services.
Study Your Competition
Go through the list of your key competitors, visit their websites, read their online content, view their metatags, and carefully evaluate the keywords they are targeting.
By doing this, you should be able to figure out what else you can do to broaden your list of ideas.
Use a Keyword Research and Analysis Tool
Since it’s a lot to do all the keyword research and analysis manually, it only makes sense that you use keyword research tools.
You can select from a wide range of tools, like Ahrefs Keywords Explorer and Google Keyword Planner, to help you find potential target keywords. So do it!
Analyze and Understand the Trends
Once you’ve created your list of target keywords, don’t forget to monitor and analyze their results.
Look out for trending keywords and search phrases, along with new keywords your competitors may have added to their target keyword list.
Summary
Overall, sprinkling some fancy phrases into your SaaS blog and website isn’t going to bring traffic or generate revenue.
Why? Well, that’s because it’s not enough and it’s not right.
What you really need is time and effort invested in finding the right type of keywords and phrases that will help your blog (and your business) seem relevant to the target market/audience.
Also, your work doesn’t end with just choosing the right set of keywords. SEO and marketing are subject to change—always.
So, it is important that you keep monitoring your list of keywords, analyzing the results on a regular basis, and making the necessary updates — i.e. try new, trending keywords.
Just make sure that you, your business, and your services are easy to find. Things will work out well in the end.
Feature Image Credit: CC 0; Public Domain. Feature image sourced from Pixabay.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions stated in this post are that of the author, and Return On Now may or may not agree with any or all of the commentary.
Vartika Kashyap
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