How to Research Keywords for Better Content Creation and Audience Engagement

March 3, 2015

Keyword Research for Better Content Creation & Audience Engagement

Bill Hunt

President

Back Azimuth Consulting

@billhunt

searchmarketingexpo.com

@BillHunt #SMX #12A

• Identify all products and product categories • Understand the interest of the searcher • Map to the full buy cycle • Gather keyword demand • Identify anomalies in data • Develop share of search model • Close content gaps

Key Steps to Keyword Greatness


@BillHunt #SMX #12A

What do we sell?

Develop the master list of all products and services


@BillHunt #SMX #12A

Words that help us isolate a specific opportunity, interest, audience or need

12 year old whisky Cloud computing deployment strategy Underwater photography mask 50 bottle dual zone wine cooler

Understanding Keyword Qualifiers


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Detail all Product Attributes

Should be as descriptive as possible


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What does the searcher want?

1. They know about whisky age and quality

2. They know about whisky blends

3. They want “whisky” and not “Bourbon”

4. They do not have an immediate brand affinity

5. They are price sensitive

What can we deduce about this searcher?


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Cloud Computing Qualifiers Model

9/10 first page listings in are “What is cloud computing”

65% of all queries related to “what is cloud computing”


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Add Buy Cycle Modifiers

Leverage sale and buy cycle words

- Buy

- Sale

- Closeout

- Upgrade

- In stock

- Refurbished

- Special price

- Discount

What do they use when they want to buy?


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Focus on the Money

Focus on most valuable terms – high margin

Where do you make the most money?


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Keyword Strategy Worksheet


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Keyword Strategy Worksheet Pt2

Get worksheet at www.whunt.com/smx


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Typical

Spirits Cycle

Searcher Questions

Brand can

highlight

By

showing

Biz Objective

• What is Irish

Whiskey?

• What is the best

vodka?

• How to make a

Cosmo?

Overview of products

and spirit categories

• Product

Attributes

• Lifestyle

Integration

• Cocktail Options

Intro Brand/Product

• What is the best

18 year Whisky?

• Jameson vs.

Bushmills

Content to show

brand value and

connect with

consumers

• Product

Quality &

Attributes

• Market

Leadership

Frame the

Dialogue

• Absolut Citron

• Jameson Black

Barrel

• Product quality

• Integration

with Lifestyle

• Product Info

• Cocktails

• Lifestyle

Be Considered

• Absolut Warhol

Price

• Where to buy Chivas

18

• Price ranges

• Product

Options

• Product Value

• Where to buy

• Direct link to

buy

Convert to sale

• Chivas Facebook

• Absolut Events

• Cocktails with

Kahlua

• Ways to keep

in contact

• Events

• Social Media

• Campaigns

Expand Loyalty

Awareness Consideration Preference Purchase Loyalty

Searcher Content Requirements


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IT Managers who are “designing systems” to manage or procure them

Stencils were on a long page of “all stencils” vs. merchandising pages

The type of stencil helps understand the audience and size of company

UCS Visio stencils [Designing Solution]

1234x visio stencil [adding product]

Found New “Design Phase”


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Missed Share of Search Model

Cat\Buy Cycle Total Inspiration Discovery Design Purchase Relationship

Brand

Market

Paid

Earned

Missed 0*

Branded

Technology

Market 334M 38M 272M 98K 1M 23M

Paid 4M 52K 4M 348 34K 1,608

Earned 200M 34M 150M 6.6K 900K 15M

Missed 130M 3.5M (9%) 118M (44%) 92K (93%) 203K (18%) 7.7M (34%)

Technology

Market 610M 547M 51M 826K 1.3M 10M

Paid 15M 11.5M 3.6M 11K 20K 20K

Earned 207M 196M 5.7M 79K 58K 5M

Missed 388M 339M (62%) 42M (82%) 736K (89%) 1.3M (94%) 5M (49%)

Identified 111 “new insights” about the audience

Missing 93% of searchers aware of brand and almost ready to buy


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Search Cluster - Age

54% of queries for 25 Years or older


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How are they searching to buy?

Search Cluster – Brand + Purchase


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No Mention of

price


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Cluster – Branded Promo Items Adding Whisky Stones to giveaway

increased signup by 124%


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Provide content based on consumer interests…

Map The Content Experience

By Blend

Irish Whiskey

Bourbon

Single Malt

Canadian Whisky

By Age

25 Year Old

30 Year Old* for birthday

50 Year Old* for birthday

18 Year Old

By How to Drink

How to drink whiskey

How to drink Scotch

Whisky drinks


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600,000 question related searches (can, how, where) 27,211 different questions asked 124,023 “asks” on Social Media 15% of questions could lead to an up or cross sell

Deep Dive into Site Search Data

60% of questions

NO RESULTS


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200 new pieces of content developed – Optimized and Ranked in Search Engines Social Media team monitoring and outreach Average Sale $200 @ 10% immediate conversion

$4.5 Million Incremental Revenue

Monitizing the Questions


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Less Whining and More Doing

Segmenting & Weighting – what and what should we focus our

resources?

Insights – Understand the “real performance” of keywords

Collaborate - Share keywords and data between BU functions

Key Actions


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How to Research Keywords for Better Content Creation and Audience Engagement

Marketing

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