Connect to Your Customer in Search with Their Words

Keywords are the way you can connect with your potential customer in search engines.  They are the words your customer may enter or speak into a search engine program, like Google, to find something they need.  If your piece of content is themed around those words and you have placed those words in defining places in your content then your piece could be served up as an answer to your customer's request.

Keywords are beneficial to your business because they connect you with the searching audience and they tell the search engine programs what your content means.  Search engines programs travel the internet looking for things to put in their catalog.  When they read your blog or website they try to decipher what your pieces are about so that they pull you out as an answer to someone with a question.  If you as a creator help search engine programs understand your content you help make the connection possible to your customers.

The process is similar to an old library card catalog.  Books were available by author, title, or main idea.  Users would go to do an alphabetical lookup based one of those three things.  A search engine is a card catalog on superfoods.  With keywords you are telling the search engine what's important in your content, and that helps connect with your people who search later.

Find words to connect with your people

Let's look at a few of the simplest ways to find these connecting words:

1. Use the search engine's AutoComplete feature.  When you as a user type into a search engine program it begins to finish your word as you type.  A drop down box opens with the words matching what you are typing. This is called autocomplete and it is meant to make it easier for you to make requests of a search engine.  If you look at the suggestions given in the box that opened as you type you will see many ideas for different words that go with the word you started to type.  Use these words to make your keywords more specific and rich.
2. Use the search engine's People Also Ask section. In this section you will see alternate questions people have asked that are connected to that idea you put into search. It is a great way to find different ways to approach your topic like your customer. 
   
3. Visit industry association or conference websites.  Your industry is discussing topics important for success in business all the time.  Visit the main website or conference site to find out what current conversations are happening in your industry.  These conversations can give you clues into the important trials or tribulations of your customers, those things that customers are searching to resolve.  
   

Use these tips to look for words, phrases, sentences, and questions your customer may ask of a search engine.  These 'keywords' when used in your content will bring you closer to your audience looking for solutions online.