The Real Benefits of SEO: 3 Vital Local Keyword Research TipsIn the ongoing competition for page rank on today’s largest search engines, it is possible for a small business to compete on a limited budget? Competing with big businesses can be accomplished on a budget; that is, if you know which SEO strategies to employ. When creating an effective SEO strategy, one of the most critical considerations is keyword selection. Choosing targeted, localized, and relevant keywords are key to a business’s online marketing success.

As you begin to build your localized keyword search strategy, consider the following 3 research tips:

  1. Keyword Brainstorming-

    Before locating and reviewing keyword statistical data, spend time whiteboarding possible keywords and keyword phrases that a consumer may utilize when searching for your business’s products and services. Place yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer; sit down at your computer and start typing search terms. Next, review your website’s analytics over the past several months. What keywords and keyword phrases have been yielding the most traffic for your site?

  2. Identifying Target Keywords-

    Now that you have generated a list of possible target keywords, it is time to narrow down your selections to those worth investing into. How can you accomplish this task? Well, you could utilize paid platforms such as Hubspot, or if you are on a limited marketing budget, you can utilize free resources such as Google’s keyword tool. Research each of the keyword phrases that you have identified, looking for the number of local monthly searches. Choose keyword and keyword phrases that yield over 100, but fewer than 1500 local monthly searches as beyond this search figure is often significant competition.

  3. Finalize Target Keywords-

    Which keywords are utilized by consumers for information gathering purposes and which are used during the buying process? Is there a difference? Review statistical data on both the singular and plural versions of your targeted keyword phrases. Search each identified keyword phrase to ascertain how many companies you will be competing against. Also, review your current search engine results page (SERP) rank. Higher rankings place you in a more competitive environment for keywords than lower rankings. Choose keyword phrases likely to yield results in a less competitive space when starting out with a limited marketing budget.

While competing in the realm of SEO initially on a budget may require more legwork on your behalf, it can be accomplished. Over time, as you collect results to evaluate, modify your SEO keyword campaign to include those producing result and limiting or eliminating those that do not. After repetitive trial and error, you will find the niche keywords that will yield the type of website traffic and conversion results you are after.

Do you have a keyword research tool or tip that worked for your business? Share your comments below.

At about slide 28 of this slideshare I began to think about what a great curated blog post it would make for the PageLadder blog. It was at slide 34 that I +New posted in wordpress to create the following feature about The HubSpot Culture Code.

We recently published a public beta of the HubSpot Culture Code slide deck. This deck started out as an internal document years ago, and as a company who values transparency (and inbound marketing), we decided to share it with the community. –Dharmesh Shah

Make sure you check out the above linked blog post for comments by Dharmesh Shah and a top 11 highlight list.

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Top 20 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week August 9, 2013Does your online marketing efforts need a boost?

Whether you are a business owner trying to get a pulse on inbound marketing techniques or a marketing manager looking for fresh online marketing ideas, this content round up is jam packed with resources that are exactly what your business needs to drive more leads and ultimately more revenue.
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Top 20 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: August 2, 2013Remember in school when you didn’t want to read the whole book and instead picked up the small yellow and black striped Cliff Notes version? If you liked Cliff Notes back then you are going to love the overall theme of our Top 20 Inbound Marketing Articles blog post series. In this week’s content marketing section I came across an outstanding post that can be considered the holy grail of content marketing Cliff Notes. It’s a parallax scrolling site that has rich content and is easily digestible.
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Top 20 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: July 26, 2013Local Search posts were killing it this week! Straight forward and to the point the Local Search roundup is worth a deeper look. We have mentioned throughout our site and blog the important of the correct Business Name, Address and Phone Number on your web page. This establishes your location for local searches and is basically the starting point for search engines.
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Top 20 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: July 19, 2013If content is king then video is its knight! Don’t miss our round up on video marketing posts and all the awesome types of video content you should be producing. Some changes to keep an eye on is mobile marketing. For better or worse we are highly engaged with our smartphones and searching for things online is second nature. A few of this weeks posts will touch on using smartphone usage to your advantage by using mobile marketing and local search to capture more in store sales.
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Top 20 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: July 12, 2013STORIES are the most organic and effective way to build your brand online, and that’s why over 43 billion dollars have been spent on content marketing this year alone! Whether you are already advertising through content, or you are exploring your brand’s options, you’re in good company. Check out this week’s top articles with helpful tips to increase your online marketing success.
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Top 20 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: July 5, 2013You can’t paint everything with the same color. Your marketing efforts need to reflect your creativity in the same way that your individual business sets itself apart. This weeks round up paints a colorful picture of all the facets of content marketing.
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4 Simple Strategies to Increase Your Blog AudienceIncreasing the audience for your blog requires more than excellent writing skills. Even the most up to date blogs and content packed blogs find it difficult to reach the best business prospects. Although the creation of thought provoking content is vital to maintaining your audience, it is equally important to focus on building your audience. Blog audiences are much more than loyal readers, they are your customers, the advocates for your brand and prospects that have the ability to share the information you provide in order to help increase your audience. The following strategies will help you focus on growing your audience.
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Top 20 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: June 28, 2013 “There’s no crying in baseball.” Or social media marketing, for that matter. This week’s social media marketing posts are all about analogies. From baseball, to rock stars to the Game of Thrones, we look at marketing from all angles in this week’s round up.
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