Alternative Methods to Source Keywords for your SEO Campaign

Most marketers will utilize mainstream tools like Google’s Keyword Planner or Moz’s Keyword Explorer to source keyword ideas, which could lead to you targeting the same set of keywords as one of your competitors. While this type of tools is useful, in order to get ahead of the competition, sometimes you have to get creative. Here are some pointers on how to discover new keywords to use in your SEO strategy.

Ask Your Customers

One of the best sources of inspiration could be your current customers. You can contact them directly, by phone, e-mail or any other messaging medium and try to ask questions like:

• How do they perceive your industry?
• How can you or your product/service be improved?
• What are their 2019 goals and how you can help them in their pursuit?

Examine their language along with the words they use and you may unearth keywords you haven’t thought of previously.

This will also be an insightful exercise as common topics may arise from different customers when you ask for their feedback.

Explore Platforms Customers Use

When you ask your customers for feedback, include a question that might indicate where they get their industry news from. With that information, you can begin scouting these sources for relevant keywords.

Look at relevant and recent articles and other pieces of media to spot what is trending and is related to your product or service. If you want to be always notified about new content on certain topics, then you can use Google alerts.

Browse Social Media

Social media is a great medium to gauge customer sentiment and identify changes in customer behaviour. Hence, social platforms are grounds to study your industry and hunt for new keywords.

Users will generally have their posts formulated the way they naturally speak, which could be containing interesting keywords to target in your campaigns. Social media is also the place most people turn to when they have an issue or a question.

On whichever platform you look at, take note of the broader vocabulary they are using. Look for questions and common topics users gravitate towards.

Talk to Your Team

The sales and customer service department has the most contact with your customers. Naturally, they might have common questions, issues and suggestions that are relevant to your product or service. Simply by sparking a discussion can bring about interesting keyword opportunities for your marketing.

While not everyone has SEO expertise, a great way to maximize the output of the team is with a brainstorm session. Build a map of all ideas that come up in the discussion and then filter the ones that are relevant to SEO and marketing.