I’m a firm believer that the best SEO research should have an outsized impact on not only your search strategy but your marketing program as a whole. And one of our favorite ways to apply SEO research is in your positioning and messaging.
That’s because—like it or not—Google probably knows more about what’s going on in your life than some of your closest friends and family. Why? Because most of us tell Google our deepest, darkest secrets. We tell it what we need, what we want and what we’re afraid of (“Is this headache caffeine withdrawal or brain cancer?”).
This means search volume is helpful for a heck of a lot more than choosing keywords; it’s a gold mine of user behavior data. So, while most SEOs aren’t brand strategists, with the right mindset, they can uncover insights that pack the same punch.
Let’s walk through a few use cases and examples.
1. Learn how your audience refers to your product
Are you using the same terminology as your audience to describe your offerings? Are you sure? Does the data back you up?
I often see this issue with earlier-stage businesses and tech brands that use esoteric language and jargon in their messaging, which can disconnect them from their audience’s terminology. Often, the difference is small: maybe you’re calling your technology a “platform,” but consumers are searching for “software.”
Now, these things aren’t always interchangeable, but if they are, using the same terminology as your audience can be huge, not only for SEO but for showing them that they’re in the right place, that you understand them and that you know what they need.
Example: An edu-tech client called their product a “math fluency solution,” a term with virtually 0 search volume. What terms did have search volume? “Math fluency programs” and a few variants. Sure, volume wasn’t crazy high—less than 100 searches/month, in fact. But anyone searching was likely to be within our target audience, and after verifying this language shift with a few customers, we opted to switch our messaging to match. This single change (along with corresponding copy changes) contributed to a nearly 7x increase in organic search leads year-over-year (YoY), and a 20% increase in page engagement across all traffic channels.
2. Highlight the right features for the right audience
Keyword research isn’t going to define your North Star or unique value proposition, but it can help you understand which features or benefits are most in demand and prioritize messaging on your site accordingly.
There are three metrics you’ll want to assess here. I’ll use a company selling project management tool software subscriptions as an example because, hey, what marketer can’t relate to project management tools?
Overall search volume
Are people searching for free project management tools? Marketing project management tools? How to automate their project management? Keyword search volume data can give you an initial pulse on demand. This isn’t to say that a lack of search volume indicates less value, but it could lead you to shift your priorities or change which messaging you use where.
Competition index
How competitive are keywords with certain modifiers? Are there a dozen other project management platforms out there touting how well their solution works for marketing teams (“project management tools for marketing”) while no one is really talking to a developer audience? These types of insights can help you identify low-hanging fruit opportunities for SEO purposes, but they can also indicate where your brand has important competitive advantages that you should leverage in messaging across channels.
Search volume trends over time
Most SEO tools show search volume based on a 12-month rolling average. That’s great for an initial gauge of interest level that smoothes out seasonality, but it’s not ideal for determining whether a product or feature has growth potential. Back to our project management example, a quick search using Google’s Keyword Planner tool indicates massive growth in search volume for “AI project management tools” over the past year and a half (be sure to extend the time frame to at least 2 years to get a better picture of long-term trends). In contrast, search volume for “easy project management tools” has fallen drastically year-over-year.
The nice thing here is that you can use features your audience already knows they need or pain points they already know they have as an introduction to features and benefits they haven’t even thought of yet.
3. Carve out a niche through messaging
Using messaging to reposition a product or service may require more buy-in from non-marketing teams, but when it works well, it’s one of my personal favorites.
Let’s say you’re researching keywords and find that many keywords that are the closest fit for your offerings are simply too competitive for you to rank realistically. Or—from a less SEO-focused perspective—it will be challenging to differentiate your product or service in a commoditized space.
Can you “rebrand” your offering to break through the noise? It will require you to get creative, but allow me to provide an example for some inspiration.
Example: One of my all-time favorite clients sold bread products. They had carved out a fantastic niche in their market: They were one of only a few brands that sold sprouted grain bread and they also sold healthier alternatives to other bread products such as pizza crusts.
But one product had a tough time moving: their whole-grain rolls. If you’ve ever spent more than 30 seconds in the bread aisle at your grocery store, you likely know that whole-grain rolls are not a unique product.
So, it was time to think outside the box. If the product couldn’t compete with other rolls, what could it compete with?
Looking through the client’s blog roll of recipes, we had an idea: slider buns. There was a whole lot of search volume and almost no competition.
First, the product name and details on the website changed. It was an out-of-the-park success. Then, the clients changed everything—down to the packaging—to reflect the product pivot. The product itself, on the other hand, remained exactly the same.
4. Find opportunities to expand market share
Looking to move your strategy and messaging further down the funnel? Use keyword research to identify which competitors have customers looking to brand switch or where your audience looks to expand their consideration set.
Example: A FinTech startup wanted to increase brand awareness and acquire new users. When news broke that one of their competitors would be shutting down, we got to work identifying how to capitalize on this from an SEO perspective. Using Google Trends, we found a sudden spike in searches for “[competitor name] alternatives.” The discovery led to crafting an entire campaign around this audience and intent, including an SEO-optimized landing page. The campaign drove a massive spike in new users and assets under management.
But this strategy doesn’t need to be limited to competitors going out of business. Often, you can easily spot which competitors have the most customers at risk of brand switching through search insights like these. Also, your competitors may already be in your audience’s consideration set, but those consumers could still want additional options to evaluate and compare. Typically, these customers don’t need much education or convincing—they just need to see that you’re a better alternative to what they’re already considering or paying for.
Takeaways
Of course, SEO metrics like search volume aren’t everything. While we can track trends over time and see search volume breakdowns by region, this data doesn’t readily tell us who is searching or their intent. That’s why I always recommend verifying any findings, hunches or ideas with non-SEO or even non-marketing team members (think: the product team) or, even better, with customers.
Can much or all of this be determined through client interviews, focus groups and other brand strategy research? Of course! But, for small to medium-sized businesses, SEO insights can be a whole lot quicker and more accessible.
So, whether you’re evaluating your whole business or a specific product, try viewing your next batch of keyword research from a new perspective. You might get a whole lot more value than you expect.
Ready to elevate your brand’s SEO research? Join AMA Chicago’s upcoming events and stay connected for the latest marketing trends and insights. Also, join our SEO Special Interest Group. Follow us on social media for updates or visit AMA Chicago today to learn more!
Author Sarah Naatz | LinkedIn
Sara Naatz is the founder and chief strategist at Rebel Cause Digital, a search marketing and content strategy consulting firm based out of Chicago, IL. Sara’s technical expertise combined with her holistic understanding of marketing and business enables her and her team to deliver value far beyond the boundaries of traditional SEO and SEM, creating scalable growth for startups and mid-size businesses around the world.
