GQ.fyi (YC W21) Is Hiring Rails engineers to build GTP3 for customer research

Article URL: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/great-question/jobs/AokShrj-full-stack-rails-engineer

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GQ.fyi (YC W21) Is Hiring Rails engineers to build GTP3 for customer research

Article URL: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/great-question/jobs/AokShrj-full-stack-rails-engineer Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35027517 Points: 1 # Comments: 0

Local SEO Keyword Research (Step-by-Step Guide)

Have you heard the line ‘ if you build it, they will come’? In case you don’t know, it’s from the late 80s Kevin Costner movie ‘Field of Dreams.’

It’s an inspiring quote, but when local business owners set up their websites, it doesn’t really hold true. They believe once they’re set up online, prospects start flocking to their doors wanting quotes, making orders, or signing up for their mailing lists. However, that isn’t the case for many people.

That’s not just conjecture on my part. Research shows that 77.23 percent of local business owners surveyed struggled to get online visibility.

According to the same survey, 42.85 percent believe that Google favors larger brands. Now, don’t get me wrong. High-profile businesses do tend to perform better online simply because more people are looking for them. However, that doesn’t mean your local company website can’t compete for local keywords.

All it takes is some careful local keyword research and a detailed local SEO strategy, and that’s exactly what I’m going to talk about today.

Why Is Local SEO Important?

Local SEO is valuable because it helps small companies reach potential customers who are looking for products or services in their area.

For example, if you own a home repair business, you would want to target people in your local area who may need your services. In other words, local keyword research targets potential customers who are already interested in what you have to offer.

When done correctly, local keyword research:

Generates more leads and sales.
Helps you rank higher in local search results, increasing website traffic.
Makes it easier for searchers to find you when they’re searching for local businesses on their mobile devices.
Builds trust and credibility with potential customers through reviews.

Research also supports the importance of local SEO. According to Statista, 35 percent of consumers go online multiple times weekly to find local businesses.

That’s not all, though. The research shows that 21 percent of consumers use the internet daily to find local businesses.

These stats demonstrate that as a local business, you need to be visible online, but perhaps you need some more evidence? Okay, here goes.

There are plenty of case studies showing how small businesses can benefit from local keyword research and SEO optimization. Just search for ‘local SEO case studies’, and you can see what I mean.

What Makes Local Keyword Research Unique

As I’ve already detailed, the main focus of local SEO and local keyword research is attracting more leads and gaining more customers.

However, aside from using local SEO to target a particular geographic area, there’s plenty more that makes local SEO different.

The most obvious is Google’s ranking factors. With local searches, the search engine giant considers several vital areas, such as:

The searcher’s location
The sentiment and keywords in online reviews
Name, address, and phone number quotations
A Google My Business profile and relevant keywords
Your Google Maps star rating
Social media interest

To improve your local SEO further, Google offers these tips:

Verify your location, to help improve visibility in local search.
Keep your opening hours up to date, especially around holiday times. This lets local consumers know you’re open, so they don’t have a wasted visit.
Manage/respond to reviews, to show you appreciate and act on feedback. Review management is also essential as positive reviews inspire consumer confidence, and can enhance business visibility.
Add photos and in-store listings. Images showcase your store and products, to give customers a deeper understanding of what you’re selling and whether the products are right for them.

Google also considers relevance, distance, and prominence (your overall web presence), including content, backlinks, and directory listings.

Another factor that makes local keyword research unique is the emphasis on modifiers. The search terms you integrate into writing must be super specific to your location. For example, if you’re a business in Austin, Texas, you would want to use keywords like ‘Austin restaurants’ rather than just ‘restaurants.’

Additionally, voice search is essential to local SEO. Research shows that 74 percent of people use voice search at least weekly to find local businesses, while 76 percent of voice search users choose smart speakers at least once a week, with most searching daily.

A further survey from SEMrush suggests optimizing voice search for each smart speaker (Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, etc.) and has some helpful tips to enable you to do this:

Infographic from SEMrush showing facts about leveraging voice search for local businesses.

The above graphic also includes some useful tips you can introduce into your local keyword research strategy.

How To Find The Best Local Keywords

You know the importance of local keyword research, but how do you discover the best ones to use? Fortunately, it’s not as complicated as it may seem. Just follow these tips.

Find Industry-Related Local Keywords

To do this, first, consider what you offer and what services or products you want to promote; then brainstorm a list of keywords related to your business.

Alternatively, a simple way to find local-based keywords is using Google search results. Type in your main keyword and scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, you’ll see a section called ‘related searches.’ For example, a small business located in Miami could target the keyword ‘Miami dentist.’

Then:

Once you have a list of keywords, do online research to see how popular they are. You can use tools like Ubersuggest, Google Keyword Planner, or Google Trends to get this information. You could also use tools like Ubersuggest to analyze competitor keywords and see if it’s feasible to overtake them in the rankings.
Another way is to type a keyword into the Google search bar and watch as the autocomplete suggestions appear, giving you some great ideas for related local keywords.

Use Keyword Modifiers

Using keyword modifiers lets you focus your efforts on specific areas or types of searches for targeted traffic and better results from your local SEO efforts.

These modifiers can include location-based terms like ‘near me,’ ‘in my area,’ or ‘local.’ Or you might use ‘car mechanic Cincinnati’ or ‘local mechanic Cincinnati.’

Again, use Autosuggest, related search, or competitive keyword research to see the terms others are using.

Consider Keyword Intent

What are your prospects looking for? Are they looking to buy a product or service, find out more information, or just browsing? Once you know the searcher’s intent, you can better target your keywords and content to meet their needs. Use the same techniques, like Autosuggest, to get an idea of the keywords users are typing in.

Google Places Search Bar

Another great tool for finding local keywords is the Google Places search bar.

A map of Sydney, Australia from Google Maps.

When you do a geographical search by entering a location in the search bar, you get a ‘pick list,’ which includes places and likely search terms.

Once you have a list of keywords, it’s essential to analyze them and determine which ones are the best fit for your business.

Implicit Vs. Explicit Local Keywords

When doing local keyword research, there are two main ways to target your audience: implicit and explicit.

Implicit targeting is when a user searches for a term like ‘hardware store’ or ‘DIY.’ but doesn’t include specifics like location.

In simple terms, Google basically guesses what you’re looking for and offers your location-based results.

To find out what implicit local keywords might be important to your business, do some research online and talk to your customers. Ask them how they would search for a company like yours if they were looking for one in their area.

On the other hand, explicit local keyword targeting involves search terms that people use when looking for your product or service. For example, ‘Dentist in Santa Barbara’ or ‘Hairdresser in Venice Beach.’

How To Use Your Competition In Your Local Keyword Research

Can you really steal your competitors’ keywords? Absolutely! Just use a tool to conduct competitive research to find out what keywords they’re using.

There are a few ways to assess and use your competition in your local keyword research:

1. Look at the keywords they are targeting and see if there are any that you’re also targeting. Chances are, if your competitors are targeting a keyword, it’s because it’s profitable and has a lot of search volume.

2. See what their website looks like and how they rank for their target keywords. This can give you ideas on how to improve your website and rank higher for your target keywords. For less competition, you could take the opposite approach and target keywords your rivals aren’t using. Just make sure they’ve got a worthwhile search volume.

3. Review what content they are creating around their target keywords.

4. Look at the SERPs and pay attention to keywords. These terms are usually in bold.

Now let’s look at some tools to make your local keyword research easier.

The Best Local SEO Keyword Research Tools

I’ve already referenced my tool. Ubersuggest, but it’s worthy of another mention here. It’s an easy-to-use tool that delivers:

Keyword and content ideas
Keywords by traffic
Similar websites
And plenty more besides

For example, if I search for ‘digital marketing agencies California,’ I get:

Keyword ideas from Ubersuggest about digital marketing.

You can also choose from ‘prepositions,’ ‘related,’ ‘comparisons,’ and ‘questions,’ to get a better idea of search intent.

Other tools to consider:

Google Keyword Planner. With this tool, you can see competitive keywords and get ideas for other related keywords.
Moz Local to get a free listing score and see where you stand.
SERPStat to help you further analyze your competition and for SEO purposes.

Ultimately, the best way to find the right keywords for your business is to experiment with different tools and techniques and analyze what works for you.

FAQs

What is Local Keyword Research?

Local keyword research aims to identify relevant keywords that people are likely to use when searching for businesses like yours online.

How do I research keywords for local SEO?

Using the right tools is essential. After all, if potential customers can’t find you in your area, you’re missing out on a lot of business. Ubersuggest, Google Keyword Planner, and Moz’s Keyword Planner all get you off to a great start. Then there’s competitive analysis, viewing the SERPs to see what’s ranking, and using autocomplete.

How do I find the best local keywords?

When it comes to doing local keyword research, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. Consider what your customers might search for when they want to find your business and brainstorm. Then, conduct local keyword research with tools like Ubersuggest, Google’s Autosuggest, or People Also Ask. You can also view the SERPs and look for keywords.

Conclusion

Local keyword research should be an essential part of any small business marketing plan.

By understanding the keywords people in your area are searching for, you can create content and advertising that speaks to them directly, and by using the right tools like Ubersuggest, it’s easy to find out what those keywords are.

Search intent is also a vital part of online visibility, so don’t overlook that area if you want local customers to discover you online.

Do you use local keyword research? Share how you got your business on the map below.

5 Ways to Use Google Trends for SEO Research

As marketers, our job is to capitalize on what’s popular in the “here and now.”

When big news hits, how does the data get interpreted? One great way to figure out what is popular is with Google Trends.

This tool identifies current and existing trends in search marketing. You can then take what you’ve learned and apply it to any (and all) of your marketing strategies.

This article will help you understand how to use Google Trends and the specific steps you can take to maximize your efforts.

What is Google Trends?

Google Trends is an incredible tool that helps marketers identify trending topics across varying industries. While initially created for journalists, the world of journalism and marketing have a lot in common.

Both the journalist and the marketer are vying for attention. Whatever it is they’re trying to do, they want to get the attention of as many people as possible using information that is relevant and interesting to the audience.

In comes Google Trends. This resource will show you what topics are currently trending and how to use Google Trends to draw the attention of your chosen audience.

For example, in October 2021, the Pittsburgh Steelers are the number one trending search on Google. This could be due to a recent football game during the busy football season.

Google tells us this is a popular topic, so it might be a good idea to create some content around that topic. Of course, there are a million other factors that go into deciding what content to create, but Google Trends at least tells us what is popular.

If you have a specific topic that you want to cover but aren’t sure if it’s trending, you can search for it in the search bar at the top.

For example, I decided to search “cryptocurrency” to see what Google had to say.

A google trends chart showing the popularity of cryptocurrency over time.

As you can see, you get a chart ranging from 0 to 100, with 100 being incredibly high interest and 0 being nearly no interest.

A few times across the last two years, cryptocurrency has spiked as a highly searched keyword on Google. This could be due to the release of new and popular coins or a lot more people getting established in crypto and keeping track of trends.

Why Should You Use Google Trends for Marketing?

Even if you aren’t involved in content creation, you should know how to use Google Trends. Marketers who use this tool do so because they understand the importance of capitalizing on trends.

We’re often very focused on producing the most evergreen content possible, but we should also work to maximize our efforts by finding the right time and place to put out a certain piece of content. Here’s how to use Google Trends:

Find Interesting Topics

Whether you’re a blogger, content marketer, or SEO professional, you need to find interesting topics people want to read about. In the SEO world, we’re so focused on our keywords and technical SEO that we sometimes forget that people actually want to read about topics that interest them.

A great way to find what interests people the most is Google Trends. The tool will tell you how much interest surrounds a specific search phrase so you can determine whether or not it’s worth creating content about it.

Keep in mind that not all popular trends are a good choice. To work, look for popular trends that are also related to your industry.

Inspire Creativity

Google Trends is not only useful for written content, but visual content as well. If you’re trying to figure out what to do with your social media or how to improve a featured image on your blog post, Google Trends can help you figure out what your audience wants to see.

By creating a relevant and interesting image, you’re not only generating attention for your content, but showing your target audience you understand them and know exactly what they want. This has many SEO-related benefits, too.

Identify (and Leverage) Seasonal Trends

If you’re in the travel, e-commerce, or tourism industries, your business might be seasonal. Identifying when to stock up on certain items can be difficult.

For example, let’s say you sell a piece of bass fishing equipment in your e-commerce store. You could use Google Trends to see when in the year bass fishing trends the most. Let’s take a look for ourselves.

As you can see from the image, the interest in bass fishing gradually increases through the late winter and into spring. It peaks in early summer and then drops back down as you move into fall and winter again—at least in the Northern hemisphere.

This would tell an e-commerce store owner that it’s time to really start pushing your marketing campaigns in the late winter, because this is when interest is trending. You may also want to increase your inventory to prevent backorders.

5 Ways to Use Google Trends for Marketing

Now that you understand some of the motivation behind how to use Google Trends for SEO, let’s look at the actionable steps you can take to make a difference in your various marketing campaigns.

1. Get Ideas for Blog Posts

Google Trends is a great way to find new and exciting topics to write about. If you’re a writer, you know how challenging it can be to produce content your readers will love and will rank well on Google. Google Trends is a sure-fire method to find good topics because they tell you exactly what is trending.

Best of all, they provide you with specific topics and queries around trending search phrases. Let’s stick with the bass fishing example and scroll down a little bit. One is related topics, and the other is related queries. Here’s what it looks like:

Generate blog post ideas using google trends.

Now you can expand on the theme and write about related topics. Major League Fishing and Bass Anglers Sportsman Society were some top related topics. Based on that, perhaps they were trending since Major League Fishing launched in 2022. On top of that, it was Bass Pro’s 50^th anniversary, making a big year in fishing overall.

It’s important to choose blog post topics based on trends if you’re writing something that is time-sensitive. If it’s not evergreen content, it needs to be completely relevant to your audience at the time you publish it.

2. Get Ideas for Social Media Campaigns

Google Trends searches aren’t only for organic search marketing; you can use them for social media as well. Building a large social following and constantly coming up with interesting content to promote is a tall task. Google Trends can help.

We can use the related queries section to identify trending topics and build creatives and copy around that. For example, we see a few searches relating to a bass pro fishing tournament. If we run a fishing e-commerce store, perhaps we want to create a social media campaign on that topic. We could use the tournament to draw attention to our brand and maybe mention professional fishers using gear or lures we offer.

Another interesting query is “winter bass fishing lures.” That is one of those seasonal examples I was talking about. Now might be a good time to create a social media campaign around our best fishing lures for the winter season. People are preparing to fish when it’s cold and we can use that to our advantage.

3. Use It to Improve SEO

One obvious area to use Google Trends for SEO is in organic search. It can also help with keyword research. Not everyone is using Google Trends, so you can use it to identify relevant keywords and then use free SEO tools like Ubersuggest to decide if it’s a valuable keyword or not.

Best of all, you can look at years’ worth of data so you can plan for the future by knowing whether or not a topic is evergreen enough to put in the time and effort.

Google trends chart for the term bass fishing.

If we take the same bass fishing keyword and spread it out across five years, it becomes more apparent that the trend will continue for years.

Each year the volume rises and falls during the same months. This can fuel your marketing strategy and help you prepare for the months ahead.

4. Find Long-tail Keywords for Paid Campaigns

Finding the right keywords for your paid campaigns is crucial to your success. It’s also important from a financial standpoint, because the sooner you find the right keywords, the sooner you can start capitalizing on paid ads.

If we narrow our bass fishing search down to 90 days, it tells us more about what is trending right now.

long tail keyword research in google trends.

There are three long-tail keywords, with one of them being “bass pro fishing bibs”. A bib is what fishers wear to cover their clothes when they get into the water. They also wear them when it’s getting cold as opposed to waders. This tells us fishers are looking for gear to help them keep warm as the temperatures start to drop.

If we’re not currently selling fishing bibs on our e-commerce store, this would also tell us that now is the time to do so. We may create a paid campaign around that type of product with an image of someone using a bib in a fall-like setting.

This would appeal to our target audience, and we know the term is trending, so there should be plenty of paid search volume.

5. Find Trending Topic Ideas for Webinars

When you’re creating a webinar, you want to reach the right people (those interested in what you have to offer) at the right time. Google Trends can help you do just that.

Sticking with the fishing theme, perhaps you’re selling a course on bass fishing and you’re using a free webinar to draw people in and get them to buy the course. You’ll want to use currently trending topics in social media and PPC advertising to get these people’s attention. You also need to know what anglers are actively searching for on the internet.

In comes Google Trends. The tool lays it all on the line for you to start speaking their language. There should be no need to guess or take chances between proper keyword research and Google Trends.

FAQs

Is Google Trends free to use?

Yes, it is a free tool from Google. Google Trends takes a quick look at what’s trending in the news, what people are currently searching for, and how things change over time. These searches can be based on season or geographic location.

Can Google Trends be used for SEO?

Google Trends is an excellent tool that can support SEO through niche content planning. Put in the keyword you’re curious about following and gain valuable insights into how many people are talking about that topic and other closely related topics. This allows you to curate a highly personalized SEO strategy.