Keyword Research 101: Enhance Your FEC's Search Visibility

Solid keyword research is the backbone of any business website's SEO strategy. Whether you're optimizing your on-page SEO or creating engaging content, effective keyword research can significantly help you elevate your online presence. Today, I'm going to give you a rundown of tools and methods you can use today to refine your keyword research and gain better insight into your web traffic. That way, you can use this knowledge to strengthen your family entertainment center’s digital marketing strategy.

Let's dive right in!

Keyword Research & Why It Matters

Keyword research involves identifying and analyzing the search terms that your target audience uses to find products or services you offer. This process helps you uncover valuable insights into the language and phrases people use, allowing you to optimize your website content accordingly. This insight not only helps you master your SEO ground game but can also help you select which keywords to bid on in your paid search ads campaigns.

Effective keyword research informs your SEO strategy by ensuring that your content aligns with what potential customers are searching for. When done right, it can improve your website's visibility on search engines, attract more visitors, and ultimately increase your conversion rates. Although it could take time for your website to be ranked organically for your desired search terms, this is ultimately the most cost-effective and holistic way to do it.

Steps to Enhance Your Digital Marketing Strategy with Keywords

1. Define Your Center, Your Goals, & Your Audience

Start by outlining what your business offers, what you want to achieve with your digital marketing strategy, and your target audience. Is it higher search rankings, increased traffic, or better engagement for your facility's specialties (laser tag, bowling, bounce houses, etc.)? Most of the time, our client's goals are to simply book more parties, but are there particular types of parties you wish to promote? Goals like these will not only guide your keyword research process, and an in-depth understanding of your audience (who they are, what they need, how they search for information, etc.) will help you achieve the results you desire.

For instance, let's say you want to reach an audience that's looking to book a laser tag-themed birthday party for their kids.  What kinds of keywords would parents enter into search engines to find your particular services? Broadly speaking, it could be something like "kids birthday party venues near me," or "plan my kids birthday party." If your fun center's specialty is laser tag, the search term could be "laser tag birthday party near me," or "laser tag birthday party for my child." Incorporating these keywords into their relevant pages (and optimizing your meta descriptions as well) will help you pull traffic from people looking for what your facility has to offer.

Know your audience, define and highlight your offerings, and tailor the language on your pages for the keywords you wish to be found for.

2. Conduct Keyword Research & Optimize for SEO

Knowing your business, industry, and product offerings is a great start to mastering your keyword research ground game, but you shouldn't stop there. There are many tools one could use to gather a list of potential keywords. Focus on a mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords to capture both high-volume searches and more specific queries.

Here are some notable keyword research tools I find myself using the most when helping clients with their SEO and ads campaigns. I highly recommend you use them as well!

• Keywords Everywhere: A browser extension that provides keyword data on multiple platforms, including volume, CPC, and competition.
• Answer the Public: Offers content ideas based on actual user queries, helping you understand what questions your audience is asking.
• SpyFu: Allows you to analyze competitor keywords and discover valuable opportunities. You may use this platform for free in a limited capacity, or upgrade to a paid membership for full access.
• Google Search Console: Provides insights into the search terms leading to your website, helping you refine your focus.
• Google Analytics: Tracks keyword performance and user behavior on your site, offering data-driven insights. This platform also takes into account traffic from your paid digital ads.
• Google Ads' Keyword Planner: Assists in finding new keywords and estimating their performance. You can only use this tool after creating a Google Ads account.

There's a wide plethora of keyword research tools that exist, both free and costly. Oftentimes, one tool isn't enough. Experiment and find the stack of tools that work best for your particular strategy. Once you have a list of high-quality keywords for your site to rank for, incorporate your chosen keywords into your website's text, images, meta descriptions, and URLs. Ensure that your content remains natural and valuable to readers (also known as "readability," but perhaps that's a conversion for another time).

3. Create High-Quality Content

In the world of digital marketing, content is king. And with the services you offer, along with your in-depth knowledge of your target audience, the range of content you can put out is endless. The keywords you gather will help you generate content pieces that resonate with your audience and address their pain points. Use this data to write blog articles discussing the key details of your business, along with new features and attractions you plan to unveil to the public. You can also generate video content showcasing the scope of your facility to get people hyped up over what's in store for them when they visit.

Tip: Use Answer the Public for topic ideas. This is a great way to find relevant topic ideas to incorporate your keywords naturally.

4. Spy On & Analyze Competitor Strategies

Everyone has competition. It's very likely someone out there is outperforming you in key aspects of your business, like garnering a higher search ranking and generating higher business turnout. So spy on them! Go on their websites and look at the content they've generated, as well as the keywords they're targeting. Take note of things that are truly exemplary and see how you can incorporate that into your existing website model.

Tools like SpyFu can help you identify gaps and opportunities that you can capitalize on in your strategy. Remember, SpyFu allows you to use their service for free in a limited capacity unless you upgrade to a full membership.

5. Monitor and Adjust

Finally, regularly review your keyword performance using Google Analytics and Google Search Console. As you gather data, you can gain insight into search trends affecting your business and industry year over year, and month over month. By adjusting your strategy based on what's working (and what's not), you can maintain an edge over the competition and empower your business with the knowledge you gain!

Conclusion

By mastering keyword research and integrating it into your digital marketing strategy, you can enhance your online presence, attract more visitors, and achieve business growth. Start implementing these tactics today, and watch your business climb the search engine ranks.

Ready to Talk Strategy?

For personalized guidance and more advanced strategies, consider booking a call with us to see if we could tailor solutions for your specific needs. Together, we could unlock the full potential of your digital marketing efforts!

By the way, we now offer digital advertising services! Click this link and schedule a demo to get that conversation started!