As a coach, trainer, or wellness entrepreneur, you need a strong online presence to connect with prospective clients, win new business, and increase your brand’s visibility on both a local and global scale.
That means you need to spend thousands of dollars per month on expensive SEO services, right?
Not necessarily.
While optimizing your online presence is crucial so prospective clients can find and hire you, there is a lot that you can do on your own without sacrificing 90% of your marketing budget to SEO.
Google keyword research is a great place to start. By researching what your prospects are searching for online, and creating content to match those searches, you’ll help your ideal clients find you more easily in search engines. The easier you are to find, the more likely prospects will be to visit your website, opt-in to your mailing list, and hire you as a coach!
Here’s how to use Google keyword research to make your website, landing page, or blog stand out from the crowd:
Step One: Think like a client
If you were in the market for a personal trainer or life coach, what Google keyword or keywords would you enter into your search bar?
Consider what words and phrases describe your business or service, as well as what words or phrases people are likely to search for.
If you’re a personal trainer living in Denver, you might try..
“Personal trainer Denver”
“Weight loss Denver”
“Top personal trainers Denver”
Enter these search terms into Google and see what comes up. Keep in mind that most people performing a Google search have no idea who you are or what kind of services you offer. That’s why it’s important to keep your keyword search terms somewhat broad at first, as you learn how to think like a client.
If you offer a Gold VIP Training Package, for instance, chances are prospective clients won’t be searching for “Gold VIP Training Package” – after all, they don’t yet know it exists!
Find 5 to 10 broad search phrases (also known as “Head terms” in SEO-Land) that are applicable to your business, and move on to Step Two.
Step Two: Get specific
Now that you have some broad search terms, it’s time to get more specific with longer-tail keywords. A long-tail keyword is just a fancy way of saying “a keyword that’s 3 to 5 words in length.” The longer your Google keyword is, the more likely it is to drive qualified prospects to your website or blog.
Think about it…
Would you rather try to close a client who searched for “personal training”, or a client who searched for “Denver personal trainer hourly rate”? The second keyword set indicates a prospective client who’s ready to buy, while the first indicates, well, just about anyone on earth vaguely interested in personal training.
To find great long-tail keywords, begin with a brainstorming session.
Take one of the broad terms you came up with, and write down all of the different Google keyword searches people might make related to that topic.
If your broad phrase is “Personal trainer Denver”, you might try…
- Who is the best personal trainer in Denver?
- How to become a personal trainer Denver
- Denver personal trainers cost per hour
This list will serve as the basis for your Google keyword research. Don’t worry if some of the ideas you come up with seem far-fetched. Simply brainstorm freely and see what emerges – sometimes the most outlandish expressions will spark ideas for other keyword phrases that are absolutely perfect.
Step Three: Do your research
Now comes the fun part, where we take the search topics you’ve brainstormed and see what Google has to say about them.
Recent algorithm updates at Google have changed the way we search for relevant keywords, but they haven’t changed the fact that keyword research is crucial to driving targeted traffic to your website.
There are almost as many keyword research tools out there as there are fitness blogs, so we’ve narrowed it down to the top 3:
- Google Keyword Planner – if you want to know how keywords are performing on Google, why not go straight to the source? Google’s Keyword Planner is a free app available to anyone with a Google AdWords account (also free).
Keyword Planner helps you choose great keywords by showing you how many times those keywords are being searched for online. You can also find out how much the competition is paying to advertise using those keywords, and how much traffic is being generated with those keywords.
EXTRA BONUS STEALTH TOOL: TRY THIS FOR KEYWORD RESEARCH AND LET YOUR MIND BE BLOWN!!!!! (Don’t let the name scare you….)
Keep in mind that keywords can be low, medium, or high competition, which indicates how many other people are trying to drive traffic using those keywords. If you’re a trainer or coach just starting your business, you’ll want to stay away from high competition keywords that are likely to be dominated by others with bigger marketing budgets.
- Google Trends – Google Trends is a fast, free, easy way to see which search terms are trending on Google. Get an instant snapshot of which words are popular where, how often they’re being search for, and how related keywords sets are performing. You can also see Google’s projections for future performance of your keywords over the coming year.
- Google Search – While it may sound simple, one of the easiest ways to do Google keyword research is to simply type your search terms from Step Two into your browser. Google will instantly populate your search bar with commonly searched-for phrases. If you click ‘enter’ and pull up the actual search page, you can scroll to the bottom and see additional related searches that may inspire new keyword ideas.
Once you’ve found keyword sets that are….
- Relevant to your business
- Specific to your services
- Medium competition
- Commonly searched for by your prospective clients….
It’s time to integrate each Google keyword set into your web copy, blog posts, landing pages, and social media conversations. Doing so will make it easy for prospective clients to find you online, visit your website, and purchase your wellness-related products and services.
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