You know what your benefit is called.<\/p>\n\n
Your employees do, too.<\/p>\n\n
But do customers use the same word?<\/p>\n\n
Not necessarily.<\/p>\n\n
Companies quickly develop their own language. Product names, abbreviations, technical terms, and internal terminology become so second nature that you almost forget that a potential customer might be searching for something entirely different. <\/p>\n\n
And if the website uses only the company’s own terminology, it can make it harder to both understand and find.<\/p>\n\n
A search term is simply the word or phrase that a person types into a search engine.<\/p>\n\n
It can cover a very wide range:<\/p>\n\n
web design<\/strong><\/p>\n\n or, more specifically:<\/p>\n\n Web Designer for a Manufacturing Company<\/strong><\/p>\n\n It could also be a question:<\/p>\n\n Why is my website slow?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n or a problem:<\/p>\n\n The contact form isn’t working<\/strong><\/p>\n\n These last examples are interesting because they show that people don’t always search for the name of a service.<\/p>\n\n They are looking for the problem they are trying to solve.<\/p>\n\n This is particularly evident in companies with a high level of professional or technical expertise.<\/p>\n\n Internally, you might use the name of a specific process, machine, or technology.<\/p>\n\n The customer might be thinking more along the lines of:<\/p>\n\n If the website uses only technical jargon, there is a risk of hiding a relevant service behind a term that a customer would never search for.<\/p>\n\n That doesn’t mean the technical term should be eliminated.<\/p>\n\n Often, the best solution is to use both<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n Imagine a company that offers a specific type of CNC machining.<\/p>\n\n Internally, it may be perfectly natural to describe the service in terms of machine type, process, and technical specifications.<\/p>\n\n But the customer might be searching for:<\/p>\n\n machining of large workpieces<\/strong><\/p>\n\n CNC Milling of Steel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n or:<\/p>\n\n custom machine shop<\/strong><\/p>\n\n These are different ways of describing a related need.<\/p>\n\n A good website can therefore include technical terminology that demonstrates expertise, while also using the words a customer might realistically search for.<\/p>\n\n You don’t always need an advanced SEO tool to come up with your first good ideas.<\/p>\n\n Start with the company itself.<\/p>\n\n What do customers ask about on the phone?<\/p>\n\n What words do they use in emails?<\/p>\n\n How do they describe the job when they request a quote?<\/p>\n\n What words does the employee sometimes have to \u201ctranslate\u201d into the company\u2019s own jargon?<\/p>\n\n That is valuable information.<\/p>\n\n If several customers use the same term to describe a service, you should at least consider whether that term should also appear on the website.<\/p>\n\n Then you can take a closer look at the words.<\/p>\n\n Google itself can provide ideas through suggestions in the search bar and related searches.<\/p>\n\n SEO tools can be used to compare different keywords, view approximate search volumes, and get an idea of the competition.<\/p>\n\n However, search volume should not be the only factor in determining whether a word is relevant.<\/p>\n\n A keyword with fewer searches can be far more interesting if the person behind the search is looking for exactly what the company offers.<\/p>\n\n There is a big difference between:<\/p>\n\n metal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n and:<\/p>\n\n CNC Machining of Large Steel Workpieces<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The first search is broad.<\/p>\n\n The second one reveals much more about what the person is actually looking for.<\/p>\n\n More specific searches often have lower search volumes, but in turn may be much closer to what a potential customer is actually looking for.<\/p>\n\n Therefore, finding the most popular keyword isn’t necessarily the goal.<\/p>\n\n The goal is to find the right search terms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n Just because you’ve found a relevant keyword doesn’t mean you have to cram it into every sentence.<\/p>\n\n If the text sounds strange because the keyword appears in every other sentence, it doesn’t help the reader.<\/p>\n\n Instead, incorporate the main topic naturally into, for example:<\/p>\n\n And use natural variations and related words where they make sense.<\/p>\n\n The text should still be written for a human being.<\/p>\n\n If a single page tries to rank for 15 different services, it quickly becomes unclear what the page is actually about.<\/p>\n\n It is often better to give the most important services their own pages.<\/p>\n\n For example, one page about web hosting<\/strong> could go into detail about hosting, backups, and operations, while another page could focus on web design<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n This allows for more space to answer the questions specific to that topic.<\/p>\n\n And that makes the website easier to understand\u2014both for visitors and search engines.<\/p>\n\n It all starts with the customer.<\/p>\n\n What problem is this person trying to solve?<\/p>\n\n What words do they use themselves?<\/p>\n\n And what do they need to know before they can determine whether your business is relevant?<\/p>\n\n Once you have those answers, it becomes much easier to choose the right keywords and write pages that make sense to both people and search engines.<\/p>\n\nWhat the company says and what the customer says aren’t always the same<\/h2>\n\n
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An example from the industry<\/h2>\n\n
Start with the questions customers are already asking<\/h2>\n\n
Take a look at what people are actually searching for<\/h2>\n\n
More specific searches can be valuable<\/h2>\n\n
One keyword does not mean one sentence repeated ten times<\/h2>\n\n
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Each page should have one clear main topic<\/h2>\n\n
SEO Doesn’t Start with Google<\/h2>\n\n