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Updates October 19, 2023.
You may have heard that keywords are outdated. However, as a HubSpot Diamond Agency, we know the truth: keywords are still essential. You just have to have the right content to back up your chosen keywords now. A web page can no longer merely list every potential buzzword at the bottom of the page and get rankings and traffic. You need to have relevant content that keeps people interested, on your page, and engaged!
If the keywords "keyboard cat" are trending, you can't simply stuff your text about property management business best practices with the words keyboard cat—why? Because the people that end up on your page looking for keyboard cats won't find any. Your content ends up looking like a poorly-tailored ad and leaves a sour taste in people's mouths about your website—and business! The game is to gain customers and supporters—not drive them away!
Here are some tips on how to find the best keywords for your campaign. You can also do a content audit to ensure your content and keywords are still relevant to whoever discovers (or searches for) your page!
1. Divide (And Conquer) Your Campaign Using Groups of Ideas
An easy way to start on this would be to think about the content in advance for a handful of campaign blogs. Once you have decided on the main ideas for this content, you should have your idea baskets for keyword subjects.
Avoid skipping this step, as it is the foundation for building the right keywords. If you do, your keywords won't directly relate to your subject matter. When everything is said and done, your campaign could look like a mess, and you could ultimately lose out on fantastic clients.
2. Link Each Keyword to a Subject or Phrase
The next step is to start assigning keywords to each of your ideas. This is just a brainstorming step, so just blurt out the first things that come to mind; after that, spend a few minutes digging for other ideas. Once you have recorded all of the keywords you have come up with, move on to the next step!
3. Assess Your Keywords Using an Active Search
Now you are going to plug your keywords into a search bar: when you search for things on Google and other search engines, they will usually list out related searches based on your current search for convenience. The goal here is to find more keyword phrases or single words that you might be able to use in your campaign.
Keyword Types
You are going to want to have a list of assorted types of keywords under each subject; to put it simply, you want both keywords and keyword phrases. You may also want to include geo-tagging in any phrases you develop for your property management marketing campaign: this is where you add your area of service in part of a keyword phrase to make it relational.
If your lists are all single words, then go back through the steps and try to come up with some keyword phrases. Some of your keywords and phrases may seem redundant, but you will be paring the list down shortly.
4. Analyze Keywords Competitors Are Using
You can use various software out there to find out how your competitors rank or keywords that are on your list. The trick here is that you don't need to use keywords that they are using; you just want to use the most relevant keywords possible to what you are going to be writing. Knowing how your competitors rank for those same keywords gives you an edge on maximizing the list you just generated.
Utilizing a mix of keyword that your competitors rank well with and that you also see success from is a healthy blend: If your competitors are leading on more fronts, you should consider adding things like video content to your blogs or other creative touches to your campaign. Think of the features of your property management marketing campaign like amenities in a property—your "marketing amenities" should not only be attractive to potential clients but keep you competitive.
5. Focus Your Efforts on What's Effective
The last step in the process is to use the Google Ads Keyword Planner and Google Trends to create a short and focused list for moving forward in the campaign design process. There are many ways that you can do this; the method suggested here is streamlined and straightforward.
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Use the Keyword Planner in Ads to figure out which keywords have the best search volume. Your keywords should have an assortment.
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Check each keyword in Google Trends for their trending history and how Google thinks they will do over time. Doing this could tell you if keywords that don't have high hit rates now could change in the future.
Keep Your Marketing Momentum Going!
By following each of these steps, you should have a list of viable keywords to integrate into your property management campaign. You can put them on landing pages, informational content like blogs, or even use them as a part of your social media content.
As a HubSpot Diamond Partner, we know that coming up with keywords—while no less important—isn't always the hardest part of a marketing campaign. With that in mind, we've put together a blog series to help walk you through the ins and outs of any successful marketing campaign—including the launch! The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step; start your journey with part one, "Property Management Marketing Campaigns: The Power of Research!"
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