Choose the Right Money Keywords to Boost Your Bottom Line

Not all website traffic is created equal. Your business needs traffic—and keywords—that actually make you money. You need to know your money keywords.

Money keywords are the keywords that not only drive potential customers directly to your site, they drive the right potential customers to your site—the customers who will pull out their credit card and pay you money (or contact you for more information) on the spot. This tactic isn’t some marketing hack or sleazy trick; these people are paying you because you are offering the exact product or services they want. They are paying you because they searched for the exact keywords you used to optimize your site.

One thing all business owners share in common is they want to get paid. If you’re going to invest in a SEO and content strategy—and you absolutely should—finding and optimizing for your money keywords should be high on your list. Here’s how choosing the right keywords works:

What exactly is a money keyword?

Of course, knowing how to choose the right keywords for your own SEO strategy starts with understanding that money keywords are the long-tail terms your customers are typing into search engines. Instead of generic “head term” keywords like “concerts”, potential customers may be searching for “live jazz music in San Carlos.” If you were a small music venue in the San Francisco East Bay, wouldn’t ranking for the latter search term be more valuable to your business?

Business owners are often savvy enough with SEO to understand the value of head term keywords: the high-demand keywords like “concerts” that generically describe what they sell. But the long-tail keywords—the specific phrases like “live jazz music in San Carlos”—are an important part of your SEO strategy, too.

Why do I need to use money keywords?

By determining and optimizing for the right money keywords, you are much more likely to attract your ideal customers (and those most likely to spend money with you) directly to your website.

While certain schools of marketing advise business owners to be unique and get clever with their copy, SEO strategy offers a different take: “In addition to writing to stand out from the crowd, consider what people actually type into search engines. What words do they use to find your service or product?” Those are the words to use on your website and in your marketing materials. Those keywords will help the right people find you.

A solid SEO strategy incorporates both head terms and long-tail keywords, because both are valuable. However, the specific value of money keywords occurs due to less competition for the term, and a far more qualified search result when people do search for that term. In other words, when your ideal customer is trying to find you searches for the money keyword you included on your site, you rank higher in the search result, your customers will find you and you will get paid.

How do I choose (and use) my money keywords?

Learning how to choose the right keywords takes some effort. You can’t just list off the general categories your business fits into and call them keywords; you have to actually get into the head of your customers and consider the words they might type into the search bar.

However, choosing the right keywords can be as easy as paying attention to your customers—a practice that’s always valuable for your business. Ask new customers how they found you and ask long-time customers the specific value you provide. Also, consider what makes your business unique: use your location and your unique selling proposition in your keyword phrases, too.

You can also use a keyword research tool, like Google’s Keyword Planner, to discover what people are actually searching for and determine demand. Or you can run a limited ad campaign on Google, that will suggest the best keywords for conversion. Finally, you might just head over to a search engine yourself, start typing in what you do or what you sell and note the phrase that is auto-completed.

Once you optimize your website for your keywords (hint: we can help with search engine optimization!), you also need to consider how your site will convert these qualified leads to customers. Make sure your product or service page explicitly targets the keywords people are searching and is clear on why your product or service is valuable. You don’t want qualified leads ending up on your site only for them to then be unsure about whether you’re selling what they want.

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While money keywords may not always be in high demand, they work to your advantage because you will “own” your money keyword. The lower the demand, the higher your likelihood to rank—and rank more quickly—in search results for each specific phrase . . . and the higher your likelihood to make money from potential customers who click through from search.

Do some quick keyword research! Type your service or product into Google and note the phrase that auto-completes. Then share your money keyword with us in the comments below!