SEO, while ostensibly a keyword-driven marketing channel, is really about how you place your business in the SERPs in such a way that it will drive growth.
Your target audience is the people who are most likely to buy your products or services, whether it’s from you or from a competitor. Targeting these people ensures that you’re using your marketing efforts wisely.
Once you know who your target audience is, you can develop a strategy to ensure that they’re searching for the keywords that will lead them to your website.
Identifying your target market is a fundamental step in shaping your SEO and content strategy. Here are several ways you can do this:
1. Use of Social Media Insights
If you have a large social media following, you can use your audience to gain free publicity for the products you sell, and in turn, to increase sales or leads. Using your social channels’ insights will help you get a better understanding of who your followers are.
With Facebook’s Audience Insights tool, you can learn the demographics of your followers. Data from Google Analytics and social media should tell you which demographic groups are most likely to be interested in your business.
2. Interact with Customers through Surveys and Interviews
A great way to figure out who your target audience is and what they like is to speak with those who have already bought from you. Interview them and learn what they want.
If you’re able to narrow your target market and find needs that are unique from the rest of your competitors, it can give you a competitive advantage.
The more surveys and interviews you conduct, the more accurate your data will be.
3. Understand Customer Demographics
To figure out who you should be targeting with your SEO strategy, start by figuring out who you’re currently targeting. What’s the best source of input for copy ideas? Your sales team. The best place to start your analysis is with them.
If they’re using a CRM, they’ll probably have data on how best to reach their customers. However, do not overlook the insights you can gain from basic web analytics.
4. Examine the SERPs
The SERPs show who’s searching for certain keywords and phrases, which can help you determine their preferred vocabulary.
Take a look at the rankings of the pages targeting your main commercial keywords. Do they all contain transaction-oriented content or are some informational? This will help you determine the search intent of your target audience.
5. Study Your Competition
When you know your competitors’ SEO strategy, you’ll also know who they’re targeting and what kind of content they’re creating for that audience.
Tools like the SEMRUSH ORGANIC RESEARCH TOOL can help you get more insight on your competitors.
Conclusion
Keywords are a major component of SEO. But if you don’t know your audience, your chances of success are much smaller.
Search engine optimization success comes from identifying what your target audience is looking for and creating content that matches their needs. Check out our blog, How To Find Keywords For Your Business to get more information on keyword research.
