AI Mike, a well-known (fictional) pub owner is concerned that his competitor is taking most online traffic away from his place. Chunky's Brewery has awesome weekly drink specials and events and when anyone does a "brewery near me" search on Google, Chunky's is the place that always shows up on search engine results. AI Mike needs help (not just because he has extra fingers) to get more patrons to his brewery's doors. This situation is very real, many pubs and breweries depend solely on social media for their foot traffic and ignore having a website to rank on Google searches. To rank, you need to optimize your website's SEO.
SEO is the process of optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can be a complex process, but it's necessary for any business that wants to be found online.
One of the most important aspects of SEO is keyword research. This involves identifying the keywords that your target audience is searching for and then optimizing your content and website around those keywords. If you're a brewery or pub owner like AI Mike, your biggest competitors are likely the other breweries and pubs in your area. So, it makes sense to start your keyword research by looking at your competitors' websites.
Here are a few suggestions on how to do keyword research on your biggest competitors:
Identify your competitors' top keywords. You can use a variety of tools to do this, such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SpyFu, or SEMrush. Simply enter your competitor's website URL into the tool, and it will generate a list of the keywords that they are ranking for.
Analyze your competitors' content. Once you have a list of your competitors' top keywords, take a look at their content to see how they are using those keywords. Pay attention to the titles, headings, and body text of their pages.
Look for long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are more specific and less competitive than short-tail keywords. For example, instead of targeting the keyword "beer," you could target the keyword "best IPA in San Diego
Prioritize Keywords Prioritize the keywords you've gathered based on relevance, search volume, and competition. Focus on keywords that align well with your business and have the potential to drive targeted traffic.
Integrate Keywords into Your Strategy Incorporate the identified keywords into your website content, meta tags, blog posts, and other marketing materials. Ensure that the integration feels natural and enhances the user experience.
Monitor and Adapt Regularly monitor your rankings for the targeted keywords and adjust your strategy based on the performance. Stay updated on changes in search trends (SEMrush always has cool articles on this subject) and continuously optimize your content and SEO efforts.
Some tools that you can use to do keyword research on your competition:
Google Keyword Planner: This is a free tool from Google that allows you to see search volume and competition data for different keywords.
Ahrefs: This is a paid tool that provides a comprehensive set of SEO features, including keyword research, competitive analysis, and backlink tracking.
SEMrush: This is another paid tool that offers a similar set of features to Ahrefs.
Once you have done your keyword research, you can start optimizing your website and content around those keywords. This includes using the keywords in your titles, headings, and body text, as well as creating high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience.
It's important to note that SEO is an ongoing process. It takes time and effort to see results. However, if you consistently optimize your website and content for the right keywords, you will eventually start to rank higher in SERPs.
Here are a few additional areas you can address to improve your brewery's SEO:
Create a Google My Business profile. This is a free listing that will appear in Google Maps and search results. Be sure to include your brewery's address, phone number, website, and hours of operation.
Get backlinks from other websites. Backlinks are links from other websites to your own. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher your website will rank in SERPs. You can get backlinks by guest posting on other industry-related blogs, submitting your website to directories, and promoting your content on social media.
Optimize your website for mobile devices. More and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to search the web. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly so that it looks good and functions well on all devices.
Conducting competitor keyword research is a crucial step in optimizing your brewery or pub's online presence and enhancing your Google search rankings so more people see your place in Google searches. By identifying and targeting the right keywords, you can improve your SEO strategy, drive more traffic to your website, and attract more customers to your establishment, don't be like AI Mike. :)
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