Audience First: 11 Reasons Why They Are More Important Than Keywords

02 Apr, 2024
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There is considerable discussion surrounding the significance of keywords in online content, and rightfully so.

1. Introduction
2. The discovery of keywords depends on understanding your audience.
3. Prioritizing audience engagement is key
4. Audiences are loyal
5. Audience Engagement Drives Higher Sales
6. Keywords alone are ineffective
7. Audiences Amplify Your Message
8. Building a devoted audience is cost-effective
9. Avoid Keyword Stuffing
10. Your website retains its audience
11. Enhanced Audience Engagement Boosts Time Spent on Your Page
12. The Advantages of a Well-Defined Audience in Advertising Campaigns
13. Conclusion

Introduction

There is considerable discussion surrounding the significance of keywords in online content, and rightfully so. Keywords play a vital role in content creation. However, it's essential to recognize that while keywords are crucial, they are not the most critical element of your marketing strategy. What takes precedence is your audience.

Understanding your audience is paramount because, without this knowledge, you won't know which keywords to focus on. Regrettably, some online bloggers and content creators mistakenly believe that keywords alone can drive significant traffic and help them climb the rankings.

They resort to keyword stuffing in an attempt to attract valuable traffic to their websites. Contrary to their expectations, this practice harms their rankings.

Many people underestimate the significance of catering to a specific and well-defined audience, often overlooking the fact that this approach holds far greater power than merely targeting keywords.

Consider keywords as the paint on a wall. This paint serves to enhance the wall's visual appeal, imbuing it with character and distinctiveness. However, it's important to recognize that the wall itself represents your audience. Without a wall to paint, keywords become inconsequential.

Therefore, while it's essential to strategically incorporate keywords into your content, it should always be within the context of a clearly defined market.

To illustrate this perspective, here are 11 compelling reasons why you should prioritize people over words:

The discovery of keywords depends on understanding your audience.

Certainly, keyword placement holds significance. Without strategically placing the right keywords on your website, it becomes increasingly challenging to reach your desired audience.

However, identifying the appropriate keywords to prioritize requires a fundamental understanding of your audience. It's a well-known fact among marketers that attempting to cater to a broad, all-encompassing audience can lead to ineffectiveness. When you try to appeal to everyone, you end up appealing to no one in particular.

To begin, focus on uncovering your specific target audience. Once you have a clear understanding of who they are, you can pinpoint the keywords that are vital for connecting with them effectively.

So, take the first step by identifying your audience, and then proceed to identify the crucial keywords for reaching them. Start by using a tool like Keyword Tool.

The Keyword Tool enables you to conduct free keyword research. While it doesn't provide search volume data for each keyword, it does show you which keywords are trending. Simply input your main focus or topic into the search bar. For instance, if I'm looking to sell shoes online, I might begin by entering something straightforward like "shoes for sale."

Then, after you’ve selected the correct search engine tab (in this case, I’m using Google), click the red button on the right.

Below, you'll find a list of keywords ranked from most popular to least, all containing the words you entered.

When you upgrade to the paid version, all the obscured information on the right side will become visible.

This information is highly beneficial as it provides insight into the precise search queries your audience is entering into Google.

Examine the list carefully and identify keywords that could potentially be advantageous to focus on.

For instance, here are a few examples I might consider:

Remember that it's ideal to select just one or two keywords.

Attempting to focus on too many keywords on a single webpage will make that page appear overcrowded to your audience.

After you've identified potential candidates, opt for the most precise ones to shape your marketing strategy.

For instance, if you intend to design a landing page for basketball shoes, a search query like "Shoes for sale basketball" would be an ideal choice.

Another approach to conducting keyword research is by utilizing Google's suggestion tool, which automates the challenging part of the process for you.

The greater the specificity of your target audience and keywords, the more effective your approach becomes.

With the vast amount of content available online, it's crucial to set yourself apart. To achieve this, it's essential to clearly define your audience and identify specific keywords to tailor your content to their interests.

Prioritizing audience engagement is key

While SEO-driven traffic is valuable, its significance lies in the engagement it generates. The quality of traffic to your website matters more than the quantity.

For instance, if numerous people visit my website but don't interact by commenting, sharing, or making purchases, they don't contribute to my business's success.

What truly matters are visitors who actively engage with your content, essentially forming an audience. When discussing audience engagement, digital publishers are least concerned with mere traffic statistics.

Typically, keywords primarily generate page views and visitors. However, your audience doesn't merely passively browse your page; they actively engage with it because they already trust and enjoy your brand.

Your audience holds greater value than traffic obtained through SEO keywords, as they are more inclined to share your message. In the realm of marketing, engagement is paramount.

Audiences are loyal

The truth about keyword-driven traffic is that individuals end up on your website solely because Google directed them there. If they fail to be captivated once they arrive, that traffic is essentially worthless.

They will promptly exit and seek an alternative online destination, with millions of options at their fingertips.

Conversely, specific and well-defined audience segments tend to exhibit loyalty, as they perceive themselves to be in a meaningful relationship with your brand.

When individuals arrive at your website as a result of strategically positioned keywords, their propensity to engage increases significantly, particularly when they fall within your target demographic.

To exemplify the significance of audience targeting, take note of the surging popularity of social media.

Numerous social media platforms boast user bases numbering in the billions.

Twitter alone has a lot of traction in the world of audience building.

So does Instagram.

And Pinterest.

And LinkedIn.

And YouTube.

What's the key takeaway here?

Social media's effectiveness lies in its ability to enable individuals to pinpoint specific target groups and subsequently allows these audiences to engage and respond.

Your website should aim to achieve the same outcome, as an engaged audience tends to be a more devoted one.

Audience Engagement Drives Higher Sales

Who tends to make more purchases of your product? Is it newcomers who have recently landed on your website due to a recommendation from Google? Or is it the loyal customers who have been supporting your business from the very start?

Loyal customers not only make larger purchases but also exhibit other valuable behaviors. They are 5 times more likely to make repeat purchases and forgive any occasional mishaps, 7 times more inclined to explore new offers, and 4 times more prone to recommend your business to their friends.

In simpler terms, devoted customers help promote your message and make purchases from your brand.

Furthermore, placing emphasis on improving customer retention can be a fantastic way to reduce expenses. A mere 2% increase in customer retention results in a 10% reduction in costs.

Customer retention involves actively connecting with your dedicated audience. When you encourage more individuals to remain loyal for an extended period, you not only cut costs but also boost profits, to the tune of a 40% increase, to be precise.

Why do dedicated audiences tend to make more purchases and save more money compared to SEO traffic? It's because they have a pre-existing connection with your brand.

When someone lands on your website through a Google search, they typically lack any particular allegiance to your company. They come and go without much consideration.

On the other hand, a loyal customer is inclined to visit your website frequently, keeping an eye out for updates and eagerly purchasing new and upcoming products.

For today's marketers, trust stands as the most valuable asset.

Building trust, however, is a lengthy process. This is precisely why loyal customers are significantly more profitable than acquiring new ones – they already have confidence in your brand.

This is also why online reviews wield immense power; they are seen as reliable sources of information.

Customer service frequently plays a decisive role in establishing or eroding a buyer's trust. As a result, 60% of organizations anticipate that the quality of customer service will determine the success or failure of companies over the next three years.

Additionally, companies that have strong omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain 89% of their customers. Those who don’t only retain 33%.

Establishing a dedicated following depends on actively engaging with that audience. When you invest your time and resources into connecting with them on social media, posing relevant questions, and crafting relatable content, you'll ultimately see a return on your investment.

However, relying solely on keywords won't help you build a meaningful audience, and consequently, it won't yield a substantial return on your investment. Instead, it's essential to focus on cultivating a devoted audience and retaining their interest, which is a more valuable allocation of your time and financial resources than attempting to cram keywords onto your website.

Keywords alone are ineffective

To emphasize this point, consider the following: Keywords alone are ineffective. If you misuse keywords, they can harm your search engine rankings.

How does this happen? Imagine you perform a Google search for "how to screw in a lightbulb."

Once the search results appear, you select one of the initial links.

However, after clicking on it and scanning through the content, you soon realize that it fails to provide an answer to your query. Instead, it appears to be an attempt to sell you a lightbulb.

Within a mere 10 seconds, you promptly exit the website and proceed to explore the remaining search results.

What transpired here? Surprisingly, your actions have negatively impacted the domain authority of that website.

While a single click might not inflict significant harm, consider the multitude of other users who do the same. This collective behavior can significantly diminish their search engine rankings.

Even I have encountered such instances during my research for this blog post.

Upon clicking the link, I quickly realized that the article offered minimal relevance to my topic of interest. Consequently, I promptly exited the page. This is a common occurrence, one experienced by many. The practice of incorporating keywords solely for the sake of SEO rankings is ultimately futile. Without first defining your target audience, visitors may land on your website only to depart swiftly, resulting in a detrimental impact on your rankings due to a high bounce rate.

Additionally, this approach can tarnish your brand's image. If you aren't using keywords to effectively target a specific audience, it might be advisable to forego their use altogether.

Audiences Amplify Your Message

What incentive does a casual visitor have to share your content? In most cases, very little. Even if your content is compelling, SEO-driven traffic typically consumes your material, derives value from it, and then offers nothing in return. They are unlikely to take the time to "like," comment on, or share it.

Why? Because they lack a genuine investment in your brand; they are merely seeking value. On the contrary, a devoted audience is more inclined to share your content, engage with your posts, and propagate your brand's message.

It's essential to include easily accessible share buttons on significant pages to facilitate content sharing among your audience.

When individuals share your content, they help amplify your brand's visibility and expand your dedicated following.

The traffic generated through shares and active audience participation holds greater significance than traffic obtained through SEO.

When a person learns about your exceptional brand from a friend, they are inclined to trust that recommendation, as they place trust in their friends' opinions.

Indeed, the primary focus for B2C content creators is to produce content that captivates and engages their audience.

Enhance the accessibility of your content by sharing it across various social media platforms, facilitating seamless interaction with your audience.

When deciding which social media platforms to prioritize, take into account the following statistics:

For B2C businesses, these are the most impactful platforms:

For B2B content creators, that focus varies a little bit:

In the end, the key is to identify the social media platform where your target audience congregates and focus your efforts on delivering your message there.

Building a devoted audience is cost-effective

Building and maintaining a loyal audience is a more economical approach than attempting to attract new customers solely through SEO-driven traffic.

Once a customer becomes loyal, they tend to remain loyal. Unless your brand strays from its established character, it can be challenging to sway them to leave.

People gravitate towards routines, and once someone has incorporated your brand into their routine, they are naturally resistant to change.

This is why it typically costs five times more to acquire a new customer compared to retaining an existing one.

Shift your attention towards serving your existing audience instead of constantly seeking new customers, and you'll maximize the effectiveness of your marketing budget.

Avoid Keyword Stuffing

Nobody enjoys landing on a website only to encounter excessive keyword usage like this.

Excessive use of keywords not only erodes your visitors' trust but also portrays an air of desperation and unprofessionalism, ultimately having a detrimental impact on your website's search engine rankings.

Google explicitly warns against the practice, stating that "Stuffing pages with keywords or numbers leads to a negative user experience and can have adverse effects on your site's ranking." Instead, Google advises website owners to prioritize the creation of valuable, information-rich content that incorporates keywords naturally and contextually.

Therefore, it's essential to utilize keywords judiciously, avoiding overuse. When visitors encounter keyword stuffing, their trust in your website dwindles, causing them to depart swiftly. To effectively incorporate keywords and cater to a specific audience, consider the example of searching for "shoes for sale."

Which keywords should you incorporate into your content when discussing this topic?

If you scroll down to the bottom of the Google search results page, you'll come across LSI keywords.

These keywords are located below the text that reads "searches related to shoes for sale."

Make sure to make use of these keywords and distribute them naturally throughout your content. Doing so can improve your rankings without overusing the same keyword repeatedly.

To maintain audience engagement, consider rephrasing your keywords creatively, which will be more appealing to your readers.

Your website retains its audience

Imagine visiting one of your cherished online publications, such as a renowned platform like Success, known for its insightful articles on productivity enhancements.

Or maybe it’s something more low-key, like Booktrep, which includes book rundowns for entrepreneurs.

Regardless of the situation, it's likely that you don't just read one article and then exit the website.

Instead, you read one article, and then another one captures your attention, prompting you to read that as well.

The key here is that, as a member of their audience, you engage in browsing.

Similar to a visit to a shopping mall, your presence is driven not only by the desire for a specific product but also for the overall experience. As audiences tend to stay and explore, they contribute positively to your website's rankings.

Now, let's discuss how to determine your bounce rate using Google Analytics:

1. On the left-hand side, navigate to the "Behavior" section.

Then, click “Site Content” and “All Pages.”

On the stats dashboard, you’ll now see a section showing your bounce rate.

The lower the percentage, the more favorable it is.

A bounce rate represents the proportion of instances where a visitor exits your website after viewing just one page.

When visitors bounce, it negatively impacts your rankings. Conversely, when visitors browse multiple pages, it has a positive effect.

But what constitutes a good or bad percentage? Here are the industry-standard bounce rates:

By prioritizing your audience, you can reduce your bounce rate, which in turn leads to improved search engine rankings. Unlike keywords, audience engagement offers a more reliable outcome.

Enhanced Audience Engagement Boosts Time Spent on Your Page

In addition to its impact on reducing bounce rates, engaging with your audience also results in longer periods spent on your webpages.

Google's algorithm takes this metric into account when determining the ranking of your website.

The longer visitors stay on your page, the better it is perceived by Google. If someone quickly leaves your website after just 10 seconds, Google interprets this as a signal that they did not find the content appealing.

However, if visitors linger for several minutes or more, Google assumes that your content is engaging and valuable. To access the "Time on Page" data in Google Analytics, navigate to the "Behavior" section on the left-hand menu.

Then click on “Site content” and “All Pages.”

You will now find an average time-on-page statistic on your dashboard. Use this as a reference to gauge the level of engagement your website is generating.

A loyal audience tends to have longer engagement compared to SEO traffic, making them a valuable asset for your brand. Leveraging your audience can lead to an improvement in your search engine rankings.

The Advantages of a Well-Defined Audience in Advertising Campaigns

The landscape of advertising campaigns has been transformed by the advent of social media.

With everyone's data readily available online, it has become easier than ever to target your ideal customers.

Social media platforms are repositories of people's interests, preferences, dislikes, professions, and much more. This wealth of information has made retargeting a viable strategy.

But what exactly is retargeting?

Retargeting involves running advertisements on social media platforms while the platform learns about your ideal customer based on the performance of the ad among various audience segments.

The platform then focuses on reaching the individuals who are most likely to click, make a purchase, or view your content.

And just how powerful is retargeting? Retargeting campaigns see a 10x higher click-through rate than display ads.

And more people complete the checkout process with retargeting ads.

Why are retargeting ads so effective? Because they prioritize your audience over keyword stuffing.

Retargeting ads excel at connecting you with the right individuals at precisely the right moment to deliver your message.

When you have a clear understanding of your ideal customer, your paid advertising campaigns are more likely to succeed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, your audience holds more significance than keywords.

Keywords alone are meaningless without someone actually typing them into Google's search bar.

In essence, if you don't begin with a well-defined audience, your business's chances of survival are minimal.

Your audience is more engaged with your brand, exhibits loyalty, makes more purchases, costs less to acquire, and contributes to the success of your paid marketing endeavors.

While there's a possibility that keywords alone may boost your Google rankings temporarily, it won't be long before people realize you're not targeting a specific audience.

In every aspect, your audience surpasses the importance of keywords.

Why? Because your audience is built on relationships, whereas keywords are not.

This isn't to suggest that keywords should be ignored. Instead, start by focusing on your audience and incorporate keywords thoughtfully, not the other way around.