Keyword Research for Landscape Contractors and Its Integral Role in Creating a Positive SEO ROI
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The Content Team,
HALSTEAD.
Originally published on October 26, 2015. Updated on January 4, 2023.
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The ever-evolving world of SEO requires staying up-to-date on the latest practices. What may have worked for ranking on search engines a couple of years ago won’t work now, and what works now likely won’t work in a couple of years. But one thing remains constant in its effectiveness despite the rapidly changing algorithms—keyword research.
Nearly 91% of web content gets no organic traffic from Google. There are several reasons for this, but one of the top factors is that those landing pages and blog posts are not targeting the keywords people are searching for. Some landscape contractors are tempted to skip over keyword research, hoping to find a fast track to increased ROI and revenue—but ignoring such an integral component of SEO will leave them running in circles, getting nowhere fast.
Professionals in the industry who excel at SEO recognize that the keywords they might search for are likely not the keywords their target customers are searching for. They see the importance of keyword research to ensure their content creation efforts land their web pages on page one of the search engine results pages (SERPs).
What Is Keyword Research for Landscape Contractors?
Keyword research is a process that involves finding top search words or phrases that your target customers type into a search engine, such as Google, when they need your services. This process uses concrete data to determine what keywords or keyphrases you should use on your website and within your content to reach your target customer. It should be one of the first steps when creating a website or producing digital content.
There are several factors to consider in the keyword research process, including how difficult it will be to rank based on competitiveness (keyword difficulty) and how many times a keyword is searched for in a specific location (keyword search volume). With driving revenue being the ultimate goal, this should guide your keyword research efforts.
Why Is Keyword Research Important for Landscape Contractors?
Keyword research helps you understand what people are searching for, which is integral to inbound marketing. Discovering the words that people are searching for uncovers problems your landscape construction firm may have a solution for and can help you connect with these people at various stages of the customer journey. Implementing the right keywords will help bring in traffic, leads, customers, and revenue, increasing your ROI. But first, you need to clearly define who your target customer is.
Defining Your Customers and Understanding Your Target Market
Many top landscape firms have a clearly defined customer persona or target audience as part of their overall marketing strategy. This persona includes demographics such as age, location, affluence, motivations, interests, and pain points. Knowing this information is critical post Apple iOS 14 update, which restricts the ability to track users and populate customer persona information automatically.
You can start by analyzing your existing customer base and using this data to create your customer persona. Knowing who you are speaking to will help you know what to say, how to say it, and what media mode to use so that you reach and connect with the right people. It’s essential to know your goals to measure your success in connecting with your target market.
Understanding the Customer Journey and Its Impact on SEO
A common mistake that professionals in the green industry make is creating content that is full of self-promotion. Rather than connecting with the reader, they share their services and why they’re the best. Effective blogging meets the reader at every stage of the customer journey, from awareness to decision.
For example, in the awareness stage, you could have a blog post about entertaining in small outdoor spaces that touches upon the difficulty of such an endeavor. In the consideration stage, a blog post could provide an overview of which outdoor spaces to invest in to improve the outdoor entertaining space experience. For the decision stage, the blog post could cover creating a cohesive outdoor living environment that includes the various defined spaces to make a small outdoor space feel more spacious.
The possibilities for content creation are endless when considering the landscape construction projects you take on, such as paver patios, outdoor kitchens, custom inground pools, and planting beds. When combined with keyword research, creating blog posts that provide valuable information at each stage of the customer journey in various scenarios will help you reach your target customer.
Determining SEO Goals and Tracking Progress
An effective content marketing campaign identifies key objectives and determines what success looks like. Focusing on the business potential will help you see the value of your SEO efforts. Consider anticipated ROI and identify SEO KPIs that will drive your efforts.
Some basic metrics to track are organic traffic, bounce rate, search rankings, click-through rate (CTR), and lead generation. The specific metrics you track will depend on your goals. This practice provides a goal to work toward and allows you to benchmark and track your progress so you can see what’s working and what isn’t by calculating your SEO ROI and adjusting your goals accordingly.
Keyword Research Tools for Landscape Contractors
There are a variety of keyword research tools on the market. These tools will direct your content strategy and SEO efforts by providing valuable insight into the search queries that your target audience makes. At HALSTEAD, we find Google Ads Keyword Planner and SEMrush to be the most effective. Whatever you choose, it’s a good practice to stick primarily with one tool and supplement with another when needed.
Your first step will be making a list of relevant topics related to your business and your services. For example, some broad topics may include landscape maintenance, landscape construction, lawn care, patios, etc. Once you have these general topics, you can search for specific keywords, such as lawn mowing, lawn aeration, lawn fertilization, and paver patios.
With a keyword research tool, you can quickly generate data about keyword search volume and keyword difficulty, all related to specific regional areas such as towns, counties, or states. This ability helps you discover new keywords and get extra recommendations based on your keywords.
You can view how competitive a keyword will be based on search volume (among other factors), often receiving a low, medium, or high rating. The higher the search volume, the harder it will be to achieve higher ranks. Many successful landscape professionals target terms with lower search volumes because these keywords are less competitive, making it easier to rank on SERPs.
Long-tail keywords tend to have a lower search volume, making them convert better because the searchers tend to have a specific intent. Questions can be a goldmine for SEO because people often search for answers to a particular question. You can use this to create FAQ sections that will help drive organic traffic to your website; just make sure it is well-organized and provides valuable information.
Interpreting Keyword Search Intent for Landscape Contractors
Combine keyword data with intent, and you can begin creating a content plan—filter and group keywords by search intent to determine the content of the blog posts or landing pages. The specific word choice provides insight into where the potential customer is at in their journey.
Informational keywords tend to be used in the awareness stage. With 81% of buyers willing to pay a premium for companies with industry experience and industry-specific solutions, informational keywords are paramount for landscape contractors. This type of content helps establish authority and build trust. With premium outdoor living spaces, you want to attract audiences willing to pay a premium price for your unique skill set and high-quality work.
Navigational keywords are relevant to supply stores or businesses with a brick-and-mortar location and are often found during the consideration stage. Commercial investigation shows an intent to buy in the near future and is usually done in the decision stage as the potential customer compares landscape contractors. Transactional intent occurs in the decision stage also, which means they’re at the stage where they’re ready to move forward with their outdoor living project and will likely fill out a contact form or book a consultation.
Creating Content Based on Keyword Research for Landscape Contractors
Once your keyword research is complete and you have a comprehensive list of keywords, you can begin creating a content plan. Prioritize the keywords with the best opportunity to rank higher on SERPs.
While keyword stuffing may have worked in the past, it will be detrimental to your rankings today. Focus on creating helpful content that will benefit the reader. Write for the reader first and SEO second. Use a good balance of both exact keyword matches and similar keywords to appeal to Google’s algorithm.
Once you’ve created your content, you can go back to analyze data to see how well the content is performing. Keyword research isn’t a one-and-done process but needs to occur consistently over time. Search habits change with the seasons, and sometimes for no apparent reason. Top firms analyze the data, perform keyword research, re-visit their business goals, and make changes to achieve higher SEO ROI.