Here’s Why You Should Regularly Audit Keywords and Search Rankings

Every second, there are nearly 100,000 searches on Google. These searches range from informational, to commerce, to exploratory. As a society, we use search engines for everything in our day to day lives because we trust the reliability of the results we receive. 

But how does that translate to your brand or business? Where do you even start to see how you rank on Google? A full keyword audit is the ideal place to take a deeper dive into your Google rankings and start you on the path to improving your search engine optimization strategy.

There are three main reasons to audit your keywords: 

1. To evaluate your current SEO and look for improvements 
2. To build an SEO-focused content strategy
3. To build a “smarter” long term keyword list/strategy

The advantage of having a keyword audit goes deeper into how users are looking for your brand, or more importantly the service you provide, online. Let’s take a look at these three major benefits.

1. Evaluating your current SEO 

At the end of the day, the data always tells the real story. When we review keywords as part of our SEO audit, our team evaluates your current online traffic, keyword rankings, as well as your local SEO. Using those three metrics, we are able to deduce how users are finding brands online and the intention of the user. 

Even sites with a high amount of traffic benefit from these audits because traffic can often be centralized around a few key terms or phrases. Herein lies an even bigger opportunity for improvement because Google already sees the site as a “reputable source” for traffic to find their desired outcome. Diversification of keywords and phrases often makes an even larger impact for sites already receiving a high amount of traffic.

2. Building an SEO focused content strategy

Our team at Alter Endeavors is far from alone in the digital marketing space for declaring that “content is king.” At the end of the day, Google has always prioritized content that is insightful, well written, and optimized for search. That’s something we see becoming increasingly important as AI enters the content space. 

When we build content strategies, we focus on content that will be optimized for keywords the site can rank for—and that are highly relevant to the brand and business. By building an SEO focused content strategy, businesses can more deliberately build their organic traffic around the specific terms that drive leads and conversions—or sometimes just online “real estate” valuable to the brand.

3. Building a Smarter Keyword Strategy

Building a keyword strategy isn’t just about picking terms. There are factors to be considered when building a keyword strategy that a keyword audit provides. Think of it like an investment portfolio. We want to balance the following: 

• How many users are searching for the term?
• How competitive is that term? 
• Is there a Local SEO focus to the term? 
• Of the total search volume, how many users would find your site relevant to their search?

While the first two are commonplace within an SEO strategy, too often businesses either disregard or fail to consider the local element of search. Ranking for “house painting” will be extremely difficult. Ranking for “house painting Central Texas” will be considerably easier while still having a decent amount of traffic. Building a keyword list is about maximizing the overall results, not just going after vanity terms. 

A Keyword Audit Is the First Step Toward SEO Success

Understanding search rankings for your business is more important than ever. Your SEO strategy should be a critical part of your overall marketing strategy because search engines continue to become more and more important to commerce as a whole. Without a proper understanding of your traffic and online rankings, your business online could flatline, decrease, or provide low quality leads. 

Sign up for an SEO audit today and let our team take a look at your current keyword rankings, identify high-value keywords, and help you build a strategy for sustained organic growth in the future.