It can be frustrating to take the time to post business content online, only to have little interaction or comments. Have you ever thought about what happens when you click “post” on new social media content or upload a fresh article to your website? Are you trusting the internet algorithms to magically transport your content to reach your audience?
If you took the time to craft content and upload it, your content won’t go anywhere if it doesn’t have keywords your target audience might use to search for it online. This is also called “SEO” or “Search Engine Optimization.” It takes effort to consider how your audience finds your content online, but the time and energy are worth it when it helps your business grow.
This doesn’t have to be a long process each time you sit down to write or make a social media post. When you go through the process once to compile your keywords, you can reuse it over and over with each piece of content. Revisit the list, and pull keywords from it for that particular post or article.
Target Audience
The initial step is to consider your target audience for your content. Make a list of potential customers, not too general nor too specific. Who would be searching for what you have to offer? Consider which career fields would read your content and use your products or services.
Make A List
Once you have an idea who your audience is, what words might they use when searching for your products or content? An easy way to identify keywords is to use your favorite search engine and start your own search. When you start typing, more words will pop up. For example, when you start typing the words “pallet recycling,” about nine other words also appear. Any or all of these words can be added to your keyword list.
You may want to organize your list into categories depending on the customers you serve and the fields that utilize your products. Depending on your social media post, having the keywords organized will make utilizing them quicker.
Put Keywords to Use
Now that you have a solid list of keywords, begin writing your post or website content. Using those key words throughout the content enhances your search engine optimization so that when people are using those keywords, your content appears in their feed. Scattering these SEO words throughout your social media posts and website increases the chances that your business will appear in a potential customer’s search.
Boost Discoverability with Keywords
Another way to use keywords in social media posts is by placing them after the post, photo, or video using a # hashtag in front of the word. If your post is about automation capabilities, your hashtags after the post could consist of #automation #automationtools #automationnailingsystem among a few. Hashtags place the post in a category. When someone is doing a search on social media, such as Facebook or Instagram, besides searching keywords, they can also search #hashtags. The search will bring up public posts with that hashtag in the caption.
On website articles, keywords are also used before posting the article. The website should have a section to write keywords of the article to categorize the article on the site as well as allow it to be searchable online.
Using keywords boosts your search engine optimization or SEO. Taking a few extra minutes before and after writing a social media post or online article makes a direct pathway to your audience who is searching for content similar to yours. Don’t let your hard work get lost in the abyss of the online space. Adding a few keywords provides more opportunities for your business and products to be more visible.
Some of the Best Online Keyword Tools
Here are the best free keyword tools for B2B marketing:
Google Keyword Planner (https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/)
The gold standard for free data. You only need a free Google Ads account (no spend required). Also, consider the Google Search Console (https://search.google.com/search-console) to see the actual queries people use to find your site.
Google Trends (https://trends.google.com)
Ideal for spotting whether a B2B category is growing or dying and comparing relative interest between terms (e.g., “marketing automation” vs. “revenue operations”).
AnswerThePublic (https://answerthepublic.com)
Visualizes the questions people ask around a seed keyword (who/what/how/why/vs/for). This is great for B2B because decision-makers search in questions and comparisons.
Keyword Tool.io (https://keywordtool.io)
Pulls long-tail suggestions from Google Autocomplete, plus YouTube, Bing and Amazon. The free version hides volume data but still generates hundreds of keyword ideas per seed term.
Ubersuggest (https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/)
The most generous free tier for a “full” SEO tool: you get a few searches a day with actual volume, difficulty scores, and a peek at competitors’ top pages. Good as a lightweight Semrush substitute for small teams who just need directional data.
