Monitoring Keywords on Web and Social Media

Monitoring keywords on the web and social media can certainly seem like an overwhelming task. However, it doesn’t have to be, as long as you implement a couple of principles in your monitoring strategy and employ some useful tools to reinforce them.

We have put together a comprehensive set of tips on monitoring keywords that are very doable, yet efficient and practical, so you can improve your visibility and admire your progress in My Ranks.

Monitoring Keywords on the Web

#1. Keep Things Simple

For most websites, keeping things fairly simple is usually the best strategy. Don’t think monitoring countless keywords will help you cast a wide net and set you up for success. Instead, you should dig up the ones with the most potential for conversion and channel your efforts on those. Otherwise, you’ll just stay relatively obscure on all fronts, as in not on Google’s first page, and as you probably know, anything else might as well be total oblivion.

#2. Study Your Competition

Studying your competition is important in any line of work, but when it comes to keyword research and monitoring, it’s essential. It’s a natural thought to just go for the keywords that have the highest search volumes, however, never forget those are also the words that spur the highest competition.

The less known your site is, the less popular keywords you should optimize for initially. When we say less popular, we don’t mean keywords nobody searches for, of course, but ones that aren’t going to be dominated by huge websites you don’t stand a chance against, at least initially.

So, check the keywords’ difficulty score in the competition category of the monitoring tool you’re using, like Google Analytics, and opt for ones that are somewhere around the happy medium between popularity and obscurity.

#3. The Right CPC

CPC, or Cost Per Click, should concern those running paid ads on Google. It’s best to look for keywords with low CPC and high search volumes, as those make for low-risk, high-reward scenarios.

#4. Look at the Bigger Picture

With the help of different tools, you can monitor your keyword ranking history. Charts and graphs are a great way to visualize your performance over time, look at the big picture, and spot tendencies and patterns.

One of the most revealing things in such charts is pronounced spikes and plummets. They usually speak to a sudden change in strategy that either worked perfectly and failed miserably. Gradual changes are also easier to notice and analyzed with the help of a chart.

Some tools draw out graphs that juxtapose your rankings for certain keywords against the ones of your competitors.

Monitoring Keywords for Social Media

Monitoring keywords on social media involves different tricks of the trait because the way people use it is different from the way they use Google.

In Google, they often type in questions whose answers they’re looking for, whereas in social media, it is more about interaction, conversation, and the sharing of ideas. People in social media often use single keywords and hashtags to look for communities and groups with relevant interests.

#1. Don’t Rule out Misspellings

It may sound like a joke, but actually, misspellings on social media are far more common than you might think. Considering that nearly 50% of people access the Internet from their phones, and typing on them is harder, this shouldn’t be such a surprise.

So, while you need to make sure you spell your company’s name right, you should concede all possibilities and check for common misspellings that may be circulating social media. This way, you won’t miss out on opportunities to engage with your careless followers.

#2. Monitor Your Products and Services

It’s very likely that people talk about you on social media without actually mentioning your name. That’s why you should not only track your company’s name but also your product and services, so you don’t miss out on important conversations.

#3. Monitor Related Keywords

Even though we said you should keep a fairly narrow scope of the keywords you track on the web so you don’t spread yourself too thin, the range of keywords in social media is already narrower.

Monitoring related keywords that might be used to describe your product and services or something along those lines can take you to lots of potential leads.

#4. Monitor Related Events

Events that pertain to your services in some way can be a goldmine of quality leads as they act like gravitational forces that attract like-minded people. Chiming in on such conversations can be some of the easiest and most productive lead generation you will ever engage in.

#5. Monitor Competition

Of course, monitoring competition is something that stays a constant across all marketing endeavors, regardless of the platform they take place on.

Those tips provide a framework which you can then fill with the help of some robust keyword monitoring tools.