Keyword research is vital in the digital marketing industry. It is valuable because of its high return on investment (ROI), and keywords help your website to rank in the search engine results page (SERP). Researching keywords that relate to you can help you to learn which terms and phrases to target with SEO. This is a good way to learn more about your fans, too. Choosing the most important keywords and phrases that describe you will help you to attract qualified traffic to your website.
Branded keywords can make all the difference in your SEO campaign. If your fans want to know about upcoming tour dates, new merch, or more about you in general, they are more than likely going to include your stage name in their search query. This post will dive into the importance of keyword research for artists.
The Science Behind Keywords
Understanding your website and brand will help you to determine how much a keyword is worth to your. Keywords should always be relevant to your website. If you are a DJ who’s trying to get booked at local venues, you should attract visitors searching for “local electronic DJ” or “local EDM artist.” You don’t want to include “local indie artist” if that does not describe you.
The keywords your visitors use to discover your page can be accessed through keyword research tools. There are many free tools available, such as Google AdWords Keyword Planner, Keyword Tool, and SEMRush. The only con about keyword research tools is that they do not show us the value behind traffic from those searches.
To learn the value of keywords, you have to make educated guesses after analyzing your website, test your guesses, and do it again to see what works. Analyzing the data you receive from doing constant tests will help you to determine the value of your keywords.
“Short-Tail” vs. “Long-Tail” Keywords
Every EDM artist would probably love to rank No. 1 for the keyword “EDM artist.” Popular search terms like this one are called “short-tail” keywords. Although short-tail keywords receive the highest amount of searches, they make up less than 30 percent of search queries. Only one website out of 25 million results will be No. 1 (yes, that is the exact number of pages Google pulls up for that specific query).
The other 70 percent is made up of “long-tail” keywords. These keywords are more specific and less generic than short-tail keywords. Examples would be “electronic DJ in Tampa” or “EDM artist in Tampa.” The more words visitors use as a search term, the more specific results will be. People who use long-tail keywords typically know exactly what they are searching for. Analyzing data from long-tail keywords can help you to understand your visitors or potential fans better.
How to Get Started
Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool is a good starting point for keyword research for artists. For keyword research, you want to choose the top option that says “search for new keywords using a phrase, website, or category.” In this case, you’ll be using a phrase. This tool gives you a few options, but you’ll be using the first box to enter keywords related to you. You can also use your landing page, which can be your home page or page you’d like visitors to land on when they search for a specific keyword. Once you’ve figured this out, you can click on “get ideas” and change the keyword filter to “only show ideas closely related to my search terms.” Adjusting the targeting section is also good if you want to attract local fans or venues. You don’t need to worry about the “competition” or “suggested bid” columns unless you are interested in using paid advertising through AdWords. It is good to know that keywords with a high bid aren’t always good.
There are many other keyword tools out there that provide advanced data but Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool is a great starting point. MOZ’s Keyword Analysis tool is great for digging deeper into metrics and data for any given search term or phrase.
Why Keyword Research Is Important
Ultimately, keyword research for artists is important when it comes to driving the right kind of visitors to your website. It can help you to foresee trends and provide content that your fans are actively looking for.