Don’t Start an Online Business Before You Check Your Keywords’ Ranking on Google

Thinking about starting an online business? Before you get too far into the process, we have some advice.

First, find out what people actually want to buy online!

You wouldn’t buy a laptop without doing a Google search first. You'd look for speed, RAM, storage, screen size, etc. So, why wouldn’t you apply the same level of thoughtfulness to starting your own business?

As an active marketing company in Red Deer, Alberta, Toronto, Ontario and international locations, we see a plethora of new entrepreneurs who have jumped into an oversaturated market all the time. No matter how fun or inspiring the idea, it won’t take off if consumers don’t need or want it.

Before you give a nickel to any company to create your own home business, or pin your entrepreneurial hopes on the "next big thing”, ask yourself two very important questions:

Who is my audience? And, do people in that audience want to buy the thing I want to sell?

Once you're confident about the product and/or service, it's time to find out who is looking for it online. Remember, any website-based business relies on online searches for sales and first-page ranking on Google. If nobody is searching for your service or product online, there is very little benefit to an SEO package.

What Keywords Should I Use?

It takes some investigation to find out which keywords to use in your website and content to attract the right people. You can do the digging yourself or hire an SEO company in Calgary (Toronto, Red Deer, etc.), like Cinch Communications, to put together a full keyword report for you.

We'll check your business keywords’ ranking on Google to see how many people in your area are looking for what you want to sell. In Canada, SEO companies like ours use special software to access Google’s search data and determine how many people are (and aren’t) looking for your products and services.

Here are some examples, using real search statistics from the past year in Vancouver, of popular terms that could be translated into a successful business based on online bookings or sales:

For the sake of comparison, here are some examples of online search numbers that are very unlikely to support a related online business:

At Cinch, we always want our marketing clients to succeed! There are few things sadder than speaking with a business owner and following up with keyword research that shows there is painfully little interest in that business from online browsers. Can anyone afford to put everything into a dream online business when only 10-100 people are searching for that product or service every month on Google, Bing and other search engines? We don’t think so.

That said, let’s talk about the middle ground. If there are 200-500 Google searches for your business idea in your city or town per month, is there potential? Maybe. It depends on the size of your community and whether there is already competition for that niche. Another important factor is your business plan; for example, do you want to make some extra money a couple of times a month? Or, are you looking for part-time hours and revenue? Smaller numbers like these could potentially fit into a scaled-down plan:

Here's something else that you NEED to know: Without specialized keyword research software, there's no way to know the real potential traffic for your website. This is not something that your  AI program can do for you!

The Cinch team can, however. We perform in-depth keyword research for any industry in any part of the world. We would love to help you fine-tune your business plan and avoid going all-in on a hopeless entrepreneurial venture. That’s why our professional SEO services team is offering to create a personalized keyword report just for you!

We’ll find the most important phrases and words used by potential customers looking for what your business offers and give you precise information about who is using these search terms and where those people are in the world.

Our keyword report includes top, middle and low-level words that can affect your business, ready to use in your ads and online presence.

Get in touch today to request your Business Keyword Report or set up a free Discovery Session with our founder and business mentor, Lindsey Loring!

What's Your Potential Ranking on Google? Get in touch to Find Out!

Interested in a free SEO audit? Reach out! Cinch Communications is your trusted SEO agency in Canada, from Victoria to St. Johns and right up to Resolute Bay (should anyone require our services there). We’re available to chat about setting up a new business or how best to grow an existing one. Our SEO consultant in Toronto (and Calgary, and Red Deer, and Vancouver...) loves digging for data and putting together in-depth SEO analyses, complete with actionable advice on how to improve your Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, or WordPress website.

Let’s talk soon!