Service specific keywords are a sub-set of business specific keywords especially geared for service oriented businesses. Whatever be the industry segment and service offering, the success of a website (and, consequently, of the business it represents) depends on its ability to achieve high search engine rankings and conversions. This will, in turn, depend upon the inclusion of relevant and focused keywords (service-specific keywords) within the content pages.

Service specific keywords (and, in fact, all business or product specific keywords) need to be carefully developed  by identifying  and combining important product or service features (usually known to the business owner) with market specific characteristics such as customer demographics, buying habits, geographical delineation etc (available through market research and keyword research initiatives). The aim should be to try and identify keywords that potential customers are likely to use.

As with all business specific keywords, most service specific keywords are long tail keyword phrases (generally 3 – 4 keyword phrases). They tend to decrease the frequency of ad displays for paid advertising (many websites offer advertising based on keyword targeting so an advertisers banner will only show when a specific keyword is entered);  or reduce the volume of general website traffic (which can, however, be balanced with inclusion of some judiciously chosen broad-match single-word keywords) for organic searches. However, the traffic generated, albeit lesser in volume, is highly focused and amenable (qualified) to a higher rate of conversion. It is advisable to include location specific markers in the service specific keywords if the business caters to local markets or to a geographically delineated market.