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Choosing Keywords Efficiently for SEO
Keyword Research
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Published on: December 21, 2006
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is paramount for businesses that choose to make themselves known via the Internet. Keyword research and, ultimately, keyword selection are extremely important parts of the overall SEO process. Selecting keywords relevant to your field of activity is essential. Make sure you conduct a proper in-depth keyword research before you begin placing keywords on your web site. If you want your web site to be high ranked in search engines, then find out the words that searchers use to get to your site and place them in the appropriate places. Nevertheless, avoid the trap of placing too many keywords on a single page, because many search engines nowadays have "spam" filters, which means that your site might not even appear among search results. Below are some tips on how you can perform a proper keyword research and how to use the keywords you have selected in order to optimize your site and rank it as high as possible in the most commonly used search engines. Always be aware that keyword selection is fundamental. Choosing keywords that people might not use to find your site and your products/services will not get you the expected traffic. What you need is relevant traffic, namely visits that will eventually convert into sales/contracts. The higher the conversion rate is, the better for you and your business. Given the fact that the main purpose of a web page is to provide information, and that the Internet offers a vast array of choices for prospective customers, it is of utmost importance to have the right keywords embedded in your web pages. To achieve this, there are some steps that you need to follow. Brainstorming The first step you need to take is to simply sit down and write down keywords. Write everything. Do not discard any idea that comes into your mind. You will brush up that extensive list later on. Consult your old web site (if there is one) and even some documentation from the sales department. Consult your internal search logs (the logs on your server) to track where your visitors came from and if possible, extract more keyword combinations. Essentially, you will find out what you are missing. Even if you're not sure about a certain keyword, that it will prove relevant for your purpose, write it down anyway. It may lead you to something more closely related. If you feel that you have "the writer's block", have a brainstorming session. The main purpose of this session is to make you and the other participants think outside the box. Interact with people, ask for their opinion and get their feedback. You can get invaluable ideas and suggestions from a multitude of sources, such as your colleagues, clients, or friends. Remember to always think like a customer. This is a rule of thumb in marketing. Remain focused on the prospective customers and try to understand how they think. Keep in mind that searchers often mistype words when searching the Internet. Try to think of the most common spelling mistakes for your keywords and include them in your list. Don't neglect those words that are written preferentially with a hyphen or without it, or those that are written with or without spaces between them. Add them to your list. Another thing that you have to pay attention to is the language that the targeted audience uses. Take jargon into account, and make use of it if you consider necessary. At the end, begin brushing up your list. Remove any words that, even if they describe your products / services perfectly, are simply too common and aren't searched for too often. Work on your list until you get a number of keywords that you consider the closest match to what you are looking for. Keyword Research Tools Now that you have narrowed down your keywords list, it's time to evaluate the result. Technical assistance is welcome and help is available online. There are numerous resources, applications that will help you in your endeavor, free of charge or for a certain fee. Nevertheless, remember that no tool is perfect. Don't be afraid to use your intelligence and common sense. These tools will help you select which keywords to use, but, by no means, will predict the amount of (relevant) traffic that you'll get by using them.
Competition Analysis  The simplest way is to view the source code of the competitors' web pages. This does not mean that you have to copy (or even be able to if they are trademarked) what they have, but it will help you gain more insight into what you need to include in your own source code. Observe the keywords they have used in places such as the title, headings, description, etc., and use this knowledge to get new ideas of your own. Another method is entering the keyword that you consider as "primary" for a specific page (the one around which all the optimization process revolves) in a search engine such as Google. This is the toughest search engine at present, and most of SEOs techniques nowadays are made with it in mind. Focus your attention on the number of "hits" that Google returns for your keyword. It will probably be a rather large number, so the next step is to refine your search and try to get less and less hits on your keyword. Two of the methods that you can use are the "all-in-title" method, and the "all-in-anchor" method.
Of course, you can analyze your competition by means of other resources available online, such as:
Trends Monitoring If you want to perform an analysis and a comparison of the searchability of your selected keywords, then you can use Google Trends, which analyzes a portion of the Google web searches and calculates how many searches have been done for the terms that you enter relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time. A graph is displayed where you can see the interest taken in your keywords. Use this information to make adjustments and to improve your keyword selection and placement strategy. Analytics Keep track of your visitors and the performance of your keywords by using Google Analytics. Don't think that you will do great from the very beginning. Keyword placement is a process that never stops. Analyze your results and learn from your mistakes. Also, keep experimenting based on the results that you get. To gain more experience and knowledge, regularly check forums and consult people with experience. There's always something to learn or work on. |
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Comments (1)
Michelle says:
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:41 am For your keyword research try using KeywordSpy.com - a keyword research technology that will help you know what keywords your competitors are using and how it generates money for them, you can use those keywords to drive traffic to your site and give your business the exposure it needs. It offers Free trials.- http://www.keywordspy.com/
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