Vital Keyword Research Tools

Selecting Keywords through Research.

Search Engines are the portals people go to everyday because they know they will find relevant information on that portal that will help them in their quest for knowledge, information, products or services.

Every day the masses type in their keyword phrases and words they hope will lead them to the desired information they seek. From there these same individuals follow the links the get as results from the search engine returns. It is your hope that these links lead to your site.

This is where your choices of keywords comes into play. If someone searches for a product or information that is on your site they wont find you unless you have build those search pharse into your webpages in such a way as to irresistably draw the spiders in and invite them to feast on your sites content. Providing good content mingled with the right keywords targeted to your expected keyword search terms will get real people to come back even after the first visit. Content is the reason they will come back. If you have nothing to offer then you will only see a one time visitor.

Your keywords serve as the foundation of your marketing strategy. If they are not chosen with great precision, no matter how aggressive your marketing campaign may be, the right people may never get the chance to find out about it. So your first step in plotting your strategy is to gather and evaluate keywords and phrases.

You probably think you already know EXACTLY the right words for your search phrases. Unfortunately, if you haven't followed certain specific steps, you are probably WRONG.

It's hard to be objective when you are right in the center of your business network, which is the reason that you may not be able to choose the most efficient keywords from the inside. You need to be able to think like your customers. And since you are a business owner and not the consumer, your best bet is to go directly to the source.

Instead of plunging in and scribbling down a list of potential search words and phrases yourself, ask for words from as many potential customers as you can. You will most likely find out that your understanding of your business and your customers' understanding is significantly different.

The consumer is an invaluable resource. You will find the words you accumulate from them are words and phrases you probably never would have considered from deep inside the trenches of your business.

Only after you have gathered as many words and phrases from outside resources should you add your own keyword to the list. Once you have this list in hand, you are ready for the next step: evaluation.

The aim of evaluation is to narrow down your list to a small number of words and phrases that will direct the highest number of quality visitors to your website. By "quality visitors" I mean those consumers who are most likely to make a purchase rather than just cruise around your site and take off for greener pastures. In evaluating the effectiveness of keywords, bear in mind three elements: popularity, specificity, and motivation.

Popularity is the easiest to evaluate because it is an objective quality. The more popular your keyword is, the more likely the chances are that it will be typed into a Search Engine which will then bring up your URL.