The key considerations in keyword research
Why do you need prudent keyword decision?
It is great on your part that you have rendered a web space to your business, or you are just planning to go online to leverage your business. There is no point regarding your reservation on the immense potential advantages of optimizing your web site because the Internet has taught one and all that web site should show up in the top pages or results in the search engines. The Internet today has unfathomable depths, and it is quite easy to be buried in its vastness. Online searches by users are keyword driven, and it is almost as good as not having your web site in the first place in case your web site does not figure in prominent search engine results where your target customer is on the look out for products or services your company specializes in.
This is probably because you have selected the keywords that do not define the nature of your business, or the specialty of offerings. Or, chances are that you have gone for the keywords that are not so often used by your target market. Hence you confront discouraging online business equations because you are simply not able to get qualified leads, effective sales, or in other words, you are witnessing your utter failure in driving quality traffic to your web site. This is a precarious situation in one’s business wherein investments in web initiatives are not met with the intended results
. Therefore, choosing the keywords for optimizing your web site must be prudent decision with a little research and in the best possible systematized and logical manner.
A systematized process of keyword selection.
Here is brief elucidation on right process of going for the right keywords:
• Explore your keywords. Prepare an exhaustive list of keywords that you think can go well with your business. Seek others’ opinions and also elicit their suggestions to add on to your list.
• Go for technical assistance to refine and validate your selected keywords. There are many assistive research tools available on the Net, like, Keyword Sandbox, Wordtracker etc. which can give you an insight into the frequency, popularity of your keywords or similar terms.
• Then comes the turn of finally selecting the keywords. With the information at your disposal while undergoing the above two phases, you might select the keywords that seem to be the right choice.
• Remember that the process of selection of the right keywords is not that simple, rather it takes continuous learning and experimentation even after you have settled for certain keywords. You have got to keep an eye on the performance of selected keywords in terms of leads and conversions. This is the assessment phase of keyword research which can help you to revise your keyword selection.
This article basically deals with the first three phases of keyword selection as the fourth phase would need to be discussed at greater length, maybe as a full ledged article in times to come to do justice with its intricacies.
Let’s understand how to go about the initial phases.
While exploring keywords, it is wise not to be too simplistic.
When you start thinking on your keywords, make it a point to think along the lines that define your business, or the USP of your offerings. This is to be kept at the back of mind along with essential consideration that you have to think the way a typical customer tends to think. Obviously, a customer who wishes to get certain products or services on the Net associate the search query with some customer centric attributes. To make it clear, if anyone is searching for, let’s say, Day Care Facilities, he or she well type onto Google toolbar things like best Day Care Facilities, economy Day Care Facilities, or top Day Care Facilities and so on. So, you should ponder over this aspect as well when you are accumulating your keywords.
More importantly, your keywords should be specific and have a narrower focus. Too general a keyword is likely to have an intense competition, and chances are that you are about to be buried in obscurity. But remember that specific keywords that you choose should be descriptive of your specialty so that you may stand a good chance to be listed in the top results.
How to be specific in keyword selection
Apart from the specialty of your products or services or attached customer benefits, there are other things that help you be specific when it comes to prudent keyword selection.
One of these is the linguistic habits of the target customers. It has been observed that when users perform an online query, they tend to use short forms of the words, or type in misspellings, or geographical equivalents of the keywords.
Therefore, while deciding the keywords for web site, geography and linguistic patterns of target audience cannot be overlooked. First thing first, you have to predetermine who your target market is and what is the reach of your product or service offering. There can be certain geographical constraints in the delivery of products or services depending on your delivery capability. So, it is always a better idea to optimize your web pages for particular geographies.
For instance, if you happen to run an automobile maintenance firm, you can optimize web pages for keywords that denote the reach of your service capability. What I want to emphasize here is that it is up to you to optimize your web site to global audience, or to a set of several geographies, or you can go for local searches.
Getting driven by technical help on offer
Internet is a powerful medium to enhance your business. What is most important is the fact that there is a plenty of information on the Net on how to use the Net to leverage value to your business. The domain of keyword is no exception and you can well expect expert advice and useful tools which can assist in the selection of right keywords.
www.wordtracker.com is one of such online tools which can be of immense help to you while you are progressing with the research on keyword selection. It requires simple registration to avail its services and the insight it provides is much, much valuable for your keyword efficacy.
The moment you type in your keyword and subsequently opt for the detailed analysis, it takes you to a nicely presented set of information related to your keyword. Essentially, the information displayed is accumulation of related keywords extracted from Dogpile and Metacrawler searches over the last four months as existing in its database.
Wordtracker offers keyword related information under four headings: keyword and its variations; the number of times of occurrence of keyword; prediction relating to maximum traffic for the keyword options; and in the last, dig option for a selected keyword which measures its effectiveness and reveals its frequency of occurrence and number of competitors vying for it. Hence, it provides a wholistic picture to make an informed keyword selection.
Search engine giant Google also offers online help to assist you in profitable keyword selection. Known as Keyword Sandbox, though it is primarily meant for Google Adswords, you can use it for your web site optimization. Upon entering your keyword you would like to research on, you get two lists: one which mentions specific terms used in the searches related to the keyword, and other enlists the keywords used by the users while performing similar search operations.
Overture also features keyword selection tool wherein you can see the list of similar or related keywords. This is not all; you can also have a look at the number of occurrences of such keywords in the last month. This is instrumental in assessing the popularity of your selected keywords, or similar terms so that you can form a better idea with regard to the final selection of the right keywords. To sum it up, a methodological approach is imperative for the selection of right keywords so that you end up reap the rewards of web site optimization.
By: Deepak Sharma
