By Corey Wenger
Posted Jun. 9, 2004
Choosing the right
keywords and phrases for your search engine optimization
(SEO) program is critical to its success. The
right keywords drive targeted traffic to your
website - prospects that are ready to buy. The
wrong keywords attract web visitors that are not
likely to purchase your products and services
- wasting your time and money.
By following the simple
methods listed below, you will be able to determine
the right mix of keywords and phrases that will
generate targeted prospects to your website. Remember
that good search terms are ones that are related
to your business and have sufficient monthly search
traffic.
How to choose the best keywords
and phrases?
1) Select keywords that
represent your company's "bread and butter."
What products and service lines are the most profitable,
have the strongest sales, and continue to show
good market demand. And yes, typically the 80/20
rule applies here. 80% of your sales and sales
leads are produced by 20% of your keywords and
phrases.
2) Look at complementary
products and services that people tend to buy
that you don't offer. Often, these keywords generate
good prospects and typically have less competition
than your primary keywords and phrases.
3) Use online tools to help
determine keyword variations and search frequency.
The best free programs to use include Overture's
search term suggestion tool - http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
and Google's AdWords suggestion tool - https://adwords.google.com/select/main.
4) Use WordTracker - www.wordtracker.com.
For a small fee, you can use this tool to find
niche keywords, use the thesaurus to find related
search terms and determine general monthly search
frequency. This is a great tool and worth the
investment.
5) Use pay-per-click programs
like Overture or Google's AdWords to choose keywords
and phrases for your SEO program. Both programs
help you generate search terms based on specific
keyword relationships and show how often they
are searched for. Set a small monthly budget and
track the number of keyword impressions you receive
for each search term. After one to two months
of data, choose the search terms with adequate
search frequency and incorporate them into your
search engine optimization program.
6) Don't forget Geographics.
If your products and services are local or regional,
be sure to include your state or city within your
search phrases. For example, an investigations
company that conducts most of its business in
the Midwest would want to choose "Indiana
and private investigator."
7) Take a look at your competition.
Based on your top three competitors, look at their
website for specific search terms being used.
Also, look at their META keywords to get a good
idea of what search terms they think are important.
Remember you want to look at competitors for your
different markets served and products and service
lines.
8) Analyze your website
traffic. Make sure your web hosting company provides
you with the ability to analyze your website log
files. Some hosting companies have you log into
your account to view monthly web traffic reports,
while others email monthly reports. Information
obtained can tell you the top search terms and
search engines used to find your website and other
valuable information. To get the most out of your
log file data, it is recommended to use a log
file analyzer such as Web Trends or Urchin.
By applying these
methods, you will be well on your way to generating
highly-targeted keywords and phrases that attract
the right types of prospective clients - ones
that have direct interest in your products, services,
and solutions you offer.
Return
To Work At Home Articles
|
