Doing thorough keyword research before you launch your site is critical. This keyword research guide will help you get started at looking at a few popular on-line tools for doing your keyword research.
After you’ve done your brainstorming of a feasible site concept, you need to move on to reseaching popular search terms for that site concept. In the world of website building these search words or small phrases are called “keywords”.
Never Heard of Keyword Research?
Keyword research? What’s that, you say? Well, it’s the only way to know for sure that you’re building pages around words and terms that people are commonly using in their on-line searches. If you don’t know exactly what terms people are using to find information… and find YOU… then you’re just taking a gamble in writing content that you think will bring people to your site. Why gamble?
Keyword research can also be seen as a key step in doing your market research. Don’t guess at what people are entering into a search engine to find information on the product you sell, use a keyword research tool (software program, really) to find out what content you should be building on.
Keyword research is a tool that more online businesses are using to customize their web pages for best search engine placement, and therefore maximum exposure to people using the Web to find stuff– hopefully your stuff. By finding a keyword or keyword phrase using keyword research software, businesses are better able to tailor their content and ad campaigns towards potential customers by using the keyword that is used most frequently by searchers.
Almost half of the population of Internet surfers use search engines to find what they are looking for. Starting with Google or Yahoo (the 2 biggest search engines right now) to find what they’re looking for is step one in seeking out desired information. They are using it for far more than checking email on a daily basis.
That means the number of potential shoppers is creeping up to the number of those that use the Internet to check email. This is a potential market that online businesses want to capture by using popular keywords or phrases in their web pages. In a highly competitive global market, it is imperative that a company do extensive keyword research, which has popularized the keyword research tools.
Focusing on keywords that are generic may put you against a wide array of competition. Narrowing down your target keywords will help to make your playing field a little smaller, where you have a better chance of being competitive. Example? “Shoes” as a keyword is extremely broad, and very competitive; whereas something like “prom fashion shoes” would be a lot easier to dominate because of less online competition.
By capturing the optimal audience that would be interested in your product, through narrowing search engine optimization and leaving keywords generic enough to pick up non-target customers, you can make sure your website brings maximum exposure and traffic.
Google’s Free Keyword Tool
There are several of these keyword research tools, such as Google’s Keyword Tool, Wordtracker, and Brainstorm It!
Google’s Keyword Tool is a tool that allows you to put in a keyword or phrase and it will generate a chart that gives you a visual with the number of searches that were done for a particular keyword (that used Google’s search engine).
While this will give you an accurate keyword research of Google users, it may not reflect the keyword searches of other search engines. It is a free tool to use and can give you an idea of keyword suggestions, as formed by Google statistics, but when checked against other keyword research guides, such as Wordtracker, the numbers seem inflated. The important point to take away is not so much the absolute search numbers, but the relative search numbers. Which word or phrase does relatively better than everyone else?
Worktracker
While Wordtracker offers a paid keyword research guide around $59 per month, they also offer a free tool that has additional settings to filter out adult and questionable material. The free tool is adequate, but the paid Wordtracker keyword research guide is considered one of the best on the market, although you have to pay a monthly fee.
Brainstorm It!
Brainstorm It! is the niche finding, keyword research tool that is part of the SiteBuildIt! program. BrainstormIt! helps you find and sort through your keywords to find your niche, when building your own website. It is a valuable tool to help you find a profitable niche for marketing your product.
It is part of the blueprint for success that is offered as part of this website package that uses the building blocks of a good domain name, niche and keyword marketing with website design. While you have to pay an annual fee for the SiteBuildIt! Software, you do get the proven tools, including the domain name and keyword research tool and Action Guide, to make your website successful.
Keywords and keyword phrases are an important part of building a website that caters to what people are searching for online. With proper keyword usage, your sales will increase as you move up the search engine listings. Since few people scroll past the top ten listings, it is important that you get the exposure to make it towards the top of search results.
SEO, or search engine optimization tools, such as keyword research tools are an important part of designing a website that contains pages that are pertinent to the customers you are trying to attract. By using reliable keyword research, you can find the keywords and phrases that are commonly used to find products such as yours.
A successful online business depends on driving the traffic to their site by the most affordable means possible and keyword research is an important part of that process.