Part Three - Keyword Research
Before you jump into a car, you need to know where you're going. In SEO, you need to know what keywords you are going to optimize for before you start optimizing. Spending a few hours researching keywords can make all the difference in the world.
The First Step
First, let's say that your website was
www.v7inc.com. It's a web hosting related site, so let's search for web hosting on Google and see who the competition is. FortuneCity.com comes up in the first place, so take note of that and go to Google's
Keyword Tool.
Click on "
Site-Related Keywords" and then insert the URL of the competition. In this case, fortunecity.com. Wait a few seconds, and Google shows you over one hundred keywords for that site. You are now officially off to a good start!
The Criteria
The criteria for determining which keywords to go after and what keywords to discard is this: The keyword is must be able to produce positive return on investment. Keywords take time and money to get ranking on. Consider those resources. Will a top placement for that keyword produce positive ROI?
Broad is Bad, Specific is Good
The more specific the keyword, the better it will convert. For example, a close friend of mine sells plasma screens. The keyword "plasma screen" drives a lot of traffic, but not so much in the way of actual sales. The keyword "42 inch plasma" drives more sales, but still doesn't convert as good as "Pioneer PDP-507CMX". Consumers who have made up their mind to purchase an item usually use much more specific keywords than consumers who are simply window shopping.
Confucius put it like this:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Confucius
You have a store. It's surrounded by water. Think of each keyword as a bridge to your store. Now of course you want as many bridges to your store as possible. But you can only afford so many. So you must choose wisely. You must choose the keywords that will create the most profit, that will convert the best.
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And yes, I said that. I was Confucius in a former life.