Web Design Tips:-

What is Keyword Research & Why Do I Need It?

 

This months sales tip is all about Keywords. Remember the wonderful quote from Mary Kay Ash over 10 years ago:

"There are three types of people in this world; those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened."

Have you ever watched children play with building blocks. Watched their faces contort with concentration, tongue between their teeth, as they try to figure out which block goes where. Hearing an occasional adult offer motivation (like "it's easy") without giving their child any helpful instruction of how to go about completing the build. Have you ever watched the difference when an adult gives "helpful hints" that enable the project to be completed and watch the child bathe in the success of their achievement?

Keywords are like those building blocks - they are the blocks to good SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Keywords are the "helpful hints" we give to our customers to enable them to either:

1. find a product they have been looking for
2. find a service they have need of
3. find information to help them complete their project

 

More importantly Keywords aim to direct the visitor to your website to fulfil their need. Remember: The right Keyword attracts the right customer.

You need to ensure that the Keywords you have on your website, title tags, Google+ Account etc. are the Keywords/Phrases that your customers actually use and not what you think they use. Believe me, this is a lot harder than it sounds!

Keyword Research is something you can do yourself (if you have a mind/time to):

1. Start with a brainstorm list. What are the Keywords/Phrases you think are the main ones for your business.
2. Utilise a good keyword research tool e.g. you could use the Google Adwords Keyword Planner - utilising the "Search for new Keyword and ad group ideas" - add in your brainstorm Keywords/Phrases
3. Refine your list using suggested keyword phrases from your selected analysis tool. This will give you the Keywords/Phrases your customers actually use.
4. Verify Keyword phrase relevance - utilise the "Get traffic estimates for a list of keywords". What you are looking for here is Keywords/Phrases that are low/medium in competition percentage whilst high in monthly visit numbers.
5. Analyse the competitive space to make sure you and your prospect/customer think the Keywords mean the same thing
6. Ensure that your Keywords are not placed inside an image - it cannot be indexed from there or in rich media (Adobe Flash Player, JavaScript etc.)

 

Getting "your head" around the right Keywords/Phrases for your business takes time. Whilst certainly worth the effort, if time for you is at a premium or you would just rather hand it to a specialist in this area, then we are more than happy to work with you to ensure that you get the best exposure for your business.

Need help with your keyword research?

 

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