White Paper: Understanding The Basics Of Keyword Research

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Why Are Keywords Important?
When To Start Researching Keywords?
What Keyword Research Tools Are The Best?

• Keywords and keyword phrases are the most important factors when it comes to search engine optimization.

• Consider:
  
  You cannot create content without keywords.
  You cannot create Page Titles and other important meta tag codes without keywords.
  You cannot get ranked in Google and other search engines without keywords.
  You cannot create and participate in pay-per-click campaigns without keywords.
  You cannot earn quality inbound links pointing to your website without keywords.
  All searches in Google, Yahoo, etc., are conducted with a keyword or keyword phrase.
  Studies show that 80% of all online purchases started with a keyword search in a search engine.

• Some search engine optimization (SEO) experts say “Content is King” or you need as many inbound links as possible in order to get ranked higher in Google.

• Not true.

  Before the content is created (heck – even before the website is designed) or one link is earned pointing back to your website, you should first determine what keywords and keyword phrases you are going to target.

  Keyword research is not an easy task and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Don’t pick your keywords blindly or assume the first few keywords that come to mind are the best keywords for your website.

  On the other hand, don’t get hung up on keyword research fretting on which keywords to select. You can always change your keyword focus anytime (Note: Remember, your keywords may change as your products and services change. Customer’s searching habits always change. Some keywords may change based on the seasons or holidays).

  There are three primary keyword research tools you should consider for his keyword research project:

  • WordTracker – http://www.wordtracker.com
  • Keyword Discovery – http://keyworddiscover.com
  • Google’s Keyword Research Tool - https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

  WordTracker’s information is based on keyword research conducted over the last 100 days. Therefore, if you’re researching for “Christmas” keywords in the middle of July, you will not uncover accurate numbers.

  In addition, WordTracker pulls its information from MetaCrawler and Dogpile and is a very limited sample of all searches conducted on the Internet. In all, WordTracker’s information represents less than 1% of all searches conducted.

  Still, it can be a useful tool to help kick start a keyword research project and it’s an ideal tool for searching for “trendy” keywords. The subscription rate is $59 per month. A free trial is offered.

  Keyword Discovery’s database is built on keyword research conducted over the last year. Currently, there are over 2 billion keywords in its Premium Database.

  Unfortunately, the keyword database comes from users that have downloaded the Keyword Discovery toolbar and use it for their Internet searches. Overall, however, it is also a good tool at $69.95 per month. A free trial is offered.

  Google’s keyword research tool is also built on one year of research. Until recently, Google did not reveal search counts, which makes this tool very valuable (and it’s free!).

  While you can research and research and research, don’t go overboard. Select a base of keywords that best describe your products and services and then begin using your keyword research tools to help formulate your keyword decision.

  A few rules:

  • Research both singular and plural versions of the keyword.
  • Research both “short-tail” and “long-tail” versions of the keyword.
    “Short-tail” is 1-2 keywords to form a keyword phrase, such as “cues” or “custom cues”. Whereas, “long-tail” is a string of several words to form a keyword phrase such as “custom pool cues” or “custom-painted pool cues”.
  • If your business is based on local or regular customers, you’ll want to focus on “geo-keywords” such as “Cincinnati pizza” or “Ohio security” or “Midwest amusement firms.”
  • As tempting as it might be, do not select every keyword in the dictionary and see what sticks. Your keyword selections must make sense and your website’s content must support it. For example, if you’re going to target “chocolate cookies” as a keyword, then “chocolate cookies” must be used in your website page(s).

    The total number of keywords you should select is based on how much content your website can support. Don’t select 100 keywords for a five-page website. You’ll be disappointed in the search engine results. Some will target one keyword per page (which isn’t a bad place to start), while others can leverage 2-4 keywords per page.

    Once you’ve selected your keywords, you can write “keyword-rich” and “keyword-specific” content; write Page Titles and other meta tag codes (which should contain keywords) and use your keywords in hyper-text links pointing to back to your website.

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