Search Engine Optimization – Key Words The Internet is one of the most powerful marketing mediums ever used by businesses to promote their products or services. It is, perhaps, the most targeted form of advertising as well if done the right way. Television, radio, and newspapers rely on sheer numbers to be effective. But, chances are many people reading or seeing those ads are not interested in the product being presented.
However, by using search engines, people can really target prospects. By showing a website or ad whenever someone searches for something related to the search you can leverage their buying mood at that point. The practice of getting a website to show with those searches is called search engine optimization.
In order to be able to rank properly on keywords, the first thing that needs to be done is keyword research. This is the first and most important step in the process. This is what all future work will be based upon. If you find words that are too difficult to rank on then you will spend years trying to rank without success. If you find words that get no volume you will spend the effort to get a site to rank only to find that no one is looking for those terms, to begin with. So, it is very important to get this step right.
What you are trying to do in this step is to find words that get good search volume, but have low competition. That is the sweet spot of search engine optimization. Once you are ranking on those words, you may try to go after more difficult words later.
To get started with keyword research it is best to sit down and brainstorm a list of 10 to 20 words that you would think your prospects would use to find you. Think like a customer and come up with phrases they would use to find your service. These can be single words or multiple word phrases. If you can find longer phrases with good search volume it will be even easier to rank on those words. And, they will probably be buying words. The term buying words refers to the mindset the searcher is in when typing it in. If they are searching for something like “tires” then they may just be doing research. But, if they are searching for something like “best tires for a truck” then they are probably closer to making a buying decision.
Once you have your brainstorm list, you can use that to expand the list. You can then use that list and run it through various tools to give you the search volume and competition numbers.
Search engine optimization gives you the power to target prospects like never before. It gives you the ability to show a website in the search results for searches related to what a potential customer is seeking. It is one of the most targeted and effective forms of advertising, and as more businesses see its potential it is becoming the preferred form of advertising for many.
