April 4th, 2010Choosing The Right Keywords for Successful SEM
Companies are increasingly realizing that they can get a significant number of targeted prospects on their web sites through search engines and usually at much lower cost than by using traditional marketing methods. Performing a proper keyword research is a basis of a successful search engine marketing campaign, but determining and optimizing the right set of keywords for your business can be very challenging.
Narrowing down a large number of search phrases that your customers might use to the most relevant, and adding multiple variations, plurals, or misspellings of those phrases are the main techniques in keyword research. Here are some tips that might be of help to you when searching for the right set of keywords for your company:
Avoid short phrases. Most common mistake that marketers make is choosing only short phrases. The reason why you should avoid this is because shorter phrases always have much more competition. You will achieve better results if you focus on longer, more specific search phrases.
Choose popular keywords. Popularity of search phrases is one of the most commonly used factors for determining the list of keywords for a website. Companies now use different software products to analyze the popularity of search phrases. Choose one of these tools, such as WordTracker, to get the highest amount of quality traffic for your web site. You can also use Google Adwords:Keywords Tools, a useful, free tool for choosing the best keywords for your web site.
Check out your competitors’ websites: Your competitors’ websites are a great source of keyword ideas. You can take a look at their Meta tags to see which keywords they are using. This way you can learn which keywords are most commonly used for business in your niche.
Include misspellings: There are many words that are often misspelled, and some of them might be used within your industry. You should consider adding the most common misspellings used in your industry to your list of keywords as this will ensure that your web pages appear in the search results with little competition.
Get Customers’ Opinion. It is good to try and look at your business as objectively as you possibly can, and this would also be a recommendation when it comes to choosing the set of keywords for your company’s website. Knowing your customers perspective and how they see your business can be very valuable. Ask them to write down and send you keywords that they would associate with your company; the phrases they would enter into search engine to look for your website may be something you would never think of.
Think locally. If your business is focused on serving your local community, try including the name of your town in your keywords.
Evaluate Performance: Analyze your Website logs to learn what types of keywords brought most visitors to your site. This way you will get a precise information on which keywords are successful and which are not, and you can use this information to alter your keyword list if necessary.
Devoting your time to determine and optimize the right set of keywords for your web site will result in higher traffic volume and consequently increased sales for your company.