Finding Keywords

Everyone who has used a search engine is familiar with the concept of keywords. Keywords are the words you type into Google’s search box that describes what you are looking for during a search. It seems simple when you use it, but what you don't see is what went into making those websites appear for the exact term you typed in. Think about how many websites exist out in the World Wide Web and then ponder how those elite 10 websites made it to the first page of your search results. I'll let you in on a secret - it isn't random :) If you have never considered that before but have a website, it is time to give it some thought. Something like 90% of Internet users claim they use search engines on a regular basis. If your website is not showing up in their results, that is a lot of missed opportunity.

So how can you get your website in those results? It all starts with a set of keywords. There are three main steps when dealing with keywords, but we are only dealing with the first one right now (the rest will come in later posts). The steps are:

1. Research keywords and build a master list
2. Split keywords up into logical units of main and sub
3. Incorporate the keywords into your site (search engine optimization)

The first thing you need to do is get rid of your preconceived notion about what your site is about. Keywords are not about your site, they are about what is being searched for by your potential customer. Two completely different things. If your site is about selling organic cookies but no one is searching for the exact term "organic cookies", than it doesn't matter how well you optimize your site for the keyword "organic cookies", it won't help your site. It will never come up in search results if no one ever searches for that term. Did that make sense?

Your first step before you can begin researching keywords is to define your target markets. You need to think like your customers and therefore need to know who they are. In my mind, people who eat organic cookies are probably healthy, active, activists, outdoorsy, maybe late 20s to 40, parents who want their kids to eat healthy, upper middle class to afford the extra expense that comes with organic products, etc.

Your goal is to create content on your website centered around what these people are actually searching for online, rather than assuming they are searching for "organic cookies" just because that is what your website is about. Make a list of things you believe this audience is interested in that might be able to be worked into your website. Maybe things like pesticide research, healthy recipes, good snacks for the bike trips, how to get your kid to eat healthy, etc. Once you have a pretty comprehensive list, you are ready to start your keyword research.

To begin, you can use a keyword selector tool such as Word Tracker (wordtracker.com). Word Tracker (and other keyword selector tools) allows you to enter terms such as "organic cookies" "pesticide" and "healthy snacks". It then returns a huge list of everything people have actually searched for recently that is related to those. One of the best features about Word Tracker is it shows you quite a few things. For each keyword phrase it returns, it shows you how many searches have been done for that exact term in the past few months as well as how many websites come up in those searches. This is important - if the keyword "cookie" had 80 searches but 1,000 websites returned as results and keyword "healthy cookie" had 65 searches but only 350 websites returned, where do you think you should spend your time and effort? There is a much better chance your website will be seen when up against 350 other websites than up against 1,000. Word Tracker has their own ranking system to help you know which are "good" keywords and which ones might not be worth your effort.

The only downside to Word Tracker is after your free trial runs out, there is a fee to use it. But no fear, there are other free ways to keep on top of keywords.

One of my favorite quick tools is Google Insights (http://www.google.com/insights/search/). With this tool, you can put in keywords and it shows you the top related keywords being searched on Google (you can filter by timeframe or location as well). It also shows you the fastest rising related keywords - very helpful to direct you on what your next focus should be on.

You can also turn to your competitors to see what keywords they are using (look for a more detailed post on this tactic at a later date).

I recommend spending a few days/weeks on this inital research. Compile a list of hundreds of keywords - you can never have too many. Keep in mind that every keyword is an exact phrase - so if your list includes "organic cookie" then know that "organic cookies" (plural) is a different keyword, as is "cookies that are organic". This effort won't be wasted - I promise!

Has anyone else found great keyword selection tools they would recommend?