Keyword Research

When someone is searching for information on the web, they will usually visit a search engine and type in some words describing what they are looking for. The search engine then checks its database and returns the results listing pages that meet the words submitted.
These words used by people searching can be called keywords or search terms.

Conducting Keyword Research (Methods)

Keyword research is critical and if keyword research is not done properly then all efforts to rank high in search engines would be wasted. The process of keyword research involves several phases:

1. Brainstorming - Thinking of what our customers/potential visitors would be likely to type in to search engines in an attempt to find the information / services that our site offers.

2. Surveying Customers - Surveying past/potential customers is a great way to expand keyword list to include as many terms/phrases as possible.

3. Applying Data from KW Research Tools - Using these tools can offer concrete data about trends in keyword selection. Some of them are given below:

Word Tracker - Wordtracker help us to choose the right Internet marketing keywords that will help our search engine ranking.

Keyword Discovery - Discover the right keywords to target on website. Identify common keyword misspellings, seasonal trends, related and industry terms.

Overture Search Terms - Enter a term to find how many searches were performed using it the previous month on Overture.

SEO Research Labs - SEO Research Labs provides a very handy service that will identify the best keywords and search terms for your site.

4. Term Selection - The next step is to create a chart that analyzes the terms we believe are valuable and compares traffic and relevancy. This will allow us to make the best informed decisions about which terms to target.

5. Performance Testing and Analytics - After keyword selection and implementation of targeting, analytics programs (like Indextools and ClickTracks) that measure web traffic, activity, and conversions can be used to further refine keyword selection.

Long Tail Keywords:

Long tail keywords are simply multi-phrase search queries which visitors use on search engines to arrive at our website. These long tail keywords are much more targeted than the general or main keyword topic and they literally represent a visitor's need for specific information.
Here is an example. 'Credit Cards' is the general keyword topic and long tail keywords within this slot includes terms such as the following:

o list of low interest credit cards

o benefits of credit cards

All you need to know about search engine ranking, and SEO updates.

View the original article here