Picking The Ultimate Keywords
By Chris Falck
INTERNET USERS REALLY DO USE SEARCH ENGINES TO FIND INFORMATION
A new study conducted by Berrier Associates shows the importance of search engine positioning in the context of an overall Internet marketing program.
The study found that frequent Internet users use on average:
71% of their time searching for information. 75% use search engines and directories to find information.
The survey, which was commissioned by RealNames Corporation, sampled 519 men and 494 women ages 18 49. It also revealed that 70% the users knew what they are looking for when they are using a search engine. They use keywords and brand names to query the search engine databases.
Other interesting stuff:
Most web users swap to another search engine if they can't find what they are looking for after the first try. Nearly 20% completely give up
Other similar surveys suggest that:
65% of people select their information out of the top-10 search results on any given search. 25% will click on links ranked between positions 11 through 20.
The report, combined with the results of other surveys, shows just how critical it is for a web site to rank near the top on the results page in order for people to be able to find the site.
I think that you will have figured out that the most important first step to marketing your Web site is register with the search engines. But, don't go dashing out and submit all your pages! You MUST target the right keywords and key phrases or all your efforts will be in vain!
If you have optimised your Web pages for keywords that nobody uses then you can have all the number one rankings you want and still gain no new traffic!
Another danger of choosing keywords is selecting keywords that are TOO popular. Selecting keywords that are overly broad and popular poses two problems...
[1] If the keyword is too popular, it will require more work than it's worth to achieve a top ten ranking.
[2] If the phrase is too broad, then the traffic you receive will not be appropriate to your site and probably won't get you as many SALES as a highly targeted phrase.
For example, we are an Internet company but we don't attempt to optimize our site for just the keyword internet. However, for something more specific
So what is the best way to choose the right keywords? Finding the BEST keywords can help you achieve greater amounts of traffic with less effort. That's what you want... Don't you agree?
Lets get one thing straight. If you target the wrong keywords you are wasting your time, but pick the right ones and you'll see your traffic skyrocket.
For this reason spend quite a bit of time thinking about the keywords people are likely to use to find your site
As I've said before you may get a number 1 ranking with the search engines, but if nobody enters you keywords into a search, then nobody’s coming to visit!
Try the following:
[1] Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and do a little lateral thinking.
[2] See what keywords your competitors are targeting to spur new ideas. (Don't just rip them off. You could be breaching copyright laws)
c) Organize your keywords into short phrases.
Here's the strategy we recommend:
[1]Brainstorm on what general words apply to your industry and list them all out in a word processor or on paper.
[2]Conduct a search for a few of them on a major search engine and then visit the sites you find in that search.
[3]View the HTML source code for the page and write down the keywords used in the Meta tags and any you see on the visible page. You'll quickly find a variety of keywords you hadn't considered before. This does not mean these are the best keywords to target, but it can help you in your brainstorming process. Only write down words and phrases that specifically apply to YOUR business! You don't want to waste time targeting keywords that will not bring you highly targeted leads.
[4]Now you need to decide which phrases are most popular. Let eCom_RDS take the guesswork out of this process. We will take your keywords and report the best keyword combinations. With our help you will soon have a list of dozens, if not hundreds of keyword phrases you could target on all of the search engines.
There are literally 1000's of opportunities available for any business. Find YOUR niche, make sure it's one that people are looking for, then pursue it!
Some of the keywords are going to be much more competitive than others. For example, ranking well on the single word "Internet" will be much more difficult than ranking in the top 10 for "Internet marketing." Remember that single keywords usually return the least targeted leads since they are not very specific.
If you own an Internet company that offered specialist maketing services and optimised your site for the single keyword "Internet," only a limited number of the people identified in the example above would be targeted prospects.
You'd find a great number of search engine referrals to your site if you attained a good ranking on the keyword, but many of them would select the "back" button in their browsers and effectively walk out of your store!
Since that's not what you want I recommend you target longer keyword phrases there is a much better chance of getting the right targeted visitor.
The majority of Web site owners are either targeting the wrong keywords or are targeting no keywords at all. A recent study showed that only 34% of Web site owners include a simple keyword meta tag on their Web page. This means that by adding a keyword meta tag AND properly optimizing the rest of the page for your keywords, you'll be doing far more than the 66% of Web site owners have ever done!
If you take the time to target the RIGHT keywords, I'd guess that you would be ahead of 85% of the world and you'll be generating more traffic with less effort.
Written By Chris Falck
Director Rose Data Systems Ltd
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Chris Falck is an IT Consultant, Internet Marketer, Designer, and Webmaster of AUTOREPLY2U - http://autoreply2u.co.uk and eCom-RDS - http://ecom-rds.co.uk. (Amongst Others).
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