Choosing Effective Keywords

Anyone that has researched into the SEO field or considered pay per click advertising will know that keywords are an integral part of internet marketing.

A keyword is the search word or phrase someone enters into a search engine search box to find relevant websites to their search.

Here we've taken a look at how you can choose the most effective set of keywords for you or your company's site.

Anyone that has done their research into search engine optimisation (SEO) or has considered investing in Google AdWords will know that keywords are an essential part of an internet marketing strategy. Choosing the right keywords can be the difference between increasing the traffic through your site by 500% and wasting thousands of pounds. So how do you choose the perfect set of key words?

Research is always the key when it comes to keyword selection. You need to know who is searching and what they are searching for. Ask questions of yourself to begin with - ‘what would I search if I was looking for x or y?’ is a great place to start. Actually conduct these searches and view the results towards to the top of the first page. Are they companies offering similar services to your own? If not, perhaps you need to refine your choices.

An addition to this technique is to list out the main products or services your site provides then associate one or two keywords with each. For example, if you are running an online guitar school your top three products or services might be:

1. Guitar tutorials

3. Guitar parts and accessories

2. Guitar maintenance kits

You need to place yourself in the shoes of your potential clients. A set of key words might be:

1. Guitar lessons

2. Buy guitar strings

3. Guitar repair kits

Once you have established your list you need to establish how effective these keywords are going to be. This can be done in something like Google AdWords where each keyword can be checked for price and popularity.

Here you’ll be faced with a balancing act; choosing between price, popularity and uniqueness. Your keywords need to be popular enough to warrant using, cheap enough to afford and unique enough to give your site a chance of appearing anywhere near the top of the search engine’s results page.

Moreover, if you are planning on using pay per click advertising you need to be certain that the amount you are paying per click is worth the potential returns. The amount of traffic that the keyword is likely to attract is a factor, as is the percentage of this traffic you can convert into sales. Again, research is essential.

Finally, asking your customers and clients is also a simple but effective way of getting to grips with the types of words people are using in their searches. The added bonus is that your clients are more than likely in the demographic your company is targeting and so their answers can be assumed to be representative of your target audience.

To conclude, research is paramount in the keywords game. Keywords are honestly the backbone of SEO and will be the difference between your optimisation failing and flopping. SEO agencies can certainly add value to your site but do your research before approaching them.

Knowing who you want to target and how you want to brand yourself is very important when entering into a relationship with such a company.

Good luck!