Consistently choosing keywords and phrases to use in your overall SEO strategy is an easy and effective way to get web pages and websites to rank well. Don’t leave money on the table by ignoring the use of search engine keywords and not making the most of all the awesome keyword suggestion tools.
A lot of site owners make one of two mistakes: they either think using keywords and keyword phrases is very complicated or they think that they already know what keywords and phrases their target audience is using.
Search Engine Keywords
Choosing search engine keywords does not have to be a long and complex undertaking. What it will require is a good keyword suggestion tool and a little analysis of which keywords and phrases will work the best for you. There are plenty of free and paid for keyword tools available. You may want to start with a free tool to get a feel for how they work and then consider paying for one later on.
A good free keyword search tool to start with is the one offered by Wordtracker. This tool is used by you typing in a broad term that your site is based upon. As an example, if your site was about dog grooming, then that is what you would type in. The keyword tool would then supply a listing of the top 100 keywords and phrases associated with ‘dog grooming’. This list will also show the average number of daily searches for that specific keyword or phrase as well. Some will have hundreds or thousands of daily searches, while others will only have tens of searches. You will want to begin choosing keywords that make sense for your site and have a good number of daily search results. It’s not necessary to always select the keywords and phrases with the highest searches as those also have the most competition.
For example, the phrase “dog grooming equipment,” at the time of this writing, is searched 75 times per day, but put that into perspective. That means that the term is searched 2250 times per month or 27,000 times per year. If you properly optimized a page on your site for the phrase “dog grooming equipment” you could easily rank well and reap the traffic rewards.
The second mistake that many site owners make is thinking that they already know what keywords and phrases their target audience are using. Very often, they are wrong. Knowing how to choose search engine keywords requires stepping into the audience’s shoes for a moment. Too many site owners use industry jargon or set up their site from an insider perspective and then scratch their heads when the traffic is nonexistent. The site’s copy needs to incorporate the same language the target audience is using, not what the site owner thinks they should use.
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you already know what your audience is looking for. In fact, choosing keywords and phrases after conducting some research can make conversions soar because you are meeting the people where they are. Your target market will let you know precisely what they are looking for by typing keywords and phrases into the major search engines. Collect this information by conducting your own research and choosing keywords that fit in with the purpose of your website.
Peace & Prosperity,
P.S. If you’re looking for help with keyword research feel free to ask your questions in the comment section below.
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