Keyword Research – What To Look For

Nov 3
07:45

2011

Bob B. Hamilton

Bob B. Hamilton

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Without proper keyword research you likely will not benefit from much search engine traffic. There are quite a few things you need to look for when doing your research.

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The words and phrases people put into search engines in order to find relevant sites are known as keywords.  When you build a site of your own it is very important for you to do some keyword research first.  Without proper keyword research you likely will not benefit from much search engine traffic.  There are quite a few things you need to look for when doing your research.

One of the most important things to do is get to know your target audience.  You need to visit forums and other websites in the niche in order to learn how your potential customers communicate.  The particular words they use are good starting points.
You can take these keywords and run them through a keyword tool.  One of these tools will provide you with plenty of information on a list of keywords you can possibly use.  There are plenty of options for getting one of these tools,Keyword Research – What To Look For Articles both free and paid.

It is important for you to choose a tool wisely however.  Keyword research is best based on the most accurate data available.  Since many webmasters look to Google for the bulk of their traffic you should consider using the External Adwords Keyword tool provided by them.

When looking for keywords to use you will need to take into account their search volumes.  This indicates how many times people actually use a word when searching for information.  The more a keyword is used the more traffic you can potentially receive.  Conversely, keywords which are rarely used will not bring you much traffic.

Keyword tools can also provide you with competition data.  No matter what niche you get into there will be other sites for you to compete with in the search engines.  See how many other websites are targeting your keywords and choose wisely. 

If the competition is relatively stiff, then it will not be easy to raise to the top of the search engines for the keyword.  However you can rise to the top of the rankings as long as you put in the time and effort required.  It will definitely take more than a few weeks.

It is also a good idea to look at the profitability of the keywords.  Certain keywords are not exactly buying keywords.  For example, if you are selling something, then you may want to skip over phrases which include the word “free”.  The fewer freebie seekers you have come to your site the higher your conversion rate will be.