Keywords as Tools
Keywords are confusing. But once understood, keywords become powerful tools in your drive to attract visitors to your website. Keyword research, then, is like sorting through a well equipped workshop, looking for just the right set of tools to build your project. Just as you wouldn't use a trowel to dovetail a cabinet joint, you can't use just any keyword, and hope to attract visitors to your website.
Please People First
The most important goal of any website is to provide something of value, something that people want. Whether that something is information, or music, or online games, or even the opportunity to purchase goods or services, unless you are providing something of value, there's no reason anyone would want to visit your website - and consequently no reason for search engines to send you visitors.
So, Just What is a Keyword?
So, now that we've both accepted the fundamental requirement that our websites need to provide value to people first, let's talk about keywords. One of the most confusing things about keywords, is that a useful keyword is seldom a single word. In fact, frequently the most useful keywords will consist of five or more words in combination.
Imagine, for a moment, that my Uncle Ned wants to find a rental cabin in upstate New York. What would he type into the Google search box? Let's suppose he typed in "ny vacation rentals." That would be considered one three-word keyword.
Perhaps Uncle Ned continues searching, and refines his search, trying next "rental cabins upstate ny." In that case, the phrase "rental cabins upstate ny" is a four-word keyword.
He might even, after a preliminary search or two, try "Lake George vacation cabin rentals," a five-word keyword.
If you owned rental cabins on Lake George, which search term would you most like Google to associate with your website? Put another way, which term, if the searcher using it found your site, would make both the searcher and you happiest? In this example, my money's on the the one with five words.
Keyword Research is Simple
Keyword research, then, is the art of identifying those search terms that are the best match for your website; those terms that are most likely to attract visitors seeking just what you have. Unlike many would have you believe, it doesn't require a PhD. Nor does it involve rocket science.
There are many keyword research services and software applications that can help you with this task. Many are free, others cost money. But the most important tool of all is the one between your ears.
Your first keyword research step is to imagine yourself as the person you most want to visit your site. Ask yourself "what am I looking for?" or "What do I need to know?" With your answer to either question firmly in mind, imagine what your visitor might type into Google's search box to attempt to satisfy their need. Write those imagined search terms down - think up as many as you can.
Get Out of Your Head
You have to take yourself out of your own head -- forget all that hard won professional jargon (unless you want to attract fellow professionals, then bulk up on jargon as much as you like) -- and try to come up with search terms that the people, that you hope to attract, would actually use to find the solution they are seeking.
Ask for Help
Once you collected all the keywords you can think of, try asking for help. You can ask your existing clients, or your customers, or you can even survey your site visitors, asking them for suggestions. Consider including a question in the next email you send out to your list.
Consider Keyword Research Software
Once you run out of people to ask, try some of the keyword research software tools to gather useful statistical information about each search term, as well as to collect even more potential keywords.
Proceeding in this fashion, it's not uncommon to uncover 1000 or more potential keywords. But with power, comes responsibility.
Select the Best Keywords
The software and it's database may provide you with a lot of power. Your responsibility, then is to analyze the results and to strategically select the best 100 to 200 keywords for your site. The exact strategy I suggest you use, is a topic for another article.
Best Keywords Selected? -- Build Your Website
Once you've identified your proper site building keywords, you will then use them while build your website pages, in such a way that you clearly notify the search engines that your page is likely a good match for the given keyword. While the exact techniques to do so are also out of scope for this article, rest assured that it's easier to use the keywords on your site than it was to collect them and then only keep the best 100 or so.
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