As keyword research plays a large part in Search Engine Optimization, a.k.a. SEO, it’s often asked, ‘What are keywords and Why are they important?’ Keywords are classified as the words actually typed into the search engines when people are looking for, or researching, products or topics. Wikipedia says that 91% of Internet users use search engines. As those users are seeking products and services, these words and phrases are typed into the search box. When the results are returned and also the list of websites and their respective descriptions show up on the screen - it is because those websites match the closest towards the words and phrases which were typed. Exactly what are keywords? Keywords are a vehicle that can bring tons of targeted traffic to your site.
It might help to think about search engines being like physical directories such as the Yellow Pages. If you decide to place a business listing inside the Yellow Pages, they’d ask you what category you thought about being listed under. This same thinking is applied to search engines. From the perspective of the consumer, what categories or keywords could be entered for your personal website to show up?
Knowing what people are typing in to find a site like yours is very important towards the traffic and ranking of your website. Keyword research can assist you to cue in on the thought process of a target audience and enable you to meet them in the middle. The keywords that are chosen to optimize your website need to be the ones that most people would think about when searching the Internet.
Obviously, you don’t have to be a mind reader to determine what people are typing into the search engines. There are many tools that are available to help you know which words and phrases are best. Selecting keywords and phrases carefully and strategically will allow your site to strike a balance between search engine rankings and human visitors. You’ll want to make it as easy as possible for the search engines to quickly and easily match your site to the person looking for it.
The investment in time on keyword research is well worth it. A lot has been said generally on the Internet to make some people think that keyword research is tricky, complex and cumbersome. Consequently, many online business owners haven’t even attempted it. While research in general might not seem like fun, getting a feel for what people are looking for can be. The people that get this and use it to their advantage will usually enjoy high search engine rankings and also the subsequent high volumes of traffic that come with it. This isn’t done by always going for the most searched or broadest keywords, either. Often, using longer keywords and key phrases or just more specific keywords helps to limit a topic for the searcher.
Again, the time used on researching keywords and integrating them into a site’s copy may take an hour or two, but then it continues to get results for you forever. Keeping the focus simple and selecting the keywords that make the most sense and have a decent search volume will give a great return for years to come. It doesn’t have to be more complex than that.
In the end, what exactly are keywords but a tool to assist a website and its particular owner reach out in a simple and straight forward way to communicate with an audience. Once that communication is established, then you have to take it to the next step, then the next, and so on. When you know the right steps to take in your marketing efforts, it becomes a rinse and repeat cycle…a system to gain traffic and sales.
Market ’till it hurts!
Glenna Garcia
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Tags:keyword research,search engine optimization,targeted traffic
