subject: The Secret To Your Web Site's Success; Choosing The Right Keywords! [print this page] In order for customers to reach your web site, you need to provide them with specific and effective traffic signs that will direct them to your site. And the most effective signs are the right keywords. If you do not choose the right keywords you run the risk of being totally ignored by the powerful search engines and therefore missing immense possible business. Search engines are the conduit that connects potential customers to your web site. As search engines are the first port of call for people looking for information, goods or services, the position that your site commands in search results is an extremely vital matter.
If your keywords are too wide-ranging or too cliched, the possibility of visitors actually making it all the way to your site is very slim.
Your keywords serve as the basis of your marketing strategy. If they are not chosen with great precision, no matter how aggressive your marketing campaign may be, the right people may never get the chance to find out about it. So your first step in developing your strategy is to gather and evaluate keywords and phrases.
You probably feel that you know your business very well and already figured out the exact words for your search phrases. Unfortunately, if you haven't followed certain specific steps, you are probably wrong. It's hard to focus when you are right in the heart of your business' system, which is the reason that you may not be able to choose the most effective keywords from the inside. You need to be able to think like your customers. And since you are a business owner and not the consumer, your best bet is to go directly to the source.
Instead of playing the guess works of dabbling in and jotting down a list of potential search words and phrases yourself; ask for keywords from as many prospective customers as you can. You will most likely find out that your understanding of your business and your customers' understanding are significantly different.
Customers feedback and point of view are an invaluable resource. You will find the words you gather from them are words and phrases you probably never would have thought of.
Having gathered as many words and phrases from outside resources you then should add your own keywords to the list. Once you have this list in hand, you are ready for the next step: evaluation.
The aim of evaluation is to narrow down your list to a small number of words and phrases that will direct the highest number of quality visitors to your website. By "quality visitors" I mean those consumers who are most likely to make a purchase rather than just cruise around your site and take off for greener pastures. In evaluating the effectiveness of your keywords the three Ps must apply:
1.Popular
2.Particular
3.Purposeful
The more popular your keywords are, the more likely you will score high on the number of searches your customers use which will then bring up your URL. Your blog is the highest scoring element. Therefore special attention should be given to the chosen words in your blog subjects.
Using popular keywords isn't enough to ensure the effectiveness of your choice. You must move on to the next criteria, which is choosing Particular keywords that relate directly to you product or service. The more particular your keywords are, the greater the likelihood that customers who are ready to purchase your goods or services will find you.
The third factor is the Purpose behind customers rationale and their approach in searching for your product or service. Once again, this requires putting yourself inside the mind of the customer rather than the seller to figure out what purpose prompts a person looking for a service or product to type in a particular word or phrase.
Once you have chosen your final keywords list, your work is not done. You must continually evaluate performance across a variety of search engines, bearing in mind that times and trends change, as does popular lingo. You cannot rely on your log traffic analysis alone because it will not tell you how many of your visitors actually made a purchase.
Fortunately, some new tools have been invented to help you determine the effectiveness of your keywords by individual search engines. There is currently a software that analyzes consumer behavior in relation to consumer traffic. This allows you to discern which keywords are bringing you the most valuable customers.
This is an essential concept: numbers alone do not make a good keyword; profits per visitor do. You need to find keywords that direct consumers to your site who actually buy your product, fill out your forms, or download your product. This is the most important factor in evaluating the efficacy of a keyword or phrase, and should be the sword you wield when discarding and replacing ineffective or inefficient keywords with keywords that bring in better profits.
Ongoing analysis of tested keywords is the formula for search engine success. This may sound like a lot of work - and it is! But your efforts in compiling an outstanding keywords campaign will be rewarded by an exponential growth in your sales volumes.
