How to do Keyword Research

Keyword research: How to do it properly

How do you start at reseaching keywords? Don't think you know them all - Think like your prospective customer

Being involved with content creation for web sites, I am sometimes asked by friends and clients if I can help in setting up web sites in terms of creating content. Because some of these projects are lean on manpower I am also sometimes asked to do some of the legwork of coordinating with clients in laying the foundation for the web site. One of these tasks is to identify keywords for the web site.

Here’s where the first problem usually lies. There are many clients who think that keywords are something that can just be picked from their heads, like some random game of Scrabble. They think that identifying keywords is this easy. What they don’t know that keywords play a crucial role in building a web site and because of this proper research is needed in order to find the right keywords for a web site. The keywords should properly reflect what the web site is about and what its content will be.

Doing research for keywords is not that hard especially if you know what you’re going to do. Here are some tips you can use when doing keyword research.

Synonyms play a big role in getting the right mix of keywords for your web site. In order to help you in finding the synonyms that will correctly fit your web site use Google Sets. This nifty search tool from Google will generate a list of items that are related to the keyword you asked to be searched. Google Sets will help you in defining the correct mix of synonymous words and phrases that will make your web site easier to tag by search engines.
Always remember that when people use the internet, they are more often than not looking for answers. This means that you should always include keyphrases that is identical in syntax to how a person will phrase his question. For example, most people always use the word “how” when they are searching for answers. They will phrase their questions naturally, like, “how to take care of a cat.” Use the synonyms you find from your search and try to combine it with the word “how” to narrow down some of your keyphrases and make it more specific.
Action terms are also commonly used when people use search engines in their research. For example terms like buying, selling, advertising and training are common action words that are often included in the search syntax of most people. Use these action terms and find out what their synonyms are to make sure you have everything covered. One nice trick is to use the action terms and combine it with your web site’s topic and do an internet search. You’ll find what other people will be searching for that’s related to your web site’s topic and that’s something that you can also add to your keyword list.
Don’t ignore keywords that have a low search count. It’s almost common practice for people to choose keywords with a high search count value. Although this is a safe tactic, it will also be a good idea to use low search count words as well. Create a long tail keyword by combining three to four low search count keywords and develop content around this to help bolster your web site’s SERP.

Vic Carrara
Masterwebsoftware.com

When you want to research keywords you have to imagine you are one of your customers

Keyword research: How to do it properly

How do you start at reseaching keywords? Don't think you know them all - Think like your prospective customer

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