Keyword research is the process of analyzing many different keywords to decide on exactly which keywords will be used for your search engine optimization. Keywords are what people type into a search engine (i.e. Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.) to find whatever they are looking for.
Keyword research is crucial to SEO. The reason for this is because if you’re optimizing your website for the wrong keywords, you’re wasting time and money…and you won’t get the results you’re looking for.
SEO Foundation
Many SEO professionals optimize for the keywords they or their clients want to rank for. Makes sense, right? I do this too, but with a slight twist.
It’s great to rank 1st page for your desired keyword(s), but what really counts is getting targeted visitors to your website because without targeted traffic, your website doesn’t really exist.
Note: by targeted I mean people that are interested in your product or service. So if you’re a painter in New York City, a targeted visitor to you would be someone searching on Google for something like “nyc painter” or “painting company in nyc”.
So what I like to do for my clients is come up with 2-3 targeted keywords per webpage that lays down the foundation for SEO. These are usually keywords that aren’t too competitive so they have a good chance of ranking top 10 in the search engines.
But ultimately what I’m trying to do is help the search engines understand what the website is about because this usually results in an increase in targeted traffic. I also like to pick keywords that are slightly varied…but still targeted…so it broadens the SEO foundation.
The basic idea here is that with SEO you optimize for specific keywords, but this usually results in traffic from additional keywords that are relevant and also targeted. As a result, you’re expanding the source of quality traffic you receive from the search engines.
Based on my experience, by optimizing for the keyword “new jersey landscaper” you will most likely attract traffic naturally from someone searching for “NJ landscaping” or “landscaper in new jersey” even though your SEO was focused on “new jersey landscaper”
Summary
So now you know our strategy for choosing keywords that are targeted, varied and not too competitive. Doing this lays down the foundation for SEO so the search engines get a good idea of what your website is about. As a result, your website becomes a magnet for targeted keywords.
One last thing — for keyword research, check out the keyword tool from Google. It’s free and and very helpful!
