by Dan J. Fry, c. 2003-2004, All rights reserved.
The core element of any type of marketing utilizing the search engines
is the keyword. Why is it so important? In terms of general marketing
principles keyword search is equivalent to targeting a niche. It can
help you focus your advertisements on certain key areas that will
already have an interest in what you are offering.
Targeting proper keywords or key phrases, groups of 2 to 5 keywords, is
the way to market successfully with pay-per-click search engines and
obtain high ranking in search engine indexes. It is a rather arduous
task, but one that can yield massive returns in ranking, traffic, and
sales if done correctly.
So where do I start?
Many free resources exist to research which keywords you should target.
The two deciding factors are the number of searches performed on a
particular keyword or key phrase, and the number of sites currently
targeted these. Its nothing more than supply and demand.
Overture
The premiere pay-per-click search engine who previously supplied search
results to several major search engines, is now on its own. The free
search tool can be found at: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
. Search results are displayed only for the previous month. This should
be sufficient. The internet changes so quickly that what happended 6
months ago is not of much importance. What makes Overture's tool king in
my view is that it provides hard numbers on how much a phrase was
searched, allowing you to directly compare with the number of sites
targeting each phrase.
Google Suggestion
Google has their own keyword suggestion tool. If you have an Adwords
account then you are already familiar with this resource. Check it out
at https://adwords.google.com/select/main?cmd=KeywordSandbox . This tool
also provides related keyword information. It provides synonyms that
might be used to target areas relatively untouched by others.
7Search
This PPC engine is steadily gaining in popularity. I have used it in the
past to build my subscriber base and saw modest results. To use their
keyword tool simply create a free account and log on. Then click on
"Edit Bids" and go to "Keyword Suggestions".
Teoma
This search engine provides related search results and keyword
suggestion in the results returned to the searcher. It can open up new
avenues of keywords and phrases not thought about before. This resource
can be found at http://teoma.com/ .
Web Host Statistics
Unless your site is free, i.e. a free several page site through your
ISP, you will most probably have . Have a look. My service is through
StartLogic. The statistics are compiled through AWStats, which by the
way is a free program for analyzing web site access. When I log into the
server, I can view the statistics using AWStats. It also shows me which
keywords and key phrases people are using to find my site. One great
advantage I have found with this method is that you can come up with
keyword ideas that you would have never thought about. Because people
are finding you with these keywords the search engines must have you
indexed
Online Dictionary and Thesaurus
Well, you may have wanted to stay away from them in school, but, crack
them open. These can provide you with additional ideas to then use in
Overture, 7Search, etc..
Word Tracker
This service is packed with many rich features to assist in keyword
research. It starts at $6US per day. For $225US annually you are free to
use it as much as needed. There is also a free version which does not
have many of the extended features. I however recommend starting with
this version. It will give you a taste of how it works.
Ranking.com
Use this resource to investigate how much traffic a site is receiving.
You cannot research individual keywords and key phrases.
As a final note put the required time into researching keywords and key
phrases prior to submitting your site or starting a PPC campaign.
Otherwise you are feeling around in the dark trying to find your niche.
It is time expensive, but not so for your wallet. This fares well for
online home businesses where time is usually not a concern.
For more information on keyword research I suggest checking out
ClickZ.com. They offer a lot of advice on search engine marketing.
About the Author:
Dan J. Fry is an independent researcher and owner of e-Kinetic.com, a
site devoted to providing resources for small budget home businesses. He
has a PhD in Physics and is married with two daughters and two cats.
Subscribe to his free E-Zine on home business resources at mailto:e-kinetic@GetResponse.com
or by visiting his Online Home Based Business Resources site. He can be
reached at mailto:comp@e-kinetic.com.
"Reprinted from Zongoo.com Daily Press & Consumer Information"
