Heather Lutze, owner of Findability Group, discusses the importance of keywords and how to find the correct ones.

Keyword research is an important first step for any Internet Marketing campaign. Everything about search engine marketing revolves around your website being “Findable” online. Of course, the necessary first question any entrepreneur looking to take search engine marketing on is – Findable where? If you are a pet retailer based in Boise, you obviously don’t want to have your website show up when people are searching for televisions in Hawaii. Essentially, you do not want to be “Findable” everywhere- you just want to be Findable everywhere your customers are searching on the Internet.

This is where the importance of keywords comes in. A keyword is any word or series of words (also known as keyphrases) entered into a search box on a search engine. Keywords are the starting point for every prospect or customer when performing a search or making a purchase online. They are how your customers navigate the search process and how the search engines deliver results pages to searchers.

For this reason, I have developed this blog of 3 keyword research tips that anyone trying to figure out what their best keywords are should know.

Keyword Research Tips- Tip #1: Use a tool- and by the way it’s FREE. One of the best keyword research tools available is completely free- the Google external keyword tool. Obviously this tool only measures Google traffic, but as Google makes up roughly 80% of the search market, it’s obviously a statistically significant portion of the population. You can find this tool at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. Before you look to invest hundreds of dollars in a keyword tool, take a look at Google’s tool- it provides all the bare essential data you need to find your keywords.

Keyword Research Tips- Tip # 2: Bigger is Not Necessarily Better- When selecting your best keyword, you will see keywords getting millions of searches per month. Many first-time marketers fall into the trap of competing for high level words like “pet” or “shop.” This is why Google gives the “Advertising Competition” graph in the first column. The more that bar is filled in, the more difficult and expensive it will be to rank for that keyword. Try to find keywords that have some search volume, but much lower levels of competition- avoid keywords with totally green competition bars!

Keyword Research Tips- Tip # 3: Take advantage of Targeting- One of the most valuable elements of search engine marketing is the amazing targeting potential at work. Just think- you can target someone who (1) self identifies as a member of your target audience and (2) is actively interested in your product at that time. When conducting keyword research, pay attention to the keyword tails and what they are saying about that potential customer. “Cheap dogs for sale in Boise” is a lot different target customer than someone searching for “Pure Bread German Sheppard Puppies for Sale in Boise” – one customer wants a low price and the other wants high-quality. Select keywords based on your competitive advantage in the market.

I hope these keyword research tips help you along your path to finding your keywords and getting found online. Good luck and I will see you at the top!

Visit www.FindabilityGroup.com for more information on our Internet Marketing firm.