By Lance Williams
A little bit of research will reap large rewards when deciding on what keywords to target for your website or blog. It may be just a difference of a few words that will take you from a low ranked site to a high ranked one. But the key is finding the right keywords. Follow these tips to find the best keywords and ultimately increase your web traffic by connecting with targeted traffic.
The M ore Specific the Better
Be smart and specific with the keyword you go after. A contractor in California will benefit little from using ‘ contractor’ as his keyword. Once you add a location and specialty, he will have much greater chance to connect with those looking for his service. So, ‘ Bay Area general contractor’ would assuredly produce better results.
Use Available Tools
Many sites offer keyword search tools for free. These include Google’ s Keyword Tool and SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool. There are other paid versions that may be worth the cost for a subscription. The paid sites are not affiliated with a search engine and may be the superior choice.
Relevant to Overall Goal
If you have not already focused on a specific goal for your site and business, now is the time to spell it out. Write it on paper and then evaluate whether your keyword options will lead you to achieve this goal. As you match the best keywords to the goals you have in mind you will have a more cohesive strategy. Also, the relevancy of the keyword will be easier to determine if your goals are clear.
Check out the Numbers
Looking into the popularity of the search terms will help you determine what niche to target and whether your search terms are too narrow. You want to make sure that enough people are conducting searches with your keywords to make it worth your while. In order to not be too specific but at the same time specific enough to reach your niche market, a look at the numbers is your best tool.
Not Just a Word
We talk of keywords, but frequently it’ s the phrase that we really want. You will want to hone in on all kinds of phrases that someone could use to reach your site. Along with the rest of the research you are conducting, you will be able to weed out the non-contenders and determine which phrases will best suit you.
Kelsey Jones
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I think the best way to find good keywords is just to write content, and look at your log files. You’ll find words that you never even targeted. You can then build an entire list of new keywords based on those keywords.