Great Article by Erez Barak at Search Engine Watch! While the say “5 Simple Steps to Selecting Your Keywords” and he completely layout the formula for selecting keywords, many who even read this won’t do it correctly or take the extra time to focus on what is really important. Clients always tell me, “my keywords are Sugar Coated Blackbirds” (just made that up – the sugar coated blackbirds part that is) – Then I do a little research and what do you know, nobody is looking! And if nobody is looking for your keywords, then why would you want to pay me to optimize your site for keywords that nobody is looking for! Okay, take me out of the loop, why would you want to spend all the energy and time getting yourself ranked for a keyword that nobody is searching for. The answer, are you ready… YOU WOULDN’T!  SO DON’T DO IT!

The first thing I do when meeting with a client, is check if anybody is even search for keywords. Now you can do this without sophisticated keyword tools, just by checking Google’s very own Keyword Tool.

With Google’s Keyword Tool you can check:

• Global Monthly Searches
• Local Monthly Searches
• Competition – by the way is based on Google Adwords

Not only check the keywords, but get keyword ideas. Imagine that new ideas! So lets say you just can’t find your keywords, may your having a brain fart. Well then, find out who your competition is and simply put their website url and search. Google will return a list of keywords of what they think your competition is about. By the way this is a great tool when a client asks you to review there site! Hint, hint, see what Google is thinking about a site while on the go.

Okay I’m not going to bore you anymore. Take a look at this article, it’s a good read.

My Reviews: SEO 101: 5 Simple Steps to Selecting Your Keywords

by Chaz Key

 

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The original Article from Search Engine Watch

SEO 101: 5 Simple Steps to Selecting Your Keywords

Let’s say you already have a website or are trying to optimize your blog, but haven’t invested much time in search engine optimization (SEO), or the efforts that you have made aren’t paying off. What’s next? Where do you even start?

SEO can be overwhelming if you look at it as an insurmountable project, but if you just take it a step at a time and start small, working your way up over time, the work can be easily achievable – even for a small team.

It’s natural for a company to think that they have the best insight as to what their relevant, target keywords are, but in reality, the way people search for a keyword may not match up with how you would expect your product or service to be found. This is why it’s important to do a sanity check, see what the data says and conduct thorough keyword research from the start, so you don’t waste cycles focusing on and optimizing for keywords that people aren’t actually using to find your business online.

Here are five simple steps to selecting your keywords.

1. Own Your Brand Terms

The first thing you want to be sure you rank for is your brand name. As a first step, search for your brand name and see where you rank.

If you don’t rank for your brand name, this is the first thing to go after. In most cases, this is a very easy step; you’re probably already there. If you have competitors ranking on Page 1 for your brand, you want to force them out and own this space (the search engine algorithms are now allowing a brand to own the full first page of results).

In addition to your brand name, make sure you own all terms associated with your brand name, like your brand-specific product names, as well as your management team’s names.

2. Get Keyword Suggestions

Add your URL, relevant keywords and competitors’ URLs to a keyword suggestion tool and get a list of recommended keywords. When adding keywords relevant to your brand to the suggestion tool, make sure to include a range of head terms, mid-terms and long-tail keywords.

• Head terms = >1,000 monthly searches
• Mid-terms = 100-1,000 monthly searches
• Long-tail keywords =

3. Beat Your Competitors

Identify your competitors’ target keywords by adding their homepage URL to your keyword suggestion tool. Validate your own keyword list against your competitors. Are there any major keywords that you missed?

4. Narrow Down Your Keyword List

Compare your resulting keyword list by relevancy, competition, search volume and current status. The goal is to ultimately pick 10 keywords per SEO campaign – your brand name and four additional keywords.

Start by narrowing your keyword list to only the relevant ones. Check to see which keywords you’re already ranking for. It will be easier to start where you’re already in the running.

Look at global monthly searches and competition; ideally, you’re looking for low competition and up to 1,000 monthly searches. Think about conversion. Try to imagine people searching on these terms, seeing your site and whether they would actually convert.

5. Build a Plan to Rank for These Target Keywords

Take these top target keywords and build an SEO campaign around them. Monitor the keywords over time by tracking the trends of ranks and by measuring what kind of traffic you’re getting from them.

Summary:

SEO may be a lot of work early on, but it can have enduring, long-term benefits. When done right, simple SEO can have a major impact on your website traffic and in creating brand awareness in a scalable way.

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Article Source: Search Engine Watch

Article: SEO 101: 5 Simple Steps to Selecting Your Keywords

Author: Erez Barak

 

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SEO 101: 5 Simple Steps to Selecting Your Keywords