6 minutes to search engine domination

ONLY GOT A MINUTE?
SKINNY VERSION of Keyword Selection Research:

No matter how great your website looks, it is useless if no one is finding it. Search engine marketing is the vehicle that drives traffic to your site. Getting the right keywords in your website copy is the gas that fuels that vehicle.

Many people think that finding the right keywords is easy. However it involves analyzing the competition, researching the market and knowing how the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing/MSN, etc…) work. The criteria for being ranked highly in the search engines is always being updated. And if you leave keyword selection to chance, you risk getting lost in cyberspace. The right keywords will help your customers find you no matter where you are—a small town in Texas or in New York City.

The biggest mistake people make is designing a website and not considering the right keywords from the beginning. You should consider search engine marketing (particularly SEO) when you begin designing your website, not once your site is online. You will lose customers who needed your service if they don’t find your site in search engine results.

When creating your website, find a designer that is a specialist in determining keywords and search engine marketing strategies. You don’t want to waste any time or money in attracting customers to your site.

> Go to STEP 2: SEO Web Design & Development for Higher Rankings

GOT MORE THAN A MINUTE?
ROUNDED VERSION of Keyword Selection Research:

You own one of only two television repair shops in your small Texas town. Like your competitor you have a website. You paid a lot of money to have your website designed and you think it looks great. Your competitor’s website is a basic site and you think he designed it himself. Why is he getting lots more business than you?

Search engine marketing is what drives traffic to your website and proper keywords are essential. Finding the right keywords to add to your site may seem simple. If you own a television repair shop, you may think that will drive traffic to your site. But with thousands of shops worldwide your search engine marketing efforts must focus on targeted keywords that ensure customers find you.

An Example of Using Keywords in Everyday Life

You are watching television and the screen goes dark. You can still hear it but there is no picture. If you are like the majority of people, you will not reach for the yellow pages to find a television repair shop. And if you are like most people, you likely won’t know of one in your area. So let’s say you live in Houston, Texas. You may type in “Houston Texas television repair” to find a shop near you. You may also find reviews of the shop from other customers and possibly even a special offer to receive a discount. You found the shop by typing in “Houston Texas television repair.”

Selecting Keywords

You have to decide what you want the keywords to do.

• Branding. You want visitors to come to your site to learn more about you. You are not expecting to generate sales or leads.
• Lead generation. You want to develop a sales list based on visitors to your site. You will follow up and close the sale using other techniques.
• Convert. You want the website, using keyword selection and search engine marketing strategies, to lead visitors to purchase the goods or services immediately.

Long tail keywords can help narrow down your business for the search engines. These are defined as keywords that are actually phrases containing three or more words. Let’s consider the television repair shop mentioned above. If you type in “television”, you will likely get shops that sell televisions and listings of television shows. Type in television repair and you are likely to get repair shops from around the country and possibly articles on “do it yourself” television repair. But if you type in “Houston Texas television repair” you have a very high chance of finding shops in your own neighborhood.

Where your keywords should be

In the past, web designers and marketing experts would put keywords in the copy as many times as possible. Called “keyword stuffing,” the search engines are now wise to this practice, often called search spam, and reject pages that employ this technique.

Keyword density is important in getting a great ranking. To get better rankings in the search engines, you should use (but not over-use) the keyword multiple times in the body of the copy. The keywords should also be located in the title tag and various other parts of HTML code.

Experiences Matters

The consequences of not choosing the right keywords can make or break a business that is relying on its website to bring in customers. You may have an incredible looking web site with all the bells and whistles. But if no one can find you online, no one is going to buy your product or service. When choosing a company to design your website and provide search engine marketing services, make sure the company has experience in getting the right keywords for your business that attract the right targeted search engine traffic.

BACK TO START: Search Engine Marketing Domination Process