Keyword research is the first step in the search engine optimization process. Using professional industry tools and techniques the objective is to uncover the language used by your target audience groups to search for what you offer.
A list of keywords and phrases is compiled for each web page to be optimized in your campaign. Selecting at most three but optimally one keyword or phrase per page, each web page is composed in a very specific way to be highly focused on the keyword or phrase selected for the campaign. These same keyword lists, it should be noted, can also be used effectively for other online advertising and marketing campaigns such as pay-per-click.
Deciding which keywords or phrases to use depends on several factors, principally among them the goals you set for the campaign. You may discover that the language used by your target audience groups to search for what you offer is quite diverse. Generally the research provides statistical data that indicates how often a particular term you are considering is searched overall. But that should not be the only criteria you base your decision on. Some terms mean different things to different people. For example, a “concrete mixer” is both a small plastic tub used for mixing concrete and a large vehicle that does the same but on a different scale. If you sell plastic tubs and not vehicles than this term alone is not your strongest choice even if the statistics reveal it receives the most searches per day.
Keyword research is both a linguistic and statistical science. It is the cornerstone of a successful search engine optimization campaign since your keywords provide the basis of the focus. Making the right choices involves clear goal setting and a profound understanding of the relevance of each term not only to your information but to those who use it to search.
