Know Your Keywords!
A friend of mine just launched a website on video production.
In conversation we started talking about driving loads of traffic to her new site.
Here’s how the conversation went once I got rolling…
“You don’t just want any old traffic coming in, you want targeted traffic and the best way to get that is via strategic placement of keywords. You see keywords are the very soul of all search engines and search engines are the driving force behind 70-80% of the average website’s visitor load.”
Can you define your own keywords? Can’t you just say I want to be found for *this* and *that* and *the other*? Sure you can! But it isn’t wise.
Let’s say I wanted to be in the #1 spot when someone searches for “free traffic course”. I spend countless hours getting to the top of the search engines for that term. I make sure that the “free traffic course” key phrase is in every article I write and in every meta tag on every page. I even register a domain name under free-traffic-courses.
I’m fierce and diligent and I succeed.
But I still only get 10 visitors per month.
“But I’m #1 on Google!” I cry! “Look at me! Look what I did! I’m #1!”
What went wrong?
What went wrong is that I am a numbskull.
Who am I to decide what people will type into the search engines?
Who am I to guess?
(Just FYI, I didn’t really try to be #1 for “free traffic course”.)
Friend, you’ve got to get your hands dirty into some dull, dry research. Ain’t no way around it. It takes an hour or two to determine best keyword strategy for the average website. And once you know how, you can do keyword research for your RSS Feeds, keyword research for your blog, keyword research for your next site and so on.
And when you get it right, when you put your time and effort into getting into the #1 spot on Google for a term that people actually use, the visitors come…
Targeted traffic. It brings subscribers and sales and prestige.
So what is keyword research?
The determination of:
- How many searches per month – research
- What are they really looking for when they type that keyword in the search box – guess
- What keywords are your target market likely to use to find you – research+guess.
I’m in the middle of doing a video for people on keyword strategy for RSS Feeds. In it we discuss how to envision the person behind the keyword. Do they have their wallets in their hands or are they looking for free information for their Aunt Kathy?
There’s magic in that answer – guess right and win a prize, guess wrong and your efforts are in vain. Not to mention you’ll look like a numbskull…
Okay, keyword research aside, I know, I know, people think research is dull – that is until they realize how much money can be made targeting the right terms!
Here’s a few easy ways to ensure your keywords are present in your meta tags as well as in your content.
Here’s some examples from my friend’s video site:
- “I see you have ‘video production’ in your tags. Tens of thousands of searches monthly. If that’s the audience you are after then get more of that phrase in every post, article, page. What do you suppose people typing ‘video production’ into the search engines are after? Hiring a consultant? Getting a job in video production? Or learning the ropes? Are they your market? Are their interests met on your page? (Imagine the surfer typing those keywords into google, finding your link and ending up on your site.)
- “‘video article’ is not in your metas, yet there are nearly 5,000 searches related to ‘video article’ monthly. ‘find recording video article’ being the highest, but also ‘video capture article’, etc. People looking for articles are probably looking for information/assistance/help – I’m just guessing, I don’t know your market at all – at any rate guess, are they your target market?
- “Now why am I dragging you through this keyword stuff? Because it may be better to title your pages on your site something other than News or Blog. Why? Well because ‘video blog’ is getting to be a very popular search phrase and unless your site is going to be about video blogging specifically (see that’s where the mandate/mission part comes in) you’ll be struggling to be found by your target market. The first text/heading words on your page are prime keyword food for the search engines.
- “So…if you are targeting people who want information via articles, Video Articles at … would be a better title. Or Video Production at … But if your target market is the Video Blogging crowd then get Video Blog in your metas and in your content – more. Particularly in each article’s heading.”
Know your market. Do your research. Envision the person behind the search box.
This will serve you for the life of your website and if your focus changes then you’ll change your keywords, but at least you’ll be driving with the headlights on.
To Your Success – Now get out there and make some money!
Laura
