SEO Kickstart: Step 1: Developing Keywords

Developing keywords is the first step in a successful SEO strategy.

Here is a quick keyword development strategy you can do yourself:

1. Know What Your Keywords Are! Brainstorm Your List:

Keywords are the words that internet users are using in order to find you on a search engine. It is important to get together with your team and brainstorm as large a list as possible for these.

Then vote on the top 20 or so. If there are 5 obvious ones, like your specific product category “industrial coatings” etc. You will want to identify these.

2. Use Tools to Expand Your List:

It sounds like an obvious place to start, but over half of the time we see an SEO strategy that is based on assumptions and after doing some research, we can find that the entire strategy is flawed. There are plenty of tools to help you do your keyword research and identify what keywords are actually the most commonly requested. Use your list as a starter and start using free keyword tools tools like Google AdWords Keyword Generator, Keyword Spy, WordTracker.

3. Predict Traffic Volume for Each Keyword:

Use Google AdWords Traffic Estimator to estimate search volume for each of your keywords:

Step 1: Input keywords:

Step 2: Currencies & Budget:

*(you can leave it blank for now and Google will choose maximum)

Step 3: Choose Languages & Geographic Regions:

After pressing “Continue,” Google will provide this graph showing cost per click, and forecast traffic volumes:

4. Local Versus Global

If you’re local, climbing the rankings for terms like “Business Card Printing, Milwakee” is a lot easier than trying to compete globally. Also, if you’re a small to mid-sized company that has a global strategy, but still gets the lions share of your business from one key market, consider running a  a micr0-site or sub-directory for that region and focus significant efforts in that market.

Lesson: if there’s enough in your backyard, dominate that market first, your dollars will go much further!

5. Learn From Your Stats & Get to Know your Long Tail

Chris Anderson coined the term “Long Tail” in his book about the phenomenon of the internet providing ever increasing level of targeted result for online info seekers, consumer and B2B buyers. It is important if you want to win the search engine game to really understand what niche market you’re targeting.

6. Use Google AdWords First!

Many people are poorly informed that Google AdWords is a) expensive and b) somehow cheating. The reality is that you really don’t know what keywords are the best ones to develop as your core strategy until you see some results. The best way to generate some results without over-investing in the wrong SEO strategy is to simply buy keyword placements with Google AdWords:

1. Start with broad terms that you know reflect your target market
2. Watch AdWords every day and adjust campaign budgets to ensure you don’t blow your budget in a day
3. Narrow your terms down to phrase matched specific terms that are generating the highest click-through rates
4. Track specific keywords all the way through your sales cycle to see which ones generate the most revenue