The Essential Step in Search Engine Marketing
Keyword optimization, which encompasses keyword analysis, selection, and placement, serves as the foundational and foremost component of a successful and cost-effective SEO strategy.
The initial stage of SEO commences with keyword marketing. Keywords are instrumental in conveying a business’s identity to the target audience, making them a vital aspect of effective search engine marketing.
However, keyword optimization is contingent on various factors, and establishing specific parameters is crucial to securing top positions in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), thereby attracting potential customers online.
Two primary factors drive keyword strategies (the keyword selection process): the nature of the business and the intended target audience. It is imperative to narrow down the search scope to reach the target audience effectively. Focusing on specific keywords can attract a broad audience to your website, yielding higher returns and enhancing ROI (Return on Investment).
Keyword research marks the first phase of an economical SEO service. Three key elements must be considered: the products and/or services your business offers, the target audience, and what they are searching for to reach your business.
Effective keyword research should commence with a clear understanding of the objectives to be achieved through this process. Optimized content development necessitates thorough keyword research, selection, and placement, ultimately improving the site’s rankings on major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
Keyword research identifies which keyword phrases best describe the website’s products and services and are actively used in web searches. It encompasses three critical aspects:
- Keyword Analysis: This process involves analyzing the volume of potential keywords likely to generate traffic.
- Keyword Selection: Out of the pool of keywords collected, it is essential to understand the various potential keywords that reflect the company’s status.
- Keyword Placement: The final step involves correctly placing keywords in the site’s content to ensure they are given greater relevance by search engine spiders.
These three processes collectively constitute Keyword Optimization. Keyword research involves identifying the right keywords with the highest search frequency (keyword value) and the lowest competition in the market (i.e., keywords with few businesses targeting them). Ideally, the keyword should be the search term used by prospective clients to find a specific business. While finding the perfect keyword to compete with thousands of similar businesses is challenging, it is sometimes necessary to target a highly competitive yet indispensable and high-converting keyword due to its indispensability and high conversion rate (the keyword’s ability to generate sales).
The following are essential considerations when selecting keywords:
- Choose Unique Keywords: Try to select unique keywords that your competitors have not thought of. Several tools like WordTracker, Overture, and Google AdSense can help identify targeted keywords. When selecting a keyword, aim to provide it with a unique perspective.
- Optimize for Profitable Keywords: Consider the sales generated by each keyword and the profit generated for each sale. Optimize for the keywords that lead to the most profitable results.
- Relevance is Key: Ensure that the selected keywords are highly relevant to your site, so visitors who arrive at your site via these keywords are more likely to stay. Site popularity is an important consideration.
- Comprehensive Keyword List: Build a list of keywords that thoroughly cover your site, leaving nothing or no one out. The keywords should reflect the nature of your business.
- Check Conversion Rates: Assess the conversion rate of each keyword. If one keyword brings 10 people to your site but results in only one sale, while another keyword brings only two visitors but both make a purchase, the latter keyword is more valuable. This is known as the conversion rate. The search terms should ultimately bring prospective customers and lead to increased sales.
- Analyze Competitors: Investigate what your competitors are targeting by viewing their websites. While viewing a competitor’s site for educational purposes is acceptable, directly copying their keywords is unethical and frowned upon. Google also penalizes such practices, and websites engaging in them may be banned for copyright infringement.
- Think Like a User: Consider how an ordinary person might search for a specific site. Then, look for keywords that align with these user behaviors. It is advisable to include two to three unique keywords that incorporate industry jargon or specific terminology to ensure the selected keywords are realistic and specific.
Once you have obtained the keywords, the next step is to implement them effectively. Keywords are typically placed in the following universal locations:
- In the title
- In the domain name
- In headings
- In the first sentence of the first paragraph
- In the filename
- In text links
- In meta descriptions
- In meta keywords
- At the bottom of the page
Optimizing keywords in these ways will increase the likelihood of search engines ranking your content highly and ensuring thorough crawling by search engine spiders.
