In order to ensure high quality search engine optimization or SEO, it is important to recognize the value of keyword research, the process of selecting those keywords or phrases that will help visitors find one’s website. Of course, it is a primary goal of most website owners to obtain a better ranking with major search engines such as Google, Yahoo! or Bing. If “optimum performance” keywords are used but not targeted, then it will all be a big waste. Even with great rankings with Google and the like, the wrong keywords will do little to help websites get relevant traffic on the internet. Hence, keyword phrase research is not an aspect to be undervalued.
The first and foremost phase in an SEO campaign is determining the target audience and studying what sort of keywords or phrases those visitors might use in popular search engines in such a way that they will stumble upon one’s website. This is called the discovering keywords phase. And, as with all marketing strategies, it is important to know who one’s target audience is. Whether it’s the younger or older set, males or females, Market A, B, C, or D, this is where good critical research comes in.
It is important to know that every search is based on its specifics. A search can be location, region, or country specific. It can also be business, trade, service, or product specific. Once again, it all depends on the visitor using the search engine, otherwise known as the “audience.” For example, a pregnant woman searching for a free health clinic is more likely to target doctors assigned to health clinics or hospitals within her specific area. Focusing on this particular aspect of specificity will most likely help the website obtain its targeted visitors, much like the pregnant woman mentioned before. With this, a website will get its deserved hits, traffic will not be wasted, and both company and client will obtain mutual benefit.
Other significant phases in keyword research analysis are the analysis phase, the selection phase, and the deploying phase. The analysis phase involves including information about a company’s existing competition such as PageRank-based limitations and the potential for being ranked. This provides an estimate of just how many web pages are competing with one’s company for the top spot in popular search engines.
The selection phase involves measuring and shortlisting relevant keywords for maintaining the site’s focus and target audience within the given limitations previously analyzed. With about 50-100 high-yield keyword phrases that provide accurate description of one’s website, this means that more focused keyword phrases lead to the best possible return in traffic.
Finally, the deploying phase involves making optimum use of the relevant keywords and phrases for one’s website, HTML code, and tags. This involves narrowing down the keywords to about 15-20, which are to be used on various parts of the website, with identified sections that will feature those keywords based on themes. The important parts of the website wherein one can use relevant keywords are the title tag, meta description tag, headlines.
