Simple Ideas for Finding Keywords

Deciding which keywords (and key phrases) you want to use is an important first step in writing the text and metadata for your web site pages. These keywords play an important role in gaining traffic results through search engine results for your site. The main question is, “what keywords are the right ones?” Here are some tips to help answer that question.

The first step is to use your own knowledge. Create a list with the most common words and phrases in your industry. Be careful that your customers use these words, though and not just marketers or salesman. People aren’t going to search for whatever catchy nickname you’re using, they’ll use whatever is common amongst themselves or the media. Once you’ve create this list you can check it’s efficiency by using a tool such as Overture to see how often a particular keyword is searched for.

You can also turn to the search engines themselves for suggestions once you have a basic list. The 3 major search engines – Google, Yahoo and MSN, all offer tools that provide keyword suggestions. Google and MSN require registration, which may include a small, one-time fee while Yahoo does not. These tools offer varieties on the words you already have, which helps cover anything you may have forgotten.

There are also subscription services that represent another avenue for finding keywords. The most popular among these is Wordtracker, which compiles information from searches performed on several lower level search engines. Keyword Discovery is another option in a similar vein, which takes recorded search queries from Internet Service Providers to form their information. Both options should definitely be looked into as many SEO gurus favor them.

Finally, take a look at your own server logs and internal search logs if you can. These show you how people came to your site and what they were searching for once they arrived – very helpful information for a marketer trying to decide how to get people to their site.

All in all, these are just a few tips to point you in the right direction. As you develop your keyword list you’ll find more and more words to add, while some earlier versions may be pared off. As long as the right people are finding your site you can rest assured you’re on the right track.