Words are the only means that web-surfers communicate their need to the search engine they choose to use. Relevant keywords are one of the most important tools to boost popularity of your website in search engine searches to boost traffic. We need to identify those keywords that your website visitors will use to find you and your offerings, and not necessarily the words that you use to describe your business. Using more focused keywords helps as qualified buyers do not often use generalist terms in their web searches.
So if you are a shopping cart software provider, you need to consider keywords such as “best shopping cart, shopping cart software, shopping cart Australia, and “simple shopping cart” as each of these search terms reflect the factors which are most important to the web user.
Bear in mind, the general rule is the more specific the search the more qualified the user. So its not just about traffic, its also about quality web users which fit your target market profile.
Using Keyword phrasesExtensive research conducted by Google has revealed that the majority of current web visitors used keyword phrases rather than single words in their searches. Keyword phrases are two or more important words that are associated with the product or service that your website is dealing with. Thus it’s better to use ‘2007 Toyota Prius’ rather than just ‘Prius’ as more people associate this car with its parent brand name and also serious e-commerce visitor/customer is looking for a specific model. Today specialised tools enable you to easily gather popular keywords and keyword phrases used in recent Internet searches. From these you can narrow down your choice to those keyword phrases that are aligned to the intent of the website visitors. Action oriented plural keyword phrases that describe your business benefits in definite terms are the best choice.
You may be surprised to hear thay In July 2006, Onestat.com conducted research which found that 28% of web users typed in 2 word key phrases, 27% typed in 3 word key phrases, 17% typed in 4 word key phrases and only 11% typed in 1 word key phrases.
Keyword usage & stylingWe all like attractively written sentences which are also grammatically correct – right? The same is the case with your website visitors. So keep in mind that while focused, descriptive keywords are important, do not compromise on sentence construction. Persuasive word-styling with intelligently dispersed keywords is more important than an unusual concentration of keywords.
After all you don’t want to look silly (incorrect English is un-professional) in front of your web-visitors. It is always better to use a natural friendly style of writing with simple keywords that are easy to understand. Everyone acknowledges that keywords are critical to getting better results in search engine rankings. Whilst you know your business best, web marketing experts have many years experience understanding and monitoring the impact of search activity.
When selecting keywords you need to consider the following factors:
- Keyword traffic volumes
- Levels of website competition per keyword
- Your website stats data
- Keywords which provide the highest sales conversion rates
- Keyword targeting of your competitor websites
The good news is advanced web stats software such as Google Analytics makes it easy for you to analyse the traffic and conversion impact of your
search engine optimisation programs. Google Analytics shows your business the amount of traffic that your website receives from paid search traffic and organic search traffic.
Your goal of search engine optimisation should be to shift the % of traffic your website receives from paid to free search traffic from optimisation. You can quickly achieve this by investing the time or investing in a company to develop a keyword strategy for your business that will deliver long term value to your operations.
