What's the big deal about keywords?

We all know that keywords are the words we type into our favorite search engine to find things on the web. It's logical then, that if your website describes what you do and who you are, then others will find you when they're looking for services that you provide. Right? Maybe not.

A lot of websites use corporate talk instead of common words that people use when looking for services. For example, would you do a search for "collaborative relational enterprise application" or for "customer relations management software"? To be fair, it's not that easy to determine the words people use to find you.

To start with, use web analytics to find the words people already used when they found your site. This tells you the keywords you have on your site that people are using. You can then choose to use those terms on other pages as well.

But what about the search words that people used where they should have found your site... but didn't? There are a number of tools available to discover related keywords that people are typing into search engines. We are using a tool from Wordtracker to research words related to clients' business. It's a great tool, but it still requires a lot of analysis to pick the best terms.

A keyword search is also valuable when you are just starting a business. Keywords can give some direction as to what to name your business, or what words to use in a tag line. For example, should you use "advisor" or "counselor"? Since your name will be used on each page of your website, then you will already have an important keyword in your site content.

Keywords can also help you find a niche market, or determine if a certain market is big enough to make money. For example, if there are very few searches done around a proposed business idea, you can then adjust or change your business idea to better fit the market.

If you are doing paid search marketing (i.e. Google Adwords), then keyword search is not only valuable, it's imperative. Wordtracker will help determine how many other sites compete for keywords. Then you can choose keywords that not only are less competitive (i.e. you pay less per click) but will also target your specific customer better (they are more likely to buy).

Keyword research is best done at the beginning of a web development project. This will guide the written content and search engine optimization throughout the project. It can also give you insight into your other marketing tactics.