To obtain success in your online marketing, then you must do SEO keyword research. Using the same keywords your potential buyers use to search the internet is necessary if you want to attract them to your website. Fortunately, keyword research is a fairly simple and straightforward process.

To save your results for later use and stay organized, you will want to record your keywords in a spreadsheet program. A notebook works too. Use whatever tools you are comfortable with and that will allow you to add to the list as you generate phrases.

Your customers use all sorts of phrases to find information on search engines. Therefore, begin the process by thinking like them and listing all of the possible keywords they would use to get to your website. For example, someone who operates a dog training website may add ‘free dog training’ or ‘dog training tools’ to the list.

After you have written down all the phrases you can think of, head on over to your favorite search engine. Pop in a keyword and search through the results list for websites that focus on the same or similar topic as your project. Analyze their site for keywords they are using and add them to your list.

If their website is properly search engine optimized then chances are they will have their keywords listed in the keyword meta tag located in the header of the website. To view the meta tag, you will need to check out the sites source code. To do that, Firefox users click ‘View’ and then ‘Page Source’. Internet Explorer users, select ‘Page’ and then pick ‘View Source’ to get at the information you want.

Next, go to a keyword phrase tool like WordTracker or Google’s Keyword Tool. These research tools will provide you with a list of terms web searchers have entered into the search engines to find the products and information they needed. They will also show you how many times the phrase or word is used per day.

At this point, you will probably have a number of words and phrases you can use for your project. To trim the list so you only have the ones that will truly benefit you, it is time to analyze them. The Google Keyword Tool can help with this step. It will tell you how competitive the keyword is. A word that has a lot of competition may be difficult to rank for. However a word with very little competition may not provide the search volume you need to be profitable. Try to find words with a good balance of competition and search volume.

If you are looking to make money off your project through Google Adsense, look at the Estimated Average CPC. 30-50% of the amount you see there is what Google will pay you each time someone clicks an advertisement on your site. To calculate your possible monthly earnings multiply the Estimated Average CPC by the total number of daily visits and multiply that amount by 30 days. If you rank well for that keyword, you can earn about 25% of the total you come up with.

Proper SEO keyword research cannot be ignored if you want your project to do well in the search engines. Take the time to find the right words and phrases and you enjoy the success you deserve.

Author Bio: Internet marketing consultant David Bain is author of the 200-page free-to-download “13 Pillars of Internet Marketing” eBook and founder of the 26-Week Internet Marketing Plan. Find our more about SEO keyword research at his website.

Category: Marketing
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