Keyword choice is important when you are building an on-line venture. We have said it before, most folks start their on-line venture by getting a domain name, get some hosting, throw up a few pages with colors, images and usually little content then pick some keywords out of a hat and expect the Field of Dreams syndrome to kick in. That is, “if you build it they will come”.
Unfortunately, this is usually a poor approach. You might get lucky… Do you feel lucky?
We’ve pointed out in the article Keyword Research, You Ask Why? some of the pitfalls of playing “Pick a Card, Any Card” with your keywords. The reason for this is, although your keywords may be relevant to your product or service, they may fall short of traffic, commercial value, or conversion to your bottom line.
The other side of the coin is you pick keywords that will produce a lot of traffic, but may be what’s called Information keywords instead of the Buy keywords. So what’s the difference?
In order to get a clear picture of this you should look at the natural habits of individuals as they go through the search process.
I recently gave a quick synopsis of the process to a group I belong to and used an example of a roofer in the group.
Being a roofer, he sells and installs roofs on homes and businesses. So his first choice in keyword selection would naturally be “Roofing”.
Now lets look at Roofing from the searcher’s perspective.
The first word I put in when starting my search for a new roof on my home would be Roofing. Great! Since I don’t really have any idea of what to look for I use the Informational keyword to get me started.
My initial results, as would be expected, are many links to roofing manufacturers and the variety of products they make and sell. As I learn what’s available, I begin to realize there may be different types of materials, components, and a wide range of pricing structures to choose from. I’m getting “Information” about roofing products.
My education has begun and now have some different phrases to narrow my search. So I have chosen as the best option for me and the brand name GAF appears to be the product of choice. So I may refine my search to GAF Roofing so I can get more “Information” about my product of choice. Product reviews from 3rd parties are always handy to re-enforce my decision to choose GAF Roofing materials.
As you can tell, I’m still in the Information Gathering stage at this point. and now need to find someone to put the new roof on the house.
Once again I refine my search to GAF Roofing Sales or GAF Roofing Installers. now it becomes apparent, I’m narrowing down my search, still in the Information Gathering stage, but moving closer to the Buy Stage.
My last search has now brought back a large number of installation companies from all over the country. Since I live in New Hampshire, it would be unlikely for me to choose a company located in California, so once again I refine the search terms to something like GAF Roofing Sales New Hampshire, or GAF Roofing Installers New Hampshire.
My results now become relevant to me and I’m ready to make a selection from the companies in my locale.
Once I’ve found an acceptable company I make the decision to contact them and get an estimate. Now my keyword phrase GAF Roofing Sales New Hampshire, or GAF Roofing Installers New Hampshire has suddenly become a “Buy Keyword Phrase”.
It is important to understand this process when choosing the keywords to focus your website content and optimization efforts on.
As there are many permutations of the keywords associated with your product or service, you want to test your chosen keywords to see if they have the components to make your venture a success. Remember, it takes the same amount of work to succeed as it does to fail.
The things you want to take into consideration when choosing keywords are:
- Are the keywords Relevant
- Do they have an acceptable level of Targeted Traffic
- Are the keywords Too Competitive
- Do the keywords have Commercial Value (will they make money for you)
In the article Website Marketing & Optimization – Why You Need It! there more information how this fits in with your on-line venture, and why it is important to aim for those top slots with the “Buy Keywords”.
It’s nice to be Lucky, but it’s better to be knowledgeable, so pick those keywords carefully and target the Buy Keywords!
