Keywords Schmeewords
Don’t get me wrong — keywords are at the heart of any Web site’s marketing strategy. And, keywords (actually keyword phrases) should be discussed during the development process — not afterward. Keywords are fundamental to your SEO (search engine optimization) efforts but only when researched and integrated properly.
Now with that said, surprisingly I find that many are under an incorrect perception when it comes to how keywords come into play and their rankings. Many are still surmise that one-word keywords (car, boat, property, homes) are what they need to “add to their site.” Specifically to the over-rated “Meta Keyword tag” which the search engines minimally rely on (if at all) in lieu of actual content on your site. And that all they need to do is “add them to their site” and they’ll be found on top on Google.
The reality is that one-word keywords are very difficult to get ranked for. So, that’s why you need to investigate the most relevant 2-3 word keywords that you want to concentrate on specific to you. For example, if you are a Realtor in Memphis, TN, instead of “homes for sale”, you would instead concentrate on phrases that are more descriptive of what you do — specifically. Such as: memphis tenessee homes for sale, memphis real estate, memphis tennessee realtors.
Do a search for “homes for sale” on Google and you’ll get 80,800,000 returns and the sponsored ads are filled to the brim with folks all bidding to get found. One realistically should not plan on pulling in the top 10 for such a generic phrase. However if you get more focused and search for “memphis tenessee homes for sale” Google pulls 406,000 returns — big difference!
Yes, there may be searchers that look for “homes for sale” that do not know to narrow their search geographically to get the best results. But we can’t compensate for that as successfully as we can by concentrating on the most used phrases searchers use to find what you do — specifically. Then we have to carefully and diligently ensure those important researched phrases are represented properly throughout your Web site’s content.
How do you determine what keyword phrases to concentrate on? Check out my article on Bullseye Marketing to get started. The article includes tips, my worksheet and services to help you determine what terms searchers are actually using to find folks like you.
Then once you gather your list, look how you can add those phrases to new and established content. Only concentrate on one or two phrases for each page and you’ll find over time that your rankings for what searchers are actually looking for — for what you do specifically — will improve. And, you might be surprised to find that those who find you based on more focused and less targeted phrases actually turn out to be more qualified leads.
Working on your keywords should be viewed as a long term, consistent effort to realize any tangible goals. Set an appointment with yourself one every month to go over all the data available to you, including your Web site statistics. Then, add new content accordingly as you discover additional phrases to use to your advantage.
You know what they say — knowledge is power; but only if you use it — and that applies ten fold to SEO.
At your service,
Judith
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