SEO Keywords
So you need to refresh or create a new website and are eager to get that much coveted first page Google ranking. You've heard a lot about the importance of keywords but are unsure as to where to start.
Researching the right keywords is not rocket science but there is a process which should be followed if you want the best results.
Of the free tools available Google’s own keyword tool is as good a place as any to start…
Once you've selected your keywords, here is a brief explanation of the three columns you’ll be presented with:
Advertiser competition : this gives an indication of how strong the competition is for that keyword or phrase. The more full the bar (the more shaded) the greater the level of competition. If it’s completely full you’re likely to be facing a lot of other companies wishing to be at the top of Google.
Local Search Volume : this is the number of searches for that keyword or phrase over the previous month. The ‘local’ search volume refers to the country in which you’ve specified (e.g.: google.co.uk – Great Britain)
Global Search Volume : this is the average number of global searches for this keyword/phrase taken from the last 12 months.
Of course when you’re refining your keywords there are a variety of factors you might wish to consider. These include:
• Your timeline for success (if you need results quickly you’ll want to pay more attention to a low level of advertiser competition)
• Just because a keyword has x thousand searches every month, this does not mean you’ll see all of these searches turn into visits, even if you’re ranked No.1 (suggested figures are that 25-40% of searches will visit your site if you’re ranked within the top 2 results in Google)
• How many keywords will you be optimising your site for? If it’s five your choices will vary greatly than if you need to choose dozens.
• What is the competition doing? Is your level of competition likely to change?
• Will you be able to create quality content that supports the optimisation of a page’s keywords?
Of course as good as the Google keyword tool is it can’t tell you lots of important information such as specifics about the competition or which sites are performing well for individual keywords (and most importantly how they’re achieving their success).
However the above should get you started and give you a basic understanding of what the process is and what’s involved.
This article is provided by Art Division - for full details visit their Blog
or contact Nelly Berova or Jon Paget on 0845 017 7525
