Planning A Keyword Strategy

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Planning A Keyword Strategy
by Eric Lester

Keywords are the most important decisions an SEO must make when starting out.
  Choosing the right keywords will determine the overall SEO strategy and can
  make all the difference, saving both time and expense in the campaign

The core of most Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, work is good planning.
  Virtually all future efforts will be based on the initial choices made about
  goals and strategies. Chief amongst these choices is that of keywords. The keywords
  chosen will determine how much of a struggle the SEO efforts will take and what
  kind of strategy will be used. This is why careful analysis is required in the
  choice of keywords. Choose poorly and the consequences in terms of time and
  money can be steep.

Building The List
  The keyword choice process is one of elimination. The first step is the easiest,
  brainstorming as many candidate keywords as possible. The hard part is taking
  that big list and picking out the truly worthwhile entries. When brainstorming,
  think in the broadest terms possible about the products, services, and industry
  in which the business operates. The object is to create a very broad list, as
  it will be more likely to contain the terms best suited to the overall SEO strategy
  chosen.

Process of Elimination
  With the list prepared, it is time to start eliminating choices. Keep in mind
  the following basic SEO rules when doing this. First, any one page, including
  your website's homepage, can only be effectively optimized for 2-3 keywords
  or keyphrases. This number can be higher, but that depends on the use of fairly
  obscure keywords and phrases. Though not usually ideal, one should not entirely
  discount obscure words and phrases. They can be useful and will be touched upon
  later. With a 2-3 max in mind, make a short list of what is considered "ideal"
  in terms of the business or products being offered. One can always optimize
  internal pages for additional terms if the homepage cannot support all the most
  highly prized keywords

Doing The Homework
  Research the chosen keywords. This can be accomplished through a variety of
  ways. First, and most rudimentary, check them in the search engines. View the
  listings and get a feel for the "competition." Some keywords are more
  hotly contested than others, though, and this might not be apparent by a mere
  glance at the results. This is where some deeper analysis is warranted. Various
  tools exist to gauge the popularity of keywords. Most well known is, perhaps,
  "Wordtracker.com", a keyword analysis tool that requires a monthly fee to use.
Many marketers consider its  information invaluable, though, providing a good idea of
how many people are likely to be searching on a particular keyword or keyphrase. As a general rule
  of thumb, the more searches, the more competitive it may be. Alternatively the
  Overture Keyword Selector Tool provides  similar information at no charge.
Both tools are also useful as suggestion tools, as they will provide a list of related searches
that might provide more valuable  keywords than were already chosen

Two Strategies
  The data from Wordtracker or Overture, or both, will provide an good idea how
  much effort will be required to appear in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)
  for a particular keyword or phrase. The more searches, the likely more competitive.
  More general searches are more common, and these can be the hardest to successfully
  optimize. This is where more obscure terms and phrases can be useful. Depending
  on the business or products being sold, some kinds of more obscure phrases can
  be very useful.

For instance, someone searching on "cars" could have any number of
  reasons for doing so. "Cars" is very popular term, and trying to optimize
  for it would require a great deal of time and money. Whereas someone searching
  for a particular type of car, or, better yet, a particular type of car in a
  certain area, is far more likely to be looking to buy that kind of car. There
  will also be far fewer people doing that search than for "cars", perhaps
  making it easier to optimize a site or product page for that keyword instead.
  The traffic from the specific, individual search is also far more highly targeted
  and far more likely to click through and make a purchase.

It is important not to lose sight of the purpose of the SEO campaign, that
  of driving potential customers to the business's website so they will purchase
  a product or service. Optimizing for very broad, general terms can drive large
  amounts of traffic if successful, but a far smaller percentage of that traffic
  is likely to buy. Optimizing for more targeted keywords might not bring as much
  traffic, but that traffic is more likely to make a purchase. Finding the right
  balance is important. For some companies, the broad, large amount of traffic
  may still be preferable and create more sales than the smaller, targeted traffic.

Conclusions
  Keyword choice is one of the most important to be made in SEO. What keywords
  are chosen will determine whether the overall strategy is broad and directed
  at a large amount of traffic, or small and directed at smaller, more targeted
  audiences. Each has their merits, though one will generally be more expensive
  than the other. Always research keywords and know their value before proceeding.
  Optimizing for poorly chosen keywords is a mistake that takes a lot of time
  to overcome

About The Author
  Mr. Lester has served for 4 years as the webmaster for ApolloHosting.com and
  previously worked in the IT industry an additional 5 years, acquiring knowledge
  of hosting, design, and search engine optimization. Apollo Hosting provides
  website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps  hosting, and web design services
  to a wide range of customers. Established in 1999, Apollo prides itself on the highest levels
of customer support. Click for more hosting articles.

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