When it comes to internet marketing—the simple fact is—just having a website is no longer enough. There’s simply too much competition out there. If your website is not bringing in traffic the way you had hoped, it might need an infusion of some high performing keywords. These are those all-important words and phrases that people type into the search box, when they want to find something in particular.
Do you think you already know how your target market is searching online for what you offer? Well, many of our clients though the same thing, but have discovered they were quite wrong. People may be looking with very different terms than the ones you’d expect. To properly optimize your site so that search engines can connect you with your potential customers, you’ll need to use the right keywords.
How do you know which are the most popular search terms for your goods and services?
Enter the Google keyword tool...
This free tool is part of Google’s AdWords. Simply put in any keyword or phrase, and the tool will show you all related search terms, and the monthly search traffic for each one. You can see the global search traffic, or the local search traffic. If your business is a brick and mortar store or provides a personal service, you would likely be more interested in the local traffic. If you have an online store and are willing to ship anywhere worldwide, you might be most interested in the global results.
Extensive keyword research is an important part of a pay-per-click ad campaign, as well as a major part of search engine optimization. It is one of the many services I provide for my clients. However, you can do it on your own as well.
By looking through the list of results, you might discover that the keywords you are now using get nowhere near as many searches as some of their alternatives. Armed with this new information, you can start tailoring your website’s content to reflect the way the most people are searching for what you’re offering.
Here are some of the things you can do with the Google Keyword Tool:
- Search for keyword ideas using any combination of keywords, a URL, and categories.
- Download selected or starred keywords, all keyword results, all keywords for certain queries, or keyword ideas in bulk.
- Choose to see statistics for Mobile Search, and filter your results by search volume and competition types.
By the way, if you search YouTube, you’ll find a slew of videos showing how to use the keyword tool for a variety of different purposes. Just search “Google keyword tool” in YouTube’s search box.
About the Author, Heather Lutze
Heather is an acclaimed internet marketing speaker, trainer, and consultant who literally wrote the book on search engine marketing. Two books, in fact—The Findability Formula: The Easy, Non-Technical Approach to Search Engine Marketing and Thumbonomics: The Essential Business Roadmap for Social Media & Mobile Marketing. Her writing and in-demand keynotes are delivered with the same witty, “no-geek-speak” style that has managed to demystify internet marketing for countless business owners. Breaking free of corporate “cubicle” jobs over ten years ago with nothing more than a dream of entrepreneurship and a computer in the basement, Heather built her business, The Findability Group, into a multimillion dollar company. This year, she stepped down as CEO to step up her real passion – speaking, teaching and promoting her unique brand of search marketing known as the “Findability formula.”