Using keywords is one of the most important parts of building your website, blog, or online business. In fact, some might say it’s the most important part.
Remember when you were a child and you would turn on the television, and then suddenly you weren’t just in the living room any more, but it’s as if you were magically transported somewhere else? Later on you learned at least in simple terms how television worked, and suddenly it wasn’t so magical. Well, there is no “magic” involved in the way search engines like Google operate. Through the proper use of keywords, your website (and your business) can be transformed into one of the most popular ones on the Internet.
There is a three step strategy for proper keyword usage: Build An Initial Keyword List, Work On Expanding and Refining This List, and lastly, Where to Put Those Keywords.
1. Build an Initial Keyword List. Think of all the descriptive words or phrases that describe your business. For example, if you have a hardware store, the first simple keywords should probably be hardware, garden, tools, paint, lumber, and so on. The basic idea behind this is—when someone types in the word “hardware,” your website would be among the first to appear. Now, it isn’t quite that simple, as there are many places that sell hardware throughout the world. But, it’s a start in the understanding of the keyword process.
If you sell a unique product or offer a unique service, that definitely needs to be one of the first keywords. A brand name could be a keyword—Behr Paints, in the hardware store example, would help drive web or Internet traffic to your site that’s looking for that brand of paint. However, it's important to focus on keyowrds that describe your product or service, instead of your brand name. Your brand or company name is the easiest to rank for. If you only focus on that keyword, then you're really only focusing on those who already know you, instead of those that don't yet know you or know you have the solution to their problem.
Once you have this list, use the Google AdWords keyword tool. By entering words, phrases or websites, it provides you with keyword ideas. There’s a wealth of information to be found, more than can be discussed in this article. Once you’ve started what you think is a good list, it’s time to test it out, which is the next step.
2. Work On Expanding and Refining Your List. Now it’s time to compare Google’s data with what you’ve come up with, keyword wise.
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