by Kevin Bradley

Created on: June 28, 2010   Last Updated: October 25, 2010

Keyword research is the most important part of any Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. It is important as it helps drive targeted traffic to your website. With targeted traffic it is easier to convert into sales than untargeted traffic.

Naturally, there is a right way and a wrong way to conduct keyword research. The wrong way is to assume you know what your customers are searching for and optimize your website for those words. The right way is to make use of available online tools like the Google Adwords Keyword Tool to give you some insight into what your customers are actually searching for.

There are numerous tools available, but many require a significant investment and none are able to guarantee results. The Google Adwords Keyword Tool is free and one of the best data sources as it makes use of the queries typed into the Google search engine. This should mean the numbers are relatively accurate or at least accurate enough to help you determine viable keywords for your site.

Before using any tools, brainstorm and come up with the most relevant keyword phrases for your site. These seed keywords are important as they will help you design the layout of your site to attract targeted visitors. The seed keywords should ideally include the main product or service available on your site. If they fail to include the main product or service, you need to ensure you are offering the most appropriate product or service for your targeted visitors.

Once the seed batch of keywords are known, simply insert them into the online keyword tool and search for related phrases. The keyword tool will return more related phrases. Simply download all suggested phrases into Excel and continue searching for additional phrases.

The best way to compile a comprehensive list of keywords is to research one main keyword phrase at a time. If you offer a lot of products you can build up a large list for each product before optimizing your site. Do not worry if some unrelated or irrelevant phrases appear during the keyword research phase. This is normal and you can refine your list in Excel once the initial research is complete.

You should download the keywords and pay special attention whether they are broad, phrase of exact match. Your main keyword phrase should always have a decent exact match search volume and relatively low competition to ensure easier rankings. Phrase match and broad match statistics will give you an idea of the total potential volume of traffic for any keyword. However, phrase and broad match keywords are deceptive in the sense they account for variations of your main keyword and not the exact keyword used by people searching.

After compiling an extensive list you should go through and eliminate all the irrelevant keywords for your niche market. Next, remove keywords that you do not want to target or associate with your product. This can include negative words or competitor brand names that are relevant to your market.

With pruning complete, group keywords together where they are semantically related. This reduces the volume of content required due to one page having the ability to target multiple semantically related keywords.

After grouping the keywords, you are ready to start producing content and optimizing your site for high search engine rankings. However, keyword research does not end there as you will need to constantly monitor how visitors interact with your site and examine server logs to determine the actual keywords used by visitors to find your site or navigate through your site.

Through initial keyword research and ongoing maintenance keyword research, you will be able to stay on top of trends in your market and meet the demands of visitors.

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