To get the ball rolling for optimizing your website for the search engines the first place to start is your list of keywords. What keywords are highly targeted, relevant and used to search for the types of products or services your website offers?
But where do you start with the keywords? Broad and general or Niche and targeted? Targeted! Do you geotarget your keywords? Depends on the products and services you provide. If you’re a local mom and pop shop who specializes in selling merchandise in the art district of your town, you’re going to want geotargeted keywords to boost your rankings so people find your business. If you’re a large company who sells merchandise across the country, you’re going to want niche targeted keywords. There is no need to use the keyword “home” for your list of keywords because the chances of making it within the top 30 on Google are slim to none. Not saying it can’t be done but don’t get your hopes up for the number 1 ranking.
You’re targeted keyword list should consist of 2-4 keyword phrases, - “home decorating”, “home decorating company”, “spring home decorating tips.” Because you are the closest to what your business does day in and day out the list could become too niche marketed so choose keywords that are both something clients and consumers would use. Ask your employees, friends and family what they would put into a search engine to find your company. From there you can start to develop a list of keywords.
More places to find keywords for your website. Your own website! Do you have Google Analytics on your site or another web monitoring program? There you can find what keywords users are already using to find your website. What about your competitors? Look at their meta keyword tags. There could be gold here for keywords you didn’t come up with.
There are also free tools to assist you with the process, start with Google AdWords Keyword Tool.
Once you have your keyword list built it’s time to decide in which order you’ll start using it and which keywords will help your rankings.
If you want assistance on choosing keywords for your website contact VertaSource for a Keyword and Competitive Analysis, choosing the right keywords is an essential part of our Internet Marketing Services.
Tags: Organic Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization
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