Begin With The End
Keyword Research? What’s that and Do I need it? Boy do you ever. Read on to see what can easily happen if you make the basic error of not bothering to do Keyword Research.
Everyone knows the admonition to “begin with the end in mind.” Doing Search Engine Optimization is a little like taking a trip from New York City. You get in the car and start driving. After a while, someone will ask, “Where are we going?”
If the answer is, “We’re going to LA,” that’s great if you are right now in Las Vegas. Not so great if you’re in Orlando.
How much time did you lose driving to Orlando when the destination is LA?
And this is why we begin with a Digital Consultation, followed by a Strategy Session so that we can now come to the final point, Keyword Research.
An Internet research will tell us what other travelers have done on their way from New York City to LA. It will tell us the various routes they have followed and which routes were successful and which were not.
This does not mean that our keyword research will put us on the same track as some other travelers; but, it can definitely minimize our error making.
For example, if you are selling cars that were previously owned, how would you advertise them? Would you call your cars: “used cars”, “pre-owned vehicles”, “happy cars on their second life.”
If you advertise your cars as “happy cars on their second life”, and that is the term you use on your website, you will have have no visitors, None. Zero, Nada.
No matter how much you want to avoid the term “used cars”, no matter how much you love calling them “happy cars on their second life”, there is likely no one who will type “happy cars on their second life” into a Google search box.
If someone is looking for your “happy cars” enters “used car” into the Google search box, the likelihood of your website showing up in the search results is minimal.
Why?
Because if you don’t use the words “used car” on your website. If what users are looking for, if the words they enter in the Google search box, is not on your website – Google will not put your website in the search results. Or, if Google does put your website in the results, it will be so far away from page 1 of the results that it’s meaningless!
Keyword Research will guide you to use a term which real people enter into search engines.
This car example should be considered carefully when a business has fallen in love with an expression for their product or service which is used mostly by….them.
Keyword Research will guide you in knowing what terms to use and what terms to avoid.
And when you know the words people use when they do their searches, then you can use that information to advantage in your Search Engine Optimization.