Keyword Research And UsagePossibly one of the most overused words in the Internet business, and with good reason, is 'keywords.'
Choosing the best keywords (and phrases) to associate with your website can literally determine the success or failure of your website. As a log home company, most people would automatically choose the words 'log homes' as a primary keyword phrase. If you prefer not to have a L-O-N-G, expensive, up-hill battle, do not start with the most obvious keywords. There are 183,000,000 log homes mentions in Google and you don't need to compete with that. The key to choosing the best keywords for your website is to find out what people are searching for as it relates to your market niche. You may be in the log home business, but there are other qualifiers that better define your business. The 'long tail' keywords will bring more serious shoppers to your site. If you were ranked on page 1 of Google's SERPs for the words ‘log homes,’ you would receive visitors from all over the world. Since you service only Montana, that traffic may not have any value to your business. However, choosing keyword phrases that are important to your business or target market will bring focused traffic to your site. How Do You Choose Your Keywords?
Okay, so you live in Montana, you have a log home business and you need a keyword-rich domain name. You discover your first choice, montanaloghomes.com, is already taken. You need to search for other alternatives, combining targeted keywords. Some long tail keyword phrases might include these:
Don't Trust Your GutYou may think that you know how people might search for your company online, but don't take chances. Research your keywords before you begin producing content around your ideas. Find out how keywords locate information. As an example, in a rural area, more searches may be made using the words 'log cabins' vs. 'log homes'. Do your research and save money...and talk to more prospects.
How To Use Your Keywords
It may sound like we are contradicting what we said above, but DO use your broad keywords (i.e. 'LOG HOMES') in your page copy, even though you will not rank well for these terms.
Why? Visitors to your site will be expecting to see these terms and Google will pay attention and develop your content theme based upon the words they index. This also sets the stage for long-term inclusion for the broad term search results. Selecting the best keywords is both an art and a science and tools can range in price from free to very expensive. Until you have some experience, it is best to use the free tools. Google offers a very powerful keyword research tool for free as part of their AdWords service, but you don't even need to have an account to use this tool. The key to developing your site to attract local visitors is to use the long tail keyword qualifiers as illustrated above. While it will be difficult to rank well for 'log homes,' it is much easier to rank well for 'log homes Missoula' by targeting your geographic region. There are dozens of great books and websites that focus on keyword research and utilization. In-depth discussion about this topic goes far beyond the scope of this website. If you have a specific question about this, send us your question. Page Titles on Websites |
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