Keyword Generation
Keyword generation is one of the most important components of a successful SEO campaign. All keywords are NOT created equally. Some keywords are easier to rank for than others and some require more than just a proficient level of skill to rank for – they require alliances! Sounds like a new survivor episode right?
Broad or “short tail” keywords are usually very competitive so you are better off to begin with more specific or “long tail” keywords which are relevant to your business, thus yielding a higher conversion rate. By building out your search engine optimization strategy this way, you can hone your skills and “snipe” one keyword after another. This will lead to a continued growth and respect for a variety of important topics or “terms” which will help to validate those broader terms when you go after them later. Remember: relevance is key!
For example, if you run a home appliance site you stand a much better chance of ranking for product-level keywords than you do for broad keywords that generally describe your business like my example here. Notice how I linked “home appliance” to a local appliance store website? This is an example of a broad term–one that would be very difficult to rank for with out a link from a very highly respected site or thousands of links from sites across the web (more on this later).
There are a number of different keyword generation tools that can help you to discover the right keywords for your website. Generally I find that the best tools are free. Google’s Keywords Suggestion Tool allows you to research and analyze your potential keywords. Remember though, you can’t just create a massive list of keywords and try to plug them all in somewhere. You need to think about a strategy for growth. Your keywords should represent a cross section of broad and specific terms.
Another way to generate target keywords is through competitive research. Tools like HubSpot’s Website Grader, SEM Rush, Alexa and Compete and the SEOQuake plugin for firefox are invaluable not only for helping you to analyze your own website, but your competitors’ sites as well. With the information these sites and tools can provide you, you’ll be able to formulate a game plan to begin implementing the kind of content that will help you to rank well for your important keywords.