The Value of Keyword Research:

Today I would like to discuss the true value of keyword research.  While most people either do not perform keyword research or consider it an “optional” exercise in developing their Internet Business Strategies, I consider keyword research the foundation of all internet business strategies.

Many successful brick and mortar business owners spend ample time and resources, prior to investing in their entrepreneurial efforts, in an attempt to better understand their customers, their competition and industry trends.  Doing so is a necessary strategic exercise that helps them minimize costly mistakes; especially for those new to an industry or location. 

Would you build a widget factory, manufacture, package, distribute and sell widgets without understanding how many customers are seeking widgets?  Without knowing how many other companies are selling widgets? Without knowing what price customers are willing to pay for your widgets?  Of course not!  Why then do most business owners who are interested in doing business online do just this?  Rather then first spending some time and money understanding their online customer and competition, they build their widget factory (website), market and sell their widgets (pay for Google and Yahoo advertising and SEO efforts) and then look astonished when their efforts do not result in sufficient widget sales. 

Service providers for developing internet business strategies are disjointed:

When a company makes the decision to do business online, their first business action is to build the company website (their factory).  They hire the services of a website designer who is focused on developing a website to meet their client’s needs.  They ask the customer how they want the website to look, what content they are going to place on the site and what marketing materials they have to guide the design process.  The website designer and client enter into this collaborative process blind to the competitors they will encounter and blind to the clients they have yet to identify.  Bottom Line - Without a firm understanding of your online customer and competition, investing in a website and online advertising is an unnecessary risk that can lead to disappointing sales results. 

Keyword Research:

Performing keyword research is the first step in rectifying the above mentioned strategic miss-steps.  Start by getting familiar with the standard keyword research tools available to get a feel for doing keyword research.  The following tools are free and easy to use:

Google Keyword Tool - https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Yahoo Keyword Tool - http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

SEO Book Keyword Tool - http://tools.seobook.com/general/keyword/

WordTracker Keyword Tool - http://www.wordtracker.com/index.html (free trial only)

Start with Root Word Structure:  A helpful hint to guide you in your preliminary keyword research is to start by using root word structures rather then highly targeted keyword phrases.  Yes, I know this goes against conventional wisdom but let me explain. 

Our offices are located in Sebastopol CA.  In my initial keyword research I started by using the root words “Sebastopol”, “Sonoma County” and “Northern California” rather than targeted keywords like “Sebastopol Real Estate”.  Starting with these root structures allowed our company to quickly realize that there were very few people using the word “Sebastopol” in their real estate searches for real estate in our area.  It turns out that most users were using wider reaching terms like “Sonoma” or “Sonoma County”.  We also discovered that there was substantial interest in real estate in adjacent cities like “Santa Rosa”, “Healdsburg” and “Petaluma” all of which were generating 5-10 times as much traffic as our small town of “Sebastopol”.

“What about conversion rates?” you ask:  You may be inclined to think that targeting these terms would result in a lower conversion rate given the less targeted nature of these keywords.  You would be correct.  However, the largely magnified exposure and large increase in interested buyers has resulted in a huge increase in business while our cost per visitor and cost per conversion still produce a high ROI on our marketing dollar investment.

Check for Misspellings:

Many of these keyword tools will offer you misspellings of your targeted keywords.  Identifying these misspellings and incorporating them into your SEO and PPC efforts is a step many of your competitors have likely not taken and will result in very affordable and targeted traffic to your website.

Shotgun Strategy - Track Your ROI:

After your initial keyword research you may be inclined to optimize your website with your new set of targeted keyword phrases.  This would be a mistake. Remember, when performing your initial keyword research you are “estimating” the value of any given keyword phrase.  It is important to track your conversion rate over time to determine the REAL value of any keyword.  Start with a large number of keyword phrases in your PPC campaigns and then give your efforts some time to determine which keyword phrases are generating business.  Only then should you invest time and energy optimizing your website for these lucrative keyword phrases.

Best Regards,

Sean Taylor

sean@DomaineRE.com

http://www.esonomahomes.com

htt://www.DomaineRE.com