Keyword Research is More Than SEO
An article by Sheryl Sitman
It does not matter whether you have a large Internet marketing budget, whether you already SEO’d your site, or whether your brand is so well-known, you don’t need to make any effort to get customers (is there any such animal today?). If you have not done proper keyword research (that would probably be 99% of Israeli companies), then you may be missing one of the easiest entry points to more profits.
Keyword research is not just for SEO. In fact, in Israel, many SEO experts are not doing keyword research. Rather, they rely on the client to provide a list of the keyword phrases they believe are being used to search for their products and services. But before we go on - What is keyword research? It should be the methodical way that a company determines how potential customers are searching using the search engines. It is important to note here that the average company does not know how their potential customers are searching. They should be able to supply some good insight, but relying on the company itself for developing the keyword list will usually mean missing the most promising opportunities and a large part of the potential audience.
Many clients are under the impression that there is some narrow list of terms that potential customers are using in Search Engine searches. They have a very subjective view of how customers search and most either do not have metrics on their site or have never bothered to look at the keywords that are being used to reach their site. If you have Google analytics (it is free!) or another metrics application installed on your site - you at least have the ability to see when someone reaches your site, how they arrived . Taking a look at the keywords used to reach your site in your Google Analytics account can be very interesting. and revealing. But still, it does not tell you how the potential customers that did not end up on your site are searching.
The truly important point that is usually missed about keyword research is the benefits of keyword research beyond the obvious SEO needs for keyword research. You can find new niche markets that you may have never realized are out there. It worked for one of our clients in the parental controls market. As we conducted our methodical keyword research (BTW - if your SEO consultant does not do keyword research, find another), we were focused on children and families and creating a safe Internet environment. But during the research, we ran into adult related issues. For example, one of the categories that parental control web filters usually block is gambling. And yes, teenagers are susceptible to online gambling. But moreso, there is a huge, worldwide problem among adults - compulsive gambling - and it has been further exacerbated over the years by the 24/7 inconspicuous availability of Internet gambling and online betting.
During our research, we started to actually get into the heads of this potential audience — the compulsive gamblers themselves and the relatives and loved ones who are trying to help them. For example, search “gambling website blocker”, like one recent searcher who purchased the software, and our client comes up - number one on Google. Not only that, but there is a specific landing page that we created to address this niche market’s concerns. A compulsive gambler can not resist the temptation that the many betting sites and online casinos are offering. The landing page specifically addresses the problem gambler and his loved ones. And the product provides real help to this audience by blocking out all gambling related content. Believe it or not, until we did the keyword research, the client never thought about this market.
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