Keywords are the result of your website context and value, they aren't your website, but they do help you best represent your visitors. In a recent post, I showed you free keyword search tools. Now, How do you choose keywords?

With hundreds of keyword search tools, you may think all you need to do is search for terms around your business. It's not that easy.
The words your customers use to search aren't necessarily the words that are top of your mind. In addition, everyone in your industry (especially your competitors) are using search engines to see what others are saying, polluting keyword counts.
What I mean is that every time you check your search engine ranking, or someone is just seeing what comes back from a search, or a tool is measuring ranking, the pool of keywords is changed. As science teaches, “Anything observed is changed.”
Keywords provide you context, language, and some insight into what is of interest to your customer assuming it's actually your customers doing the searching. If keyword tools are polluted with non-customer searches, how do you find the right keywords for your business website?
To find the right keywords for your website, start off-line in a conversation with your customer. Look at article headlines, editorials, how your customers word questions, the conversations you have in sales. You can also learn from sales objections.
You want to answer the questions your customers have, hold a conversation, then analyze the context and dialog of those interactions. This all starts with understanding who buys your products and why.
Bring together all of what your customer is saying and talking about, then use generic terms to search for popular keywords on-line. This is about studying the language of your customer first.
After you get back generic terms, compare this with the keywords visitors use to currently reach your website (this information will come from your web logs.) Start building words around concepts, problems, and challenges your customers have in their minds.
By clustering keywords around these points you'll be on the way to develop content, answer questions, or handle objections on your website. Don't worry so much about popular terms unless you are paying for keyword verification.
This will help you get started finding the right keywords for your website, but is an on going effort. As you have conversations with customers, jot down what they are saying to build your keyword library.
Use this information in your marketing efforts off-line, as well as your website, you'll boost your relevance with reader. Keyword research is often slow to start, but always the foundation of any Internet marketing strategy.
© 2008 B2B Website Profits, All rights reserved.

Justin Hitt helps business get more from their industrial or technical website resources, to attract and keep profitable customers. Learn more at https://www.jwhco.com/