Is keyword research really THAT important for an online business?

Can’t I just skip that step and start making money right away?

Keyword research just seems like a waste of time…

I’ve worked with hundreds of clients over the last 4 years as a mentor at Prosper, Inc. and have heard variations of these EXACT statements over and over again.

The best response I have is this:

The clients who understand keyword research are 9 times out of 10 the SAME clients who make lots of money with their new online businesses.

No matter what type of online business you decide to start, keyword research will be an essential part of your marketing strategy.

To help you understand the step by steps, I’ve put together a short 5 minute video to share with you some of the basics of effective keyword research.

10 Steps to Effective Keyword Research

Step 1: Go to http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Step 2: Type in products that you would like to get access to and sell online (start generic)

Step 3: Look for Buyer Phrases – keywords that most likely mean the person is looking to BUY what you’re offering

Step 4: As you look at different keyword ideas, record the phrase and number of searches done per month (Global Monthly Search Volume) in the Google Docs Spreadsheet we’ve created

Step 5: The target number is above 1,000 – know that if the demand is REALLY HIGH, most likely the competition will be high too

Step 6: Once you’ve found phrases that meet the demand criteria, open up another window, go to Google, and type in allintitle:”the keyword phrase” and hit enter

Step 7: Note in the Google Docs spreadsheet what the number of sites is that shows up (ie. 1 in 10 of 48,000)

Step 8: The target number for competition is 30,000 or less (actually the lower the better)

Step 9: Record the numbers in the spreadsheet

Step 10: You’re well on your way to being an internet entrepreneur!

Keyword Research is the CORE of effective online marketing.

These articles may help too:

• How to Use Google Docs for Keyword Research
• Keyword Research 101

Is keyword research really for you?

Aren’t there better things you could spend your time doing?

Shouldn’t you be starting hundreds of websites and watching the money come rolling in?

HA HA HA! If you have a huge data base of trusted buyers, keyword research may not be AS necessary. However, if you really want to be successful long-term with your new online marketing endeavors, keyword research is essential!

One of the cool tools you can use to keep good track of what you’re research is Google Docs. It’s Free. It’s Easy. And it makes keeping all your ideas together in one place that much simpler.

Here’s a step by step guide.

How to Use Google Docs for Keyword Research

Step 1: Go to http://docs.google.com

When you get there, sign in to your Google Account. If you don’t have a Google Account, click on Get Started below:

Step 2: Click on New in the Top Left Corner

When you hit new, there will be a drop down menu with different tools you can use. For keyword research, the Spreadsheet is the best option.

Step 3: The Spreadsheet will open in a new window

We’re almost done! Now that you have the spreadsheet open, start entering in the information we’ll need to do effective keyword research:

• Keyword phrases – names of products is a great place to start if you’re selling products online. Also think about “buyer” phrases – what are words people would use if they were looking to buy something from you? “Browser” phrases are fine for traffic, but in the end we want to focus on words and phrases that will help us make SALES on our website. (ie. history of clogging – browser phrase vs. black garment bag – buyer phrase)
• Demand – I use a tool provided by Google called the Google Adwords keyword tool. If you’d like to know more about how I use this tool, subscribe to Moller Marketing via email or contact me on Twitter.
• Competition – I use Google again for researching who my “real competition” is. You can read more about how I research competition at the article titled Keyword Research – Demand vs. Competition.

Step 4: Save Your Document

This is found in the top right corner of the screen.

When you click on Save, this box (or something like it) will appear:

Step 5: Share the File

This step isn’t MANDATORY but, for some of my readers, they’ll want to know how to share the file with me so I can review the research they are doing. Simply click on “Invite people”.

Step 6: Type in the Email of the “Sharee”

Click Send!

There you go. If you have any questions about any of this, please comment below.

If you haven’t taken the big plunge and adapted effective keyword research strategies to your online marketing plan, you’re probably a day late and a dollar short!

There’s no getting around it. Keyword research is a vitally important aspect of your search engine optimization campaign. If your site is targeting the wrong keywords, the search engines and your customers may never find you, resulting in lost dollars and meaningless rankings. By targeting the wrong keywords, you not only put valuable advertising dollars at risk, you are also throwing away all the time and energy you put into getting your site to rank for those terms to begin with. If you want to stay competitive, you can’t afford to do that. (bold added for emphasis) – Lisa Barone

To help you understand how I do keyword research, here’s a picture of a spreadsheet that I use to keep track of numbers.

Keyword Research Spreadsheet

There are three factors I look for:

1. Demand: if there isn’t any demand for a keyword phrase you think would be AWESOME, re-think your thinking!  Although you may refer to the product or service as “whatever”, others may never use that phrase at all.  Remember, the main objective behind effective keyword research is to find phrases that, if focused on, will get you quality search engine traffic.  I use the Google Adwords Tool for this research.
   No Demand = No Traffic
   No Traffic = No Sales
   No Sales = Get a JOB!
2. “Real” Competition: if you want more information on this, contact me!
3. Demand/Competition Ratio: this ratio is demand divided by competition times 100.  This gives each keyword phrase a “number”.  Many clients have asked what the target number should be for this ratio.  I haven’t really come up with one – my recommendation is to sort all the phrases by the ratio to see which ones have the best chance for success.

The final thing to take note of is that not all phrases, even if they have great demand and low “real” competition, are worth focusing on.  There are buyer phrases and there are browser phrases.  Generally, if people are looking for “Free _______” or “information on ________” they probably don’t have their credit card out ready to purchase.  If they are looking for a specific make and model of a product, this is a good indicator that they know what they want, and they’re ready to add money to my merchant account

What experience have you had with keyword research?

UPDATE: the spreadsheet image is now a downloadable file! Check it out and start using it!

Mat Siltala of DreamSystemsMedia.com tells Moller Marketing all about keyword research and why its vital when starting an online business.

Mat Siltala has been in the industry of search engine optimization and online marketing for about 10 years. He started his career online working for a radio station and saw the little things he did for that company pay off. He owns several internet businesses online, including Rocky Mountain Mattress and a search engine optimization consulting firm.

Why is keyword research so important when it comes to marketing online?

• It helps separate you from your competitors
• It helps you learn what your competitors are doing
• It helps you determine who your target audience is

How do you determine which keywords are the quality ones?

Research your competition. Which keywords are they going after? Look at their title tags, content, links, etc. to see what they are using. Find variations of those words. Spend time on keywords that are targeted (niche), not the general phrases that everyone is going after. Targeted keywords tend to convert better too.

How do you use keywords to market your website online?

Keyword research is a key part of my marketing campaign. There are many different tools out there to use. Aaron Wall has a great keyword research too. Keyword Discovery has one. SEOMoz is pretty good. Wordtracker too. Using your competition can help you so much – you can develop more of a targeted niche, something to build the content around.

Once clients have done the keyword research, where do they put those keyword phrases?

• Anchor Text in Off-site marketing – links pointing people back to your site (ie. writing articles, press releases, blog comments, submitting to free and paid directories, and link sharing with related websites)
• Inside the content of your site
• If your site has 500 words of content, need to use specific keywords at least 5 times to show search engines what you are about.
• Blog posts
• Navigation
• Title Tags
• Header Tags
• Friendly URLs
• Alt Tags in pictures and links
• Meta tag title, description and keywords

Why is keyword research an ongoing process?

You never want to stop figuring out what are the best converting keywords. Just because you’re being found for one word doesn’t mean its the best one.
What analytics software do you recommend?

• Google Analytics
• HaveaMint.com – $30 one time fee with Real Time Stats
• Blvdstatus.com – Sign up for Beta Program today. This software will help track real time stats.

What are your websites?

RockyMountainMattress.com sells memory foam mattresses and custom mattresses.

Any other recommendations?

Understand that you’re competing with people that have been doing this for years. It won’t happen overnight. Take it slow, build quality content and links, figure out the right keywords and build trust and credibility.