Why a Keyword Strategy is Needed
TweetToday when people are looking for information using the Internet they use search engines. How do people find what they are looking for? By entering keywords. You can benefit from this large source of traffic by having your site optimized around the keywords that tell the story of the problem or solution that your business solves.
Keywords not only drive people to your site, but these are targeted visitors. People who are hungry to learn, have a problem solve, or have one of their needs met. You want to make sure that you are targeting the keywords that you can actually provide the answer to. This ensures you get the best return on your investment. So if you are going to focus your attention on the right keywords then you need a keyword strategy.
General Terms
It is very important when you begin planning your keyword strategy that you think of what visitors you are going to and can serve. I worked with an insurance agent once who didn't know much about Internet marketing except that there was a bunch of money in it and he was missing out. He wanted to rank no. 1 for insurance. Not only is this going to require a TON of resources to even start to think about getting on the first page for, it wasn't going to give him a very good return. What kind of insurance does he sell: health, car, home, or more? Could he serve every state? How about every country?
After asking a few simple questions about his true customer base, we narrowed his focus down to "Iowa" and "Des Moines" focuses keywords on "car" and "house" insurance. He might not have gotten near as much traffic, but he received plenty of targeted leads that earned him more business.
The Holy Grail
A lot of new marketers come online and have one goal in mind: rank No. 1 for their main search term. That's all fine and dandy that you have high aspirations, but don't get too caught up searching for the holy grail of a no. 1 ranking for the term that gets the most traffic. You see, the real key to winning this game is to realizing that it's not only how high you rank, but also how many keywords that you rank for.
It's a simple formula really: higher ranking + more keywords you rank for = more money. Don't lose track of both parts of the equation. Too many people spend the majority of their resources on a few, highly competitive terms instead of shooting up the rankings for a LOT of lower traffic, less competitive terms.
So, maximizing your traffic requires a plan. The more you research before hand to get an idea of the popularity and competitiveness of your keywords the better you are going to be able to put your resources to use.
Forming a keyword strategy isn't a one-and-done affair. You are going to want to keep coming back, going over your plan, checking your rankings, and seeing if new terms are worth going after. Don't worry if this sounds like a daunting task. The more you work at it, the easier it will become and the more money you are going to make with your online business.