The Science Behind Keywords

In this series of columns, I have been presenting a step-by-step process to develop successful, search-engine-friendly Web sites packed with relevant content and a “call to action.” I have also covered the basics of how Web sites are found and indexed by search engines. I highlighted the importance of crafting your content around a main key phrase and the popularity your Web site can attain, if you do this effectively.

In this month’s column, I want to focus specifically on your strategy; I want to examine keywords (or key phrases) and determine which you should use. Finally, I want to give you some tools that will help with this process. As a side note, ‘keyword’ is a misnomer; the word is singular, but it also refers to key phrases. As you will see below, the single keyword is often too generic and vague, thus, which is why I want to focus on key phrases.

Let’s start by defining a keyword, using my favorite quick reference online guide, Wikipedia: “It is a term that captures the essence of the topic of a document or a search query. When a descriptor is descriptive, it can be an effective search parameter. It can consist of a word, phrase or alphanumerical term.” What does this mean?

The keyword or phrase you target must describe in a nutshell the fundamental nature of what you are offering and in a way that search engines will recognize. Grab a pencil and paper to develop your dream list of keywords, about 30 or so, before testing their effectiveness.

Follow these guidelines to help you narrow your keyword list.

Select a keyword that is specific. You are probably part of a large groups of schools that will want to use “martial arts” or your style name (“karate,” for example) as part of your key phrase. These words are descriptive enough; they are not ambiguous at all, BUT they are too vague for our purpose. If I search the word “karate” with Google, then the top results on the first page are: a definition of karate, karate movie clips, a link to information about the movie, The Karate Kid, karate supplies, etc. No karate school related sites appear on the first search page! This reinforces what I have already mentioned in previous columns: “karate” is too vague a word; you need to be more specific.

Study the chart below, which I borrowed from Search Engine News and adapted it for our needs.

 

Think like your customer. This is very important in the brainstorming stage. What you want to do is think like Johnny or Mary’s mom who is looking for the best martial arts school for her child. If it were you looking for a martial arts school for your child and did a Google search, then what words would you use to search for your school? You have to think like a customer who is ready to buy; they already know they want to find a karate school, but they want to select one to call or visit.

 Study your competition. After you have your list of keywords, test them. Generate searches with these keywords in search engines, such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN and study the results. This exercise will not only give you a good feel for your competition, but also, by studying the keywords they have used, you might find some keywords you might have missed.

 

Use keyword tools to finalize your selections. There are some free tools on the Internet you can use to finalize you list: Yahoo’s Search Term Suggestion Tool (formerly known as Overture), Wordtraker (the best one) and the Google Ad Words Keywords Tool among some others.

Beware! Some of these tools are skewed to favor their paid campaigns. Use their information as part of the full process, but don’t rely solely on them.

In the next month’s column, I will explain how to maximize the placement of your keywords to boost your Web site ranking.