Finding keyword phrases your competition is missing is easier than
you might think. Combinations of two and three word phrases are often
overlooked by your competitors when vying for the top competitive
terms. This missed opportunity may be a benefit to you to overcome
your competition in the search engine rankings.
Think Like A Searcher - Study Your Target Audience
Really look at the audience you want to bring to your website. Are
there terms you might not ordinarily use, or that your competitors
use, that would work for a small portion of visitors? Remember that
single words tend to be more competitive. Find two and three word
phrases that would work for a searcher looking for your website topic.
If your visitors usually search on "vertical widgets", look at "horizontal
widgets" as well. Dig deep to find terms that might not be obvious
to you. Be sure to focus your terms on the actual topic of your website,
and terms that people would really search for. Have another person
compile a list of keyword phrases used to find your website or product.
You'd be surprised at the number of variations two minds can come
up with instead of one. Think like a searcher - not a website owner.
View Your Competitor's Source Code And Content For Keyword Phrases
Viewing your competitor's source code is very easy and a good way
to see what keyword phrases (if any) they are using. Using your browser,
view the source code of their page. The title and meta tags should
contain the same keywords or variations of keyword phrases if the
competitor's website is optimized. Look over the web page content
as well as for keyword phrases worked into the text, image alt text,
headings and hyperlinks of the pages. If their pages are not optimized
you may gain an even bigger edge on the competition by optimizing
your web pages.
Using Keyword Tools To Find Variations Of Keyword Phrases
The Overture Suggestion Tool will provide keyword variations. You
can find the tool at http://inventory.overture.com/
Clicking on the suggestion tool link will bring up a window that allows
you to search for terms and variations of terms. Begin with your list
and see how many variations come up with the results. You might be
surprised at the popularity of some of the search variations you see.
Be sure to add you new keyword phrases to your list.
WordTracker is a keyword tool as well, you can purchase a yearly subscription
or even a one day subscription. Learn more about it here: http://www.wordtracker.com/
Search On Keyword Phrases In The Search Engines
Using your expanded list of keyword phrases, search for those terms
in the search engine databases. Note the number of search engine results.
The more results, typically the more competitive the term. See the
differences in number of search results for plural versions as opposed
to singular versions of your keywords in each engine. Note the descriptions
that the search engine results bring up - are there any keyword phrases
there that might apply to your website? Don't forget the ads Google
displays in their search results. Study the ads that come up with
your search terms as well. While you are searching on your keyword
phrases, check your competitor's ranking, along with the new keyword
phrase variations you come up with through the Overture Keyword and
WordTracker tools.
Add Keywords Reflecting Your Local Cities And State
You can also target local areas by including them in your title/meta
tags and text of your web pages. List only the cities and state you
reside in and/or provide services to. You never know who will be looking
for a local contact producer of "blue widgets" in your city or state.
Some people prefer to work with a local company. Adding in those type
of specifics, even on your contact page with your local information,
can pull in traffic your local competitors are missing.
Check Your Site Statistics
Last but certainly not least, check your search engine stats program
or raw server logs to see what terms your visitors are using to find
your website. There may be combinations of words your visitors are
using you have not thought of or that may not be in the content of
your pages.
Incorporate Keyword Phrases Into Content Of Your Web Pages
Once you have your list of varied keyword phrases, work them into
your web page. Incorporating these terms into your web pages should
"make sense", in other words, they should read well and not sound
"spammy". Most of all, they should realistically be part of the content
of the page, not placed there only because you need them in the content.
Have another person read your copy to see if it sounds reasonable
to them.
Keyword Variations Make A Difference
Don't miss out on the keywords your competitors might miss. Those
extra keywords could translate into profits and increased viewing
of your website by visitors who might otherwise not find you.
About the Author:
Daria Goetsch is the founder and Search Engine Marketing Consultant
for Search Innovation (http://www.searchinnovation.com/),
a Search Engine Promotion company serving small businesses. Besides
running her own company, Daria is an associate of WebMama.com, an
Internet web marketing strategies company. She has specialized in
search engine optimization since 1998, including three years as the
Search Engine Specialist for O'Reilly & Associates, a technical book
publishing company.
I'm a newbie to SEO and have read many articles regarding keywords and am stumped. First I read it is important to have variations of the keywords, (ie. telephone, telephones)...
By
Daria Goetsch