5 Keyword Research Tips

I just found an interesting article on Keyword Research for New Websites. Even though my websites are not new, I found value in it: partly because of things I had forgotten, and partly because of things I never thought about. You might have the same experience.

If you don’t already subscribe to SitePro News you might want to consider it.  Nick Stamoulis wrote the article (5 Keyword Research Tips for New Websites) and, as the title implies, he gives five excellent tips. In a nutshell:

1. Don’t Let Search Volume Dictate Your Keyword Selection 
2. Go After the Long-Tail But Plan for the Broader Terms 
3. Choose Keywords on a Page by Page Basis 
4. Remember to Factor User Intent into Your Selection Process 
5. Your Keywords Aren’t Set in Stone

Search Volume

I know it’s tempting to jump on keywords that have a large search volume, but the problem is they are generally too broad. If, for example, you are marketing protein-rich supplements to help bodybuilders add muscle mass, using “nutritional supplements” as a keyword is likely to attract a large number of people looking for weight-loss supplements – not at all the audience you need. Hence the need for specific, long-tail keywords.

Go After the Long-Tail

Long-tail keywords are especially important for new sites, because you need to build a trust factor. Once your site is established, you can start using broader terms, but to start with you need to be very specific in what you are offering. I find that I need to continually remind myself of both these points.

Choose Keywords on a Page by Page Basis

Another one I miss, if I’m not careful, is the need to build keywords for each page of the site. For blog posts, it’s easy, because when I write a post I look for keywords relevant to that post. It’s the other pages I tend to forget about! Each page needs its own set of keywords relevant to the information presented on that page, not to the whole site. The author recommends 2-5 keywords per page on the site: most of us use far more than that.

User Intent

User intent is a serious trap, too. I have a website about running (Half Training Schedule), and I find that when I research “running” as a keyword I get hits such as “PC running slow”, and “Republican candidates running in 2012”! Anyone looking for these and finding my site about running a Half Marathon would not find it relevant. Long-tail keywords, such as “training for running a half marathon” avoid that issue: far fewer hits, but they all count!

Keywords Aren’t Set in Stone

And the last point he makes is that keywords change. Think about the technical advances over the past years, and recognize that a site offering recording equipment that uses “VCR” and “tapes” as keywords won’t get many hits these days, except perhaps from curiosity seekers and collectors of antiquities. Review your keywords for current usage.