Keywords are King

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Keywords are the Foundation

Oh great I sit down to write this blog, gave a quick thought to keywords and all they do and went “Oh no, I got it all wrong” Here I was talking about “Content is King” in my last Blog Post and I thought about Keywords and I had to change my mind “Keywords are King”. Take a look at your business and its competitors. Reviewing how businesses advertise in other media such as Newspapers, Radio, TV and other broadcasting methods indicates keywords are the foundation of marketing the company's message. All these messages use some sort of keyword to grab the public's attention. Keywords are the words and phrases associated with business niche, services and products. Keywords are the words which grab the public's attention. Consider how businesses operate in the Online environment, all are faced with an overwhelming competition for the consumers attention, from huge volumes of email, blog posts and forum discussions just to name a few. With so much information available, keywords are one of the most identifiable method to catch the public's attention. The focus for me is online and how to discover high value keywords, and maximize the keywords business potential. We can boil that down to Keyword Research and Keyword Usage.

Keyword Research

Keyword Research is fundamental to any online promotional activity. Obtaining an extensive list of keywords and phrases relevant to your business is easy with Keyword Research tools such as:

• Wordtracker
• Keyword Discovery
• Google Adwords
• SEO Software: WebCEO

The real challenge of keyword research is to find the “needle in the haystack”. The keyword phrase with high monthly Search Volumes and minimal numbers of Competing Web Sites. Of course those keywords are available, but require hours of research to discover. The upside is the researching process also discovers many useful high value relevant keywords.

Evaluating Keyword Competitiveness

Keyword competitiveness will have different meanings dependent onkeyword use. Social Media Marketing Applications such as Twitter and Facebook use keywords to catch eyes, the users attention. Therefore, when you research keywords for Social Media Marketing use the high volume, high competition keywords because these are the most popular amongst the public. However, for Search Engine Optimization use, it is an entirely different scenario. High volume keywords are highly competitive and are therefore very difficult to obtain SERPs visibility. It must be asked. Can your web site be competitive for your preferred keywords? Yes or No? If no what is the alternative. More keyword research.

What to Look For

There is a lot of information available that provides an indication to Keyword Competitiveness.

Keyword Competitive Research

A keyword competitiveness check I like to complete is:

1. At Google search keyword phrase as
   1. Exact Phrase – Put keyword phrase in quotes “keyword phrase”
   2. Exact Phrase and Anchor links. Searched As: allinanchor: "keyword research "
2. Enter the results for the keywords you are researching into an Excel or other Spreadsheet.
3. Repeat on additional keywords.
4. Review information: One aspect of the data I pay particular attention to is the ratio between Exact Phrase and All In Anchor. Preferably All in Anchor will have significantly fewer results than Exact Phrase.

Exact Phrase Search Results

All In Anchor Search Results

Web Site Competitive Research

A web site competitiveness check I like to complete is checking the Backlink strength of web sites currently placing well in Search Engine Results Pages for the specified keywords: Using the Firefox web browser using the SeoQuake Plug-in

1. Search targeted keyword at Google or other Search Engine
2. Review results and open high ranking sites in new Firefox Tab
3. Review Yahoo: Linkdomain backlinks number in SeoQuake Toolbar
4. Repeat for top ranking web sites
5. Enter information into an Excel or other Spreadsheet for further analysis
6. Enter your web site into Spreadsheet for comparison

Web Site Competitive Analysis with Firefox and SeoQuake

The linkdomoan will give you an indication of the links required to obtain Search Engine Visibility for the preferred keyword Phrase. The Alexa Rank will provide an indication of web site traffic volumes. If there is a significant difference in your web site links and competing sites it will be difficult acquiring Search Engine visibility for the targeted keyword.

Using the Keywords

I am always promoting a Holistic approach to Web Marketing, using Keywords is just another part of the process. One of the finest examples of explaining keyword use on the Internet is from Amy J Dean President of Keyword Communication a Illinois base Public Relations Company. Amy has produced what she calls The Keyword Wheel.

The Keyword Wheel

The Keyword Wheel essentially shows the keyword environment online and the interaction between various promotional activities. Determining the best keywords to use through keyword research is imperative to the success of your online business promotions

The Last Word

I admit maybe I have been wrong in the past. Sure I am one of the Content is King believers or was. As of today Keyword is King. Keywords are the foundation of the whole Holistic Web Marketing process.