On way to start your keyword research is to consult with the people who know your customer best - your customers themselves! I know this is a hell of an idea, but really, how many businesses actually think to do this?
So how do you gather keyword information from your customers?
(1)Offer your client something for their time to answer a short questionnaire. (A 20% coupon, etc. - it will be much more valuable than your revenue lost, and probably increase your sales at the same time) **Be sure to put a time limit on your offer**
(2)Compose an email (or letter if you do not already have an email list of clients) - and just ask them what words they used to find you online, or if they had found you in another way - what words they would use to find you. (Depending on your customers familiarity with keywords and online searches you may have to provide them a sample list of keywords.)
(3)Send email (letter) with free offer and make it as easy as possible for them to provide you with their feedback - include your email and/or phone number so they can respond and take advantage of your offer.
While you're waiting for their feedback you should be compiling a list of keywords and phrases yourself in two steps:
(1)BRAINSTORM - You don't need a large list, just some good ideas. Ask yourself some questions to get your wheels turning: What words would you use to find 'you' online? What are similar words to those? Are you geographically based? Do you serve a particular niche of people? How would you describe those people? What problem do they have? How would they search for answers to this problem?
(2)KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOL - This is a great free tool for keyword research that will give you an idea of just how much traffic you can expect to get to your site. Go to (Google Keyword Tool External) and type in your keyword phrases and click the search button - this will produce a large list of related keywords. Sort the results by search volume by clicking the blue text at the top and click the 'add' button on the right next to any keyword phrase that has a search volume over 1000. **Use discretion when using the keyword tool as it often brings back results that will have nothing to do with your business, product or service. **
Also run any unique results from your customers through the keyword tool as well. Once you're done adding words to your list you can download the list on the right hand side by clicking one of the download options.
By following these few simple steps you are well on your way to a profitable keyword list!
Take note of these 2 items when choosing your keywords:
(1) First, the more words in your keyword phrase the more targeted it is and the less competition you will have, but also the less traffic you'll get from it. Depending on your business or niche the number of words will vary slightly, but most of you will have keyword phrases between 3 and 5 words to achieve the best results.
(2)Secondly, you can use another tool to expand your keyword list if you choose. It's a desktop application and it's called 'Traffic Travis'. Just Google it and you can download it for free!
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