When you're working on getting better search engine ranking for your website, you find that you want to choose the keywords for which you think your prospects will be searching.
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For some strange reason, it's much easier to help others figure out what theirs are than to figure this out for yourself. Here's a quick guide you can use.
Do you know exactly who your target market is? This is crucial preliminary work before you start choosing keywords.
The beginner's tendency is to want to "own" a really popular keyword like "business coach" (currently 853,000 sites come up for that on Google) or "financial planner" (1,940,000 - yikes). But wanting to start broad like that means frustration. Over time, you can build up to "owning" a popular term (and by owning I mean coming up first in its search results) but to start with and even well into your business' life, you'll do much better by owning specialty keywords like, "business coach for dentists" or "financial planner new york."
A nifty tool you can use is the Overture Keyword Selection Tool . It tells you how many people searched for your term in the past month and suggests related terms.
Google has one too. It's here
If you want something more advanced, you can buy the WordTracker keyword selection service.
Get creative too. No need to only search under "who you are." How about some of the results you offer? It could be "weight loss for new moms" or "retire by 50." What are the characteristics of your clients? What other kinds of solutions might they want? For example, if you're a professional organizer, perhaps your clients would also have an interest in Feng Shui or time management. Get creative and figure out how people would find you.
If all of this leaves you more muddled than when you began, talk to some of your clients and prospects to find out how they found you and what THEY think you offer. You might be very surprised with what they say and you'll gain valuable insight into how you're perceived.
And if you're still having trouble it might be time to get more clear about what you do. Most failures in marketing happen due to a lack of clarity. If it's hard for you to explain it, it will be VERY hard for others to "get it." So go back to the drawing board and figure out just what business you're in. Use my What Business Are You In Worksheet.
Good luck!
Maria E. Andreu
maria@andreumarketingsolutions.com
©2005 Maria E. Andreu. Service business owners, get the AMS Letter and receive 10 great tips for marketing, as well as free audio of the popular Building Mktg Confidence PLUS a guide to keeping your New Year’s Resolutions. Get instant access, e-mail to subscribe-956611763@ezinedirector.net or http://www.andreumarketingsolutions.com/newsletter.htm
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