When SEO is Useless

Search Engine Optimization, the once mysterious field accessible only to elite computer programmers and Internet marketing gurus is becoming a household term. More and more people are competing every day to become "Number One" on Google. And while working for that top spot is a worthy goal there is a crucial step you must take to get the most out of your SEO efforts. Welcome to the art and science of Keyword Research.

Keyword Research

Don't worry this task is not as scary or time consuming as it may sound. Keyword Research boils down to finding out how many people are searching for specific terms or "keywords" each month using Google. This information is essential if you want your site to show up for keywords people are actually looking for.

Rank for Terms that Matter

I once had a friend who learned some basic SEO techniques and excitedly called me in to his office to show me the fruits of his labors. "Look" he said, "Links to my blog posts are the top three results in Google!" "Not bad" I replied, "what is the keyword term you are ranked for?" And that's where things started to fall apart. To see my friend at the top of Google you have to search for his full name and unfortunately he is the only person in the world searching for that keyword.

In similar fashion I see many businesses excited when a SEO firm offers to get them a top spot in Google (for a handsome fee of course). While there are many potential pitfalls in such a proposition the biggest one is that often the SEO firm will rank businesses for terms that get little or no traffic.

Google's Awesome Tool

Fortunately there is a free tool that will show you the traffic different keyword terms are getting, and it's easy to use! The Google Analytics Keyword Tool let's you type in keyword terms and it will show you how many people conducted those searches last month. Additionally, it will recommend other keywords similar to the one's you are researching. Within a few minutes you can sort out the keywords worth ranking for and the ones that won't help out your business at all.

It would be a shame to spend a small fortune securing a top ranking for "Albuquerque's Best Rated Salons" only to find out that 3 people search for that term a month. Whereas a term like "New Mexico Hair Salons" may have thousands of customers ready to buy searching for it every month.