Top 8 Tips on creating your keyword list

Keyword research — By SeoOn on April 23, 2009 at 10:50 am

One of the first and most important steps of any search engine marketing campaign is creating an initial list of keywords. After all, everything else you do is based on these keywords, isn’t it?
Here’s some tips to help you get started on building that all-important initial keyword list:

Check out your competition—This may seem obvious, but many people overlook this step. Search for your keywords and find out who is ranking well for those same terms. Take a look at their web pages and see what they are doing and what other keywords they are targeting.
Be specific—Targeting a broad keyword, like boat, might not be worth your time. Broad keyword terms can be highly competitive. Use more specific keyword terms (like fishing boats, sail boats, luxury yachts, bayliner 5788, boat supplies, etc.) These keyword phrases are a great way to attract the researcher and help transition them into a buyer.
Use descriptive words—Add description words (like low cost fishing boat, best sail boat, quality boat supplies ) to your list. Think of terms that are often used to describe products or services in your market, (like high performance, mint condition, etc.).
Use action words—Use keyword phrases that potential customers use when they are ready to make a purchase (like buy luxury yachts, purchase bayliner 5788).
Use industry words—Use words or jargon specific to your industry (like luxury performance boats, nautical, marine, recreational boating, etc.)
Use plurals and misspellings—Remember that people search for boat and boats and that sail boats may be misspelled as sale boats. Also, if relevant, don’t forget to use foreign spellings of a word (like fishing boat in French is bateau m de pêche).
Target local markets—If relevant, use cities, states, and/or places in your keyword list (like recreational boating richmond virginia).
Use keyword tools—Once you put your initial keyword list together, it’s time to consult some online keyword suggestion tools. These tools can help you find terms you’ve overlooked and some can even identify which related keywords are actually being used, how often they are searched for and how much competition there is for each.

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