Selecting the right keywords

Start by making a list of every possible search term that people might use when searching for whatever you're selling. There's a good chance you'll easily come up with a list of twenty or so before you start to run out of ideas. That's the point at which you should resort to the following tips and tools that'll help you continue the brainstorming process of building your raw keyword list.

1.       Be specific

When selecting your keywords, you want to avoid stand-alone words that are too general. The Reasons are:

• You will face very stiff competition.
• general keywords are so broad they could apply to all kinds of products and services

2.       Think like a customer

Sometimes the difference between a company that succeeds and one that fails is simply a matter of talking to its customers and asking the right questions. Couple of things that should be considered:

Remember to keep the customer's perspective in mind.

Don't make the mistake of assuming you know what customers call your products. Do the necessary research to find out what keywords that customers are actually using to locate your products or services.

Learn to speak like your customers

Real people don't generally use insider terms of the trade when searching. So, unless you're selling to insiders within your own industry, you should avoid using industry trade terms. Think about words and phrases that real customers, not industry insiders, would use in a search.

3.       Collect Keywords from your Web site's Referral Logs

This is a very essential source of feedback regarding what keywords your site visitors are using to find you. Referrals coming from search engines will include the keyword query that a searcher used to find your site. People often search using some very creative search queries terms that you and your competitors might never think to optimize for.

4.       Check out Your Competition

Once you've acquired a small list (about 30 keywords), start entering those keywords into searches on Google and Bing. Scrutinize the Web pages that are coming up in the search results these are your competitors. Scouring their pages can help you uncover the keywords your competitors are actually targeting, some of which you may have overlooked.

You can also view the source code of your competitors' Web pages to determine what keywords they're optimizing for. If you are using Chrome then, in your browser's menu, click View, then Page Source. If you are a Firefox user, use Ctrl+U to view the source code. Once you see the source code, inspect the title tag which looks something like this:

<title>Baby Strollers – The best strollers and infant supplies for your baby</title>

Notice the keywords sandwiched between the start <title> and the end </title> tags. This title tag is where Web pages generally place their money making keywords.

5.       Cover All Your Keyword Variations

Next, look for variations on keywords you think might be successful. This includes misspellings, plurals, synonyms, merged words, or keywords separated-by-hyphens.

6.       Keyword Variations

a. Plurals and Synonyms - Many search engines utilize a process called word-stemming to identify plural versions of a keyword. In theory, this means that a search engine should recognize charity and charities as being the same keyword. In practice, however, the search results for singular and plural versions of a keyword are rarely ever the same. This means that you should optimize for both versions by working them into the visible text on your Web pages.

b. Merged and Hyphenated Words - Be aware that some keywords may be commonly merged or hyphenated. An example of a merged keyword would be webhost versus web host. In some cases, both the merged and unmerged versions will garner about an equal number of searches. In other cases, one will far outpace the other.

7.       Be Descriptive

Once you've covered all the variations of what you expect to be your most important keywords, begin adding descriptive terms to augment your existing terms.

 8.       Use Action Words

Try to recreate in your mind's eye how your typical customer conducts their various searches. It's likely that many will use action words in their searches.

9.       Target Local Markets

If your product or service is geographically relevant, then be SURE to mention the location in the text at every opportunity.

Source:  http://arnobhridoy.wordpress.com