SEO Warrior

Keyword Research Process

You need to ask several basic questions when conducting sound keyword research. For instance, what would someone type to get to your site? What keywords are associated with your line of business? What would you type to find products, services, and information you are trying to sell? Before you can answer these questions, you must understand your niche or business. The more you know about the business, the more targeted your keyword research will be. Scan through your existing site. If your site is new, use your existing business products, services, and publications for keyword ideas. Find out about your competitors. Learn what keywords they are using. See Chapter 13 for more details.

Establish a Current Baseline

Leverage your web server logfiles to see what keywords are already working for you. Compile a list of current search engine referrals in a spreadsheet such as the one shown in Figure 11-9. You can download the template at http://book.seowarrior.net.

Figure 11-9. Current state assessment: Keywords and page ranks

To compile this information you can use several sources, including your web server logfiles, Google Webmaster Tools, and Google Analytics. The most definitive source will always be your web server logfiles. Figure 11-10 shows how this data looks in Google Webmaster Tools.

Figure 11-10. Google Webmaster Tools: Keyword positions

To find your keyword ...