When you're doing your keyword researching and looking at which ones you want to use, put yourself in the shoes of your ideal searcher.
Ask yourself:
What product am I wanting to market?Who is my target market and what
would the person be searching for in order to come across my site/ad?Is the
keyword relevant to your website's content?Will searchers find what they are
looking on your site when they search using these keywords? Will they be
happy with what they find?
So let's have a look at how to go about choosing your keywords.
Keywords can be divided into two groups: Short Tail and Long Tail. Short tail keywords (also known as broad keywords) are usually short, generic words relating to a site or subject.
For example “t-shirt”. More people search for this term in Google but also more sites use it so there is less
chance you will get a click through from this result due to the high level of competition.
Long tail keywords (also known as narrow keywords) are onger, more specific phrases or keywords relating to a
site or subject. For example “men's cotton t-shirt”. Less people search for this term in Google but
also (and more importantly) less sites use it so there is more chance you will get a click through from this result
due to less competition.
A large amount of new marketers focus on broad keywords terms. This is where a lot of them make a fatal error as long-tail keywords usually offer incredible return as they're less competitive to rank for and less expensive to
run in a PPC ad. Also people using long-tail search queries are often highly targeted and more likely to convert. This is because they catch people later in the buying/conversion cycle. A person searching
for "t-shirt" is probably browsing, and not ready to buy. On the other hand, someone searching for "men's
Ralph Lauren polo shirt size L" practically has their wallet out.Understanding the search demand curve is critical. The image below shows a keyword demand curve, illustrating the small number of queries sending
larger amounts of traffic alongside the volume of less-searched terms and phrases that bring the bulk of our search referrals. Generally when people start their searches, it’s more for research and to get a bit more information on what they want. As they start to figure out what they want to do, buy, or order, their queries get more specific when they know what they're looking for. By Making sure you target some of those long
tail keywords as well as short tail, you'll catch people in the "action" phase who can be more likely to buy rather than browse. When you're doing your keyword research always make sure you’re keeping track of all of your "possibles" in a spreadsheet.