Inbound Marketing Search Engine Marketing Blog

Keyword Selector Tool

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How a keyword selector tool can and should help you develop the foundation of your inbound marketing strategy.

There are many quality keyword selector tools available at no cost. There are also many that drive down deeper into the process and are fee based. Each one of these resources will help you at least gain some insight. The choice of which keyword selector tool to use will be determined by the your level of experience, expertise and the status of your inbound marketing strategic process.

Keyword selector tools available are as follow:

1. Google Adwords Keyword Selector Tool
2. Wordtracker Free Keyword Selector Tool
3. Keyword Selector Tool
4. Overture/Yahoo Keyword Selector Tool

The keyword selector tool as part of your inbound marketing strategy:

The keyword selection and evaluation process is the foundation of your internet marketing or inbound marketing strategy. It is where all of your ongoing inbound marketing efforts will be launched. A good keyword analysis will isolate and define where your target market is speanding their time, what they are researching and searching for in detail and who is competing for that valuable search engine results page real estate. If you get this element wrong, you risk wasting much of your time and budget delivering the wrong message to the wrong or audience. Great keyword selection is about market focus and allowing your target market(s) to "trip" over your message.

Don't under estimate the importance of this process. Your upcoming SEO (search engine optimization), blog development and social media promotions will rely heavily on the results produced by your keyword selector tool.

The basic information that should be produced by any keyword selector tool are as follow:

1. Monthly searches for each considered keyword
2. Level of difficulty for each keyword
   • This could be a number from 1 to 100 that indicates the level of competition for a given keyword
   • It should be based on monthly searches against the number of other sites competing for this keyword.
   • This process will highlight "lower hanging fruit".
3. Your current ranking for this keyword.
4. Variations or derivatives of a more general keyword.
   • Sometimes known as a "long-tail keyword"
   • The more general a keyword is, the more it lacks niche focus and in many cases is too competitive for the start of an inbound marketing strategy.
5. PPC value: The relative cost if you were to utilize a pay per click approach.

Summary: Your selected keywords are the link between you and your target audience and possibly the main link between your website and productive traffic and conversion. That connection needs to be as accurate and as powerful as possible as all else will depend on your keyword selections.

Although you may be able to run a keyword selector tool internally (DIY), I strongly suggest speaking with a certified inbound marketing consultant to answer any questions or concerns. Then you'll be in a better position to know that all elements of your inbound marketing strategy are connected. This includes your design, SEO, blog, social media and conversion strategies. I see in too many cases that keyword selection, SEO, blog and social media efforts run too independently and lack the common thread of your main strategy.

Useful resources:

Internet Marketing & Keyword Generation

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Keyword Generators & Internet Marketing

The first point I would like to make on this subject is this: Good keyword analysis, bad keyword analysis, good keyword generator or bad keyword generator, ultimately its what you'll do with the results offered by the keyword generator you choose.

The world of Internet marketing has changed and is changing at a dramatic pace. I recommend that whatever keyword generator you select, that you make it one piece of your comprehensive Internet marketing program. The configurations I suggest you consider are:

1. After creating your plan of action and Internet marketing strategy, define and isolate the software elements, including the keyword generator of choice, that you think will work best and start to construct your project. Wordpress, Yahoo Keyword Tool, TypePad, Google Analytics, etc.
2. Hire an staff whose primary focus is the implementation of your Internet marketing plan using the components listed above.
3. Hire an independent team of professionals that already have the systems in place.
4. Subscribe to a comprehensive software solution that includes all of these elements under one process like HubSpot.
5. Subscribe to an application like HubSpot coupled with an expert, certified team to implement all aspects of the Internet marketing and keyword generation process.

The simple fact is that if you are truly planning on being competitive, you have to find a way to apply the following:

1. Configure your web site layout the best possible way for your target market.
2. Have a CMS (content management system) in place so you can make quick modifications.
3. Utilize a keyword generator and keyword management tool.
   
4. Develop a regular blog and blog strategy.
5. Monitor and contribute to a defined social media campaign.
6. Be able to create landing and conversion pages on a regular basis.
7. Analyze all of the above on a daily basis.
   

Here is some recommended thinking &  fundamental information on using a keyword generator.

Keyword Generator & Keyword Targeting:
The keystone of a good Internet marketing campaign is correctly targeted keywords and key phrases. Just as an arch will crumble when the keystone is removed, so, too, will a search engine positioning strategy if you don't use the appropriate keyword generator & target the correct keywords or key phrases. Target the right keywords and key phrases, and you are on the way to increased traffic. Target the wrong ones and, well, you are in for a lot of work and not much reward.

Since keywords and key phrases are the keystone of a good Internet marketing strategy, how do we know when we have found a winner? Where do all of these "keystone" words and phrases come from? There are several ways to generate compelling and useful keywords and phrases and a good keyword generator will be used after you spend some time on the following methods:

• Brainstorm - When I consult in this area, the first thing I do is have the top brass of a company get together and brainstorm on as many words and phrases as possible that describe what they do. Next, I ask them to combine these words and phrases in meaningful ways. This is usually informative, as management tends to have its own vocabulary -- a vocabulary that does not necessarily reflect what their customers use.
• Examine Competitors' Sites - Another rich source for finding keywords and key phrases is to examine your competitors' sites. What words and phrases are your competitors using to describe their products and/or services? You might even want to check out their source code and see what words and phrases have been inserted into their keywords meta tag. Note: Do not copy these terms verbatim -- most likely they are copyrighted. But this is useful to expand the universe of potential words and phrases and help stimulate your creativity.
• Talk to a Flesh-and-Blood Consumer - Come on, you can do it! Talk to your customers. Ask them what terms or phrases they would use to search for your site. Their answers may surprise you and conflict with what you have learned thus far.
• Analyze Your Web Logs - A rich source of keyword and key-phrase data may be right under your nose -- in your Web logs. When a visitor is referred to your page from a search engine or directory, he or she leaves a footprint that reveals what keywords and key phrases he or she used to search for your site.

Remember that the right keywords may dictate the success of your efforts more than any other single element of your strategy so chose a keyword generator that produces results that in turn reflects your ideas and plan.