4Front Marketing

I was musing the other day about the way the human mind works. And how hard it is to predict. You might think I was faced with a particularly difficult relationship situation but it was not that kind of thing that was on my mind. It was keyword research.

I know, I really should get out more.

Anyway the thing that was particularly puzzling me is why so many of my clients find this little concept one of the hardest grasp when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). I am not calling my clients stupid, in fact, far from it. SEO can be a tricky little business and most of clients show an admirable ability to grasp it. It is just keywords that are hard.

Wondering why this was I came to the conclusion it is because it involves getting inside people’s heads. It is a bit like a game of Family Fortune. The TV quiz show where they ask the panelist to guess what most people said when asked a certain question. Those that guess the most popular response win the points. Keywords are very similar. In the very first step it is about guessing how people think.

I have been doing this for so long now that my guesses are often fairly educated but I thought I would share my keyword finding process with you.

1. I brainstorm every single phrase or word I can think of that people might dream up to type in for this niche. Go a little crazy, it is quite therapeutic.
2. Then I use one (or maybe two or three) of the effective tools from the net to pull some search volume stats on my ideas.
3. I check out how much competition each phrase has got. Google and see how many returns you get.
4. I work out, given the figures above, what the relative merits are of each of the phrases people are using. You need to take into account the amount competition for each and weigh it against the number of searches conducted if you want a decent chance of ranking well with the phrase.

 

I hope this helps a little with your keyword research. If not drop me a line and I will be happy to give you a fuller explanation of the process.

 

The insight into people’s minds I cannot help you with. I guess it is just a talent.