It is very vital to make use of the correct keywords so as to reach out to your target audience and stay ahead of your competitors. If your pages and content does not include the same generic or specific words the prospects are looking for, your site has very little chance of showing up in search results for those particular searches and be noticed by people. So what is the solution?
Watch out for ‘target data’ series
Well, one easy way out is to employ Google Insights purely for search purpose so as to compare some of the potential key terms. It will show how often any search-term gets entered in context of the overall search volume cutting across different regions or countries, and also in different languages of the world.
With Google Hot Searches you can keep track of the trending search themes and topics. Google Correlate can also be treated as a handy resource. It’s part of Google Trends and will let you know about queries with the same pattern to any particular ‘target data’ series. Your target here can be a current trend from real world that you offer (for example, a set of event counts spread over a period of time) or even a query, which you enter. It will make use of the data regarding search activity to locate queries that show similar patterns to any ‘target data’ series. These results are available on the site or can be downloaded for analysis in form of CSV file.
Google Correlate is akin to Google Trends tool in reverse that allows you to put up a query to throw up a data series of any activity (in US states or over time. In case of the former, you are required to enter a particular data series (or the target) for a list of those queries whose relevant data series tend to follow an almost similar pattern. Google Correlate is comprised of data regarding search activity on the web from 2003 until now. The data gets updated on a weekly basis.
You may also turn to AdWords Keyword Tool from the search giant. Importantly, they are free to use. With their help, you can assess volume of search for various clusters of keywords. And on basis of your research and findings, you can infuse your text, titles, headings etc with the oft-used terminology.
Analyze Behavioral pattern of users
Behavioral pattern of users also must play a major role in picking the right keywords. For example, if you run a broking house, your keyword research would perhaps make you realize that investors look for search phrase like dividend yield stocks, trading bets, intra-day tips, top stocks, buzzing stocks etc while finding service providers like you online, whereas not many would use terms like delisted companies that convey a negative connotation. They obviously want to make money, a mindset that needs to be reflected in the keywords you choose.
This is where inputs from an experienced SEO expert will come in handy to pick the right keywords so as to take your site to the right audience.