Let me begin by saying that keyword research is an arduous task.
Our journey begins with three (3) pieces of paper, a pen (or pencil) and these 5 steps.
- Write down all of the words that you feel best describe your business, products and services- aim for twenty-five to thirty.
- On a new piece of paper, list all of the search phrases (maximum three words per phrase) you would apply to a search bar; actively seeking a business like yours.
- Compare the lists, and circle the most common words from List 1, found in the search phrases on List 2. This should give you a preliminary idea about which keywords/phrases best describe your business.
- Transfer the most popular keywords/phrases to a fresh piece of paper.
- Begin the exhaustive research, to determine how competitive the chosen keywords are.
If you need more direction on this topic, I authored a blog entry in April 2008 entitled Keywords Help for Small Business; and offered a method of determining what chance your business has against online competitors. As well, when addressing the content of your meta tags, it is very important to exercise continuity. Your title should be reflective of your keywords, and your keywords should be reflected in your description. Sound repetitive? It’s supposed to be.
To provide you with a little more help, here are some of the guidelines our search engine marketing team followed, when determining and implementing the appropriate content and format; for meta tag keywords and description:
- Select no more than five (5) keywords or keyword phrases.
- Never use more than three (3) words in a primary keyword phrase.
- Line up your keywords or phrases to resemble a sentence- most important ones first.
- Keyword phrases should not exceed 150 characters.
- Use all five (5) keywords or phrases in your description. Maximum of three (3) applications, per 100 words.
- Your description should not exceed 150 words.
When complete, your meta tags should look something like this:
<title>Small Business Advice- Helping you grow your small business</title>
<meta name=”description” content=”Our small business experts offer dependable small business advice to help new business start up or small business grow, and to help generate profit.”>
<meta name=”keywords” content=”small business advice, help small business, grow small business, new business start up”>
Connect with Kristoffer Howes for more Internet marketing and brand building tips, strategies and advice.
