Search term research is the process of selecting relevant keywords to target what people are using in a search within Google and other search engines.

Targeting these keywords can drive traffic to your web pages via natural (Search Engine Optimization) and paid search engine traffic.

Why Search Term Research?

Search term research lays the foundation for your search marketing campaign. Build the search marketing campaign around your keywords and you’re guaranteed success! However, remember to keep in mind that it’s not about the keywords you want to be found for but the keywords your audience is using to locate the products and services you offer.

When to do Search Term Research?

Every campaign be it SEO or SEM requires a plan - grab yourself a sheet of paper and a pen, and start planning your search Campaign. Number one on the list for this should be search term research.

Search term research is the bedrock to all SEM / SEO campaigns. The foundation of search is researching terms that people use to associate with your products and service.

Search Term Funnel

Search generally follows a pattern, the searcher will start with broad terms, getting more and more granular as the process continues, a good example for this is searching for a digital camera to buy.

There are many brands and models available though people are generally not going to start searching for a specific model - they will begin searching for a “digital camera” do some research then they may want a “compact digital camera” do some more research and eventually they will want a “canon compact digital camera”. As you can see there’s a distinct pattern, the search terms slowly “funnel” to a specific product.

So what’s the point I’m making here? Ensure your search term research encapsulates the entire search funnel / search process. If you fail to cover all areas you will be losing valuable search traffic.

Repeat the Research!

Finally, don’t ever think search term research is something that you only do once. It is something that needs to evolve as well. If you are using the same keywords now that you came up with 5 years ago, you may be missing the boat.

What Should I use for Search Term Research?

There are a number of free and paid search term tools available, here’s a list of my Top 2:

• Keyword Discovery - Leading keyword research tool, used by thousands of professional search marketers. You can create a free account and trial the system before you buy!
• Google Keyword tool - Well you can’t expect me to NOT include Google - they are constantly coming out with advancements on what they can offer for free, definitely worth a look.

Alternate Search Term Tools

Web analytics - ideal for identifying popular pages your visitors are navigating to. Create more pages focused on this topic drawing more traffic to this section of the site.

Site Search Logs - if you have an internal search facility, check these logs. Often people will get to your site then search for a specific topic. If you’re not already targeting these terms in your SEM campaign do so now!

Completive Intelligence - or CI is a service available that gives the user an insight into what traffic is being driven to certain websites. A quality CI service should give you access to what sites are referring traffic to your competitors site PLUS what search terms are driving traffic to your competitors website.

Google Trends - Historical trend data about search terms and websites in Google.

The World of Search

Different spelling will attract different traffic - It pays to be aware of how people search, this includes all corners of the globe. A perfect example of this is the spelling of optimization. You can spell this one of two ways, US English “optimization” and UK English “optimisation”. Clearly focusing on one form of spelling can attract traffic from specific regions of the world.

Using Your Search Terms

If it’s an SEO campaign you’re running, include these search terms into the on and off page sections of the program. Make sure you include the terms and variations of them in your URL titles, Webpage headings and copy. It is also very important that the more popular terms are included in your linking text within and back to the website.

SEM aka Paid Search, build these terms out even further capturing the long tail terms, package the terms up into categories and begin writing targeted search engine ad copy.

Conclusion

Thorough search term research is critical; do not rely on just one search term tool to guide you. There are varieties of quality tools available that will help give you a detailed understanding of your search audience. Use all these tools, both free and a combination of paid - you will find they use alternate sources, greater the source great the mix of search terms.

Remember - keep searching for your terms, visitors will always evolve in their search for your products, you must evolve with them!

By Matt Hodgson - Addme.com

Free SEO Lessons: Learn how to improve search engine rankings on Google - the World's largest search engine. This tools have been created by leading Webmaster's to reveal proven SEO methods for #1 rankings.

Many web site owners are struggling to reach the number one ranking for their website or blog. SEO doesn't have to be difficult if you know the recipie for success. Start with on page optimization and gradually move towards off page optimization. These on page optimization techniques will help any site imprve their rankings.

Google is all about innovations! Here comes the latest that the search giant is all set to predict future search trends. This means, Google knows what searchers will be searching for in twelve months from now. Is not it interesting? Well, it may not be able to predict everything, but for general search queries Google is all confident!

“For each trends sequence of interest, we take a point in time, t, which is about a year back, compute a one year forecasting for t based on historical data available at time t, and compare it to the actual trends sequence that occurs since time t. The error between the forecasting trends and the actual trends characterizes the predictability level of a sequence, and when the error is smaller than a pre-defined threshold, we denote the trends query as predictable.”- Google Google has been working to predict the future search trends and in that process they have come up with many findings. Some of observations include:

If you want to know the secret of getting more sign-ups in your business, it all boils down to the following statement…. “Amateurs SELL –> Professionals SORT.” Now let me start by asking you a simple question: Would you rather have people eagerly contacting you about your products or services, or would you rather follow them around and [...]

We write press release to disclose and spread a news amongst readers. Press releases are becoming a successful way of Internet advertising. These not only provide valuable inbound links, but also increases traffic and thus your chances of getting located by search engines. But, all your efforts will get waste if the press release is not newsworthy or if it is distributed via a non-credible PR distribution site. There are only a few PR services providers who can provide you maximum visibility and credibility on the Internet. Follow these guidelines while choosing a press release distribution site:

When you need something to look good in that meeting, a pitch, or just want to get up to speed quickly on a particular subject area the best way of making your pitch or meeting gain approval is to use a Market Research service to back up your claims and know your subject. You might [...]

Mobile is the next big thing: Although it has embraced mobile far more than many others, Coca-Cola highlighted that, to date, limitations on a global level mean there has been a strong bias to making use of text. Opportunities are changing fast, however, as the iPhone and other Smartphones provide the chance to be more [...]

I had the opportunity to review a new product which I am hugely impressed with — My ClickBank Business which was developed and created by Steven Lee Jones and Andrew X, two highly successful Internet and affiliate marketers. My excitement over My CB Business motivated me to rush straight for my computer to develop a product [...]

A couple of days ago we reported the launch of Google Caffeine sandbox and about Google urging webmasters and power searchers to give their feedback on their new test index. The good news is that Matt McGee of Search Engine Land lets us know about two tools that allow webmasters or searchers compare results between the regular Google index and Google Caffeine.

imriedu: IMRI Digital Marketing News - Yahoo Answers announced Suggested Questions @ http://bit.ly/sLBXX

imriedu: IMRI Web Analytics Tip - Yahoo Upgrades Web Analytics Tool @ http://bit.ly/JvhOZ

imriedu: IMRI Adwords Tip - New AdWords interface more widely available @ http://bit.ly/12ffST

imriedu: @troyredington U wanted some help with choosing a good Domain Name for your site dint you..?

imriedu: @LaCostaCRM Absolutely.. One Tip is to add your twitter profile link as LIVE Support in the Email Signature...

imriedu: @troyredington Depends on the Goal of you site.. So what are your Site's Goal..?

imriedu: @gicuta Yes We are here to Help.. May we know what kind of help are you expecting..?

imriedu: @r_e_on_a We are here to Help. What king of help exactly are you looking for?

imriedu: @BtSEO Sure... Which SEO topic do you want help with..?

imriedu: @Wedge Add both.. Logos mainly help with Image Search (Alt Text).. Site Title plays a crucial role in Home Page Optimization..