Do You Know Your Keywords?

Here’s a nifty little tool for discovering which keywords suit your business and blogging needs best: Google AdWords. Yes, it’s an industry staple, and while it may be simplistic, it’s still darn useful.

The power of the almighty keyword is essential in any kind of web content. If you are selling shoes, finding out how people are searching for shoes is the first step towards seeing if they’re actually searching for the brand name or just descriptions of the product itself.

Searching for Keywords with Google AdWords

For example, say I want to find a pair of Converse (my name ain’t Sheena, but I’m a punk rocker). I type in “converse shoes” into Google AdWords. Behold, the results: “converse shoes,” “converse shoe” and “converse boots” yield the most consistent search results. These terms may seem like a no-brainer, right?

When I type in “punk sneakers,” I get barely anything. In fact, other similar terms, like “punk shoes” and “punk rock sneakers” just don’t have the same search volume. In this case, go with the brand.

Interestingly, when I type in high heels (hey, I’m a woman of many tastes), the keywords people are searching with include “red high heels,” “high heels shoes,” and “high heel boots,” but the keyword “stilettos” yield a lower search volume.

Play with Google AdWords for a bit to see if you can come up with any keywords on your own. You can also use to it to find out phrases that are being searched, or compare your site or a competitor’s site by typing in the URL and finding out what keywords both should be using. It’s not the end-all-be-all of SEO tools, but it’s a good starting point to see if the web content on your site compares to what everyone else is actually typing into search engines.