Local Internet Marketing Starts With Keywords

As a Small Business owner trying to make it in the Internet age, you probably know that to grow your business in your local market…

“Everything starts and ends with marketing!”

Your primary goal as a small business owner is to tap into your local market and get in front of potential customers online looking for the types of products and services you offer. Your main goal should be to become an effective local marketer.

As we move further into the exact steps you need to take to become an effective local internet marketer, it is important to understand exactly how the internet works.

1. The internet is all about content.

People search online for content relevant to what they are hoping to learn about or buy.  Search engines are the vehicle that people use to find content. That is why Google is one of the biggest companies in the world. They provide a fast and easy way for people to find stuff.

Simply put, Google is a place where Searchers and Internet Marketers meet online.

Small Business owners are driven by profit motive and must strive to get searchers to come to their web pages. We are constantly trying to learn what searchers are searching for.

Meanwhile, searchers are trying to find what they want and we strive to make them “find us” in their search.

All content is discovered when searchers type keywords (search terms) into the google search bar. These keyword phrases  determine what and where google will place web pages on the results page. Since everyone is different, keyword phrases will vary.

Some people will simply put a few keywords in the search bar, while others will type in  questions. Finding out which keywords people are using is the key to you determining how you will target your markets. The fact is, most people will type in a 2 – 4 word query when using the google search bar.

2. Content providers – YOU

This is what you are about to become when you place your stuff online. This is everything from web sites, local directories, your blog, anything else you decide to do to place content online for people to find.

The key to success is finding out which keywords your target markets are using and getting the search engines to place your content in places where you will be seen by as many people as possible.

Sounds simple right? Well, it is a task you need to master if you want your stuff to be seen by thousands of people so you can convert them into leads or customers.

Simply put:

* Searcher puts in a specific search term, looking for information about a subject.
* You have a web page that is specifically targeting that search term
* Google likes your page because of your optimization techniques and places you on page one of the results
* Searcher sees your listing on google and clicks your link

Why is Google Adwords Pay Per Click so popular?

Pay per click has become huge among internet marketers because it is the fastest easiest way to target your keywords without worrying about coming up on the natural (organic) part of the google search results.

You set up your account, design your ad, choose your keywords, and bid for each click you receive. This is powerful stuff and has made a lot of people very rich in a short time. Unfortunately, it has also made even more people broke in a shorter time.  In fact, it is estimated that 90% of the people using Adwords are losing money. Google will never tell you that because they make billions of dollars a year from PPC.

The fact is, if you do not know what you are doing you can lose a lot of money very quickly. Do Not use PPC until you know what you are doing.

Let’s talk about what you need to do before you register your domain names and start developing content to put online.

OK, now you understand that the key to marketing online and generating leads or attracting new customers is creating your web content. It will all start with registering your domain names and then creating your web pages and your blog.

But, in order for your web sites to be successful you must learn how to generate large amounts of traffic and steer that traffic to your revenue generating sources.

Where should you start?

The very first area is deciding what you want your online small business to be. You already know what your business is, and what you provide. Now, you must find out what people are typing into the search engines to find your type of products or services.

* Are you going to focus on your product or service?
* Are you going to provide helpful tips about what you do?

Finding the right niche is going to guide you and enable you to create content to people searching for that niche. The important thing to realize is that some niches are very competitive and may be hard to conquer.

This is where Keyword Research comes into action!

Now that you have determined the niche you will explore you must find out the main search term you think people will use to find your web pages.

Go to google and type that search term into the search bar. Check out the first 4 websites that come up in the organic results on page one, because that is your main competition. Copy these web site addresses into a notepad for use later.

Check your search term for competition.

Go to http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/link-popularity-checker.shtml and type in the domain names of your competition to see how many sites are linking to them.  This is important because if your main competitors have a link popularity over 1,500 it may be tough for you to break into that niche and you may want to reconsider.

Don’t worry, you can try different variations of your search term and do the process again until you find a main keyword search term you can dominate.

Once you determine your keywords to go after, you must now analyze the traffic your search term is receiving. It does not matter if you found a great keyword phrase if nobody is searching for it. No traffic means no customers! The keywords you have chosen to go after must have traffic for it to be effective going forward.

This where you can now use the Free Google keyword tool to not only see what kind of traffic it receives but also get a list of alternative search term phrases.

Go to https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal and enter your keyword phrase.

You are looking for keyword phrases that have at least 100  searches per day or more. Anything less may not be not worth the effort. Take note of the similar search phrases and put them on a notepad. You will want to use them as secondary keyword phrases as you build more and more web content.

Keywords are your guiding light to generating traffic to your web pages. The internet does not work without keywords and your ability to center all your marketing around specific keywords being used by your target markets and effectively getting seen by google for these keywords will determine your success or failure.

The process of finding your keywords is the starting place for all your marketing going forward!

Is your current website suffering? Are you targeting the right keywords? Are all your web pages set up for the right keywords? Get a Free Website analysis by going to Local Goldmine and filling out the simple form.