Although there might not be an exact science behind it, keyword research is critical to the success of a website, or can be. There are some very common mistakes that many make when researching their keywords. Knowing about them is half the battle in avoiding them.



One of the biggest mistakes publishers make is not using keywords at all. These are some of the most valuable online marketing tools. Keywords help you tap into potential incoming traffic. They can also assist in targeting the focus of a site. It's certainly not necessary to hire a company to help you out. A little personal research and proper application can go a very long way in helping sites gain traffic.

The research process itself tends to stymie some. The biggest pitfall here is incorrect use of keyword research tools. For example, many believe keyword counts revealed by these tools are accurate. The truth is they are just estimates. Tools that can help you see these estimates are useful, but they don't reflect the total number of searches from all major search engines. It is possible to compensate by using several tools for research. Programs like Ad Word Analyzer, and Wordtracker are both great. And you will find unique keywords with each, so your list will be more complete.

Another issue that crops up a lot is the use of only a single keyword or phrase on a site or page. The truth is it is simply much smarter to select a theme and then choose multiple words and phrases to support it. This works to boost latent semantic indexing, too. Picking niche phrases can be done with a little help from WordNet and other similar tools.

The Keyword Effectiveness Index or KEI ratio tends to be over relied on by many. This ratio is the number of times a keyword searched in relation to the number of sites that happen to rank for that word. This can help publishers get a handle on the competition. This is important, but not nearly as much as the SEO strength of the top contenders for the particular keyword. Checking SEO strength can really better reveal the competition. SeoQuake and SEO for Firefox can help here.

Webmasters who really get the power of keywords often box themselves in with too much research. The mistake these folks make is failing to use keyword management tools to direct their efforts. Spreadsheets can help, but tools like Ad Word Analyzer can be much more valuable. They can sort, filter, and even list related keywords you never would have come up with on your own.

Publishers sometimes jump the gun on doing their research. It is important to remember that tools like Wordtracker store data for the past 90 days. This means researching words at off times can result in skewed numbers. Doing a Christmas keyword search in June, for example, will not produce the world's greatest results. Timing research is important.

The last two things to watch out for are greed and waste. Many publishers go after keywords that pay out well. This can be great, but the truth is lower paying niche keywords can bring in more earnings over the long haul. They tend to have less competition. Waste comes into play when webmasters get over excited about research. Often, they will create list after list of targeted, niche keywords and never put them into action. It's smart to focus on a single niche, implement the project and then move onto the next.

The art of keyword selection is one that is important to a site's overall chances for success. Finding the most effective keywords does take time and patience, but it isn't an exact science.