You know what your company offers -- its solutions, services, and merchandise. But do you know how your customers are searching for them? Even when you are offering exactly what your customers need, if you do not understand what your prospective buyers are searching online, then you are not effectively using search engines to attract buyers.

Targeting the correct keywords is the first step of effective search engine optimization. So it is important that you target the keywords your market searches ? because they may not be the keywords you initially assume.

Put yourself in the shoes of your buyers. What would they search?

Consider consumer electronics retailers. Consumers seeking to buy electronics will not search "consumer electronics." They will search "DVD recorders," "HDTV" and other typical products. Those searching "consumer electronics" are professionals seeking to better understand the market. Which audience are you trying to reach?

To gain a better understanding of what your market is looking for, you should research search frequencies at WordTracker or Google's Keyword Tool. When considering target keywords, take advantage of related phrases to the keywords you are considering. This will help you understand the mindset of the searchers you seek to attract. Are the keywords relevant to what you are marketing? What part of the buying cycle do you think the searcher is in when they use those keywords?

To further understand the context of the searchers, Google the phrase. Are Google's search results relevant to your product or service? Google 's algorithms are tuned to tell Google what the searchers think are the most relevant results. Therefore, if you target a keyword that isn't relevant in the eyes of the searcher, you are wasting your time and efforts. Both Google and the buyer will not find your Web site as a relevant search result. Consequently your search positions will be lower for that keyword. Relevance is everything for effective search marketing.

Putting yourself in the shoes of your buyers will allow you to develop new ideas for keyword targeting, and perhaps for other marketing initiatives as well. You will gain a fresh perspective and more accurate information for more effective search engine marketing.

Labels: Organic SEO