Researching Keywords: Inside the House or Contract
Posted on | November 5, 2009 | No Comments
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Is it best to hire a consultant for keyword research or can our company handle that internally?
A number of related issues go into the answer to that core question. Here are some of the most significant of those related variables:
1. The depth of your knowledge concerning directly and tangently related keywords
2. Access to the tools that are available to assist in this process
3. Your skills at using the software
4. Your interpretive abilities when it comes to the surprisingly complex task of keyword analysis
5. The overall amount of money that you have available for business development
As you can see, all of these come down to what you know and how much money you have to dedicate to this part of your Internet business plan. I’ll go into each of those a little more deeply below.
Your Knowledge of Keyword Research
There is no aspect of online business that is more important than identifying appropriate keywords. The lengthy list that you generate is central to all of your marketing efforts. The tactics impacted include your article marketing, your search engine optimization, your paid advertising and your copywriting. In other words, without a good foundation of keyword research, all other aspects of your marketing will suffer.
Some available tools are free to use, such as Google’s keyword research tool. Others can be purchased as desktop software or as online membership applications. You must be willing and able to use a mix of these resources in order to develop the most comprehensive list. You should gather information comparing various keyword research software options.
Most of the tools are relatively easy to use, but the interpretation of your results can be difficult unless you have experience in doing so. Not all of the keywords that are uncovered are of equal value to a business, and a high volume of searches for a certain keyword does not necessarily make that keyword of greater importance to you than another term or phrase for which there may be substantially fewer searches.
Money
I believe that even if your funds are limited, keyword research is so important that, if you are not capable of conducting and interpreting the study, this is a place to spend those precious financial resources. The expense of outsourcing keyword research is relatively small when you consider the potential return on that investment. It is especially useful if the professionals that you hire also provide a competition analysis and include advice regarding how to compete with the established businesses in your market.
Sometimes, although not always, researching keywords is part of an overall search engine optimization (SEO) package. These contracts are considerably more expensive. However, if you choose to go this route, be absolutely certain that your SEO company will be extremely thorough in its keyword research and that the complete keyword list is included in your report from that company.
Bottom line: You can do this task yourself if you already know a great deal about the process (or are willing to take the time to learn what you need to) and if you have the critical tools.
Tags: Internet Marketing > keyword > keyword research > outsourcing > professional services > seo > tags
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