Thinking Beyond Search Engines Stats

by Stephan Miller

First of all, what type of keywords should you optimize for? A single word, a whole sentence. The actual question is what are people searching for? Here is a breakdown of the most popular type of searches.

Two word searches 29% One word searches 25% Three word searches 24% Four word searches 12% Five word searches 5% Six word searches 2% Seven word searches 1%

What about active verbs? Think about it. If someone types in "buy", "find" or similar words, wouldn't this be an indication that the person is about to make a move, instead of just surf. Although you could go to a top 100 search terms site, why not create your own top 100 active search terms by putting these active verbs into a keyword tool.

People talk to their computers. They will use "I" in their search engine queries sometimes. "How do I find...?" I know I do. I also hold my computer personally responsible when I can't find something or Windows locks up.

People put .com in their searches. Type .com into the Overture keyword tool and see how many websites people know by name but still are attached to using a search engine.

Which sites have a really bad interface? I can name a few, a few big ones. You can find these by typing "registration," "signup", "login", or "join" into a keyword tool. How about "purchase"? If you are doing affiliate marketing you may try these and take advantage of webmasters who should be called webminors.

Although a little bit off-topic, I read somewhere that sponsoring cars for Nascar races is one of the most effective ways to advertise a product. Nascar fans are very loyal. This got me thinking.

Fans are definitely an endless source of revenue. What would they be searching for? A few of the words they may type in are "posters", "zine" and others. Or just type in a celebrity name and "fan" and look for keywords in the pages that come from Google.

Then there are terms that are standard on many sites. When I was looking for places to submit my software, I just plugged "submit pad" into Google. If you are looking for Clickbank affiliates, you might type the product name and "hop."

The point is that the customers you are looking for aren't a computer and they aren't a dictionary. So you can't be either when you search for terms to optimize. You've got to think like someone in need of your product. I bet if you gave it a little time, you can come up with more examples

Stephan Miller is a freelance programmer, writer, and webmaster. Visit the newsletter issue this article came from. http://www.profit-ware.com/newsletter/18Profit122703.htm

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