Keywords

One of the more esoteric things I work on with clients is Search Engine Optimization or SEO. I’ll tell you upfront, as I do my clients, that I’m not an SEO specialist but the reality is that many of these folks are at 0 on a scale of 1 to 10 and I can get them to 6 or 7. If they want more help from there, we’ll bring in a specialist.
SEO for you non-search types is a variety of tasks that improve a site’s ranking in search engines. Since a huge percentage of web usage involves search, where you rank in the search results can have a big effect on your web success. Sounds technical and complex, right? Well, sorry to burst everyone’s balloon, but like many things in business, it’s actually fairly simple if you focus on one thing.
That thing is the user, not surprisingly. The first step in good SEO work is figuring out why someone would come to your site in the first place and how they would use a search engine to get there. Those words are known as keywords but basically they’re putting yourself into a user’s head which is always a best practice. Once you’ve got the keywords, SEO goes on to a number of technical implementations which make the search engines consider the site in the contexts of those keywords. The site then ranks higher, if optimized correctly, for the key search terms. Got it?
Since keywords are the focus of the optimization process, your ability to choose those words and phrases is critical. That relates to your understanding of your user or potential user.   Beyond the technical stuff, most SEO gurus will tell you that a well-written, user-friendly site is the best way to rank well in your key areas.  That happens when you become the user.  After all, marketing in all forms today is about meeting your customers on their terms, being ready to engage them when they want to have a conversation, and listening.  If you listen closely enough, the keywords they use become obvious.

What are the keywords that drive your business?  If you don’t know them, how are you finding them out?  Any of you SEO-types out there have more thoughts?