Optimizing your pages for search engines is very important to get a chance to rank well and receive free traffic on a daily basis. This is called SEO (short for Search Engine Optimization) but you should already know what this is. In theory, the process is rather simple: you optimize your pages and build inbound links to them to influence search engines in the way they rank them.

However, you must first determine the keywords your site, blog or squeeze page should rank for. Broad keywords are usually very competitive and pretty hard to rank for, and generally don’t send targeted traffic. However, narrow keywords are usually less competitive and thus easier to rank for, and most importantly, they send targeted traffic, which is a real advantage over broader search terms.

Don’t even think about starting to optimize your pages and build inbound links to them if you’re unsure of the keywords to target. Keyword research is vital when optimizing your online presence for search engines. If you skip this step, you’re likely to waste a lot of time on your way to online success. Effective keyword research is a key to enhanced results.

Make a list of keywords you think your online presence should rank for and use a free keyword suggestion tool like Google Keyword Tool or even better, a paid keyword research software like Keyword Elite to determine which ones you should target for maximum results. This kind of program will help you target the right keywords, which should ideally be high search, low competition, buying keywords.

Keyword Elite is truly a great investment as it will help you determine if a keyword is a browsing keyword or a buying keyword. A browsing keyword is a keyword usually searched to find information about something, while a buying keyword is a keyword usually searched with the intent to purchase something. This can make a huge difference to your business!

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Once you have a short list of high search, low competition, buying keywords, you may start optimizing your online presence on the pages (on-page optimization: title tags, headings, body content, etc.) and off the pages (off-page optimization: link building, social media marketing, etc.). Do not hesitate to do some further keyword research if you feel like you’re missing out on a potential buying keyword!

Keyword research is also very useful in the early stages of setting up an online business. It is indeed strongly recommended to do some research before choosing a domain name for your online presence. There are lots of different domain name registrars where you can perform domain name searches. Try 1and1 and NameCheap (which is great for bulk search). However, the whole process can be a little time-consuming…

Luckily, there is a tool that automates almost everything and will help you save a lot of time: Easy Domain Research (available on CK Tools). With this tool, all you need to do is import a list of keywords (generated via Google Keyword Tool), and the application does all the work for you (by checking if the domain names are available or not).

This blog post is part of a series of hot topics for making money online. Stay tuned for more and feel free to share your own experience on keyword research with us!