Since the internet is the information super highway of the 21st century than it stands the reason that road signs are needed to take internet users where they want to go. If you are doing business online, you want those signs to guide people straight to your website. Enter keyword.

If content is king (and it is) then keywords are the queen. Choose the right keywords, then step back and watch search engines bring you more web site traffic. On the flip side picking the wrong ones or at least words that are too general in nature can relegate your website to internet obscurity. That is why it is very important to get you keyword marketing off to a good start by researching compiling and analyzing your keyword list.

You can use any keyword tool available to do your research. The big enchilada is of course Overture. Just type in your word or phrase and then check out the results. Is there a potential target market available? Higher search results mean more competition. There is nothing wrong with that, it just means you will have to work a little bit harder. Compile all words and phrases that fit your niche into a list.

Next comes the analyzing stage. The goal here is to edit your list down to those keywords that will get you the highest number of visitors who would most likely be interested in your product or content. How do you do this? By evaluating 3 elements of the keywords you choose

a. How Popular is your Keyword?
This is pretty easy to measure. Just go to Overture and find out how many people are searching using that specific word.

b. How specific is your keyword?
Let's say you are building a website on Paris Hilton (I know but it's just an example). There are over 1.6 million searches using just her name. That would be a lot of competition. However the keyword phrase Hilton Paris scandal yields 2,144 search results. That means less competition, higher ranking in the search engines and a greater chance of people finding your website.

c. What's the incentive?
This is where you want to do a little role play with your target audience. The goal is to find people who are motivated to take action now no matter if it's buying your product, reading your content or clicking on a link. There are various tools and software to measure consumer trends in relation to site traffic.

As you have probably figured by now all of this involves a lot of trial and error. There is more to keywords than just search results. You have got to know what words and phrases are triggering action. For this reason you need first and foremost to study your target market thoroughly.

To make your keyword marketing a success requires constant evaluation. The good part is once you put your system of research, compiling and evaluation into place, the process will flow more quickly and smoothly right toward your online success.