"The Desktop Global Marketer" (tm)

   A free on-line newsletter of Sidereal Designs, Inc.,
   for Internet Entrepreneurs, and those who are
   considering becoming one.
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                       May 2002

In this issue: "Challenge a group of people to find 
you on the web without using your domain name or 
company name and see what they search for."


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One thing we often help people with is the choice of keywords for
listing their site. Mostly they want to put them into their
metatags which is almost useless, but nonetheless good keywords
are crucial to getting a good listing.

They need to be embedded in the text in particular ways, used in
titles and image "alt" tags and a host of other things. They will
determine the way in which people find you.

How to use them is an article for another day, but how to choose
them is the first step, and that's what I'm going to examine here.

1. Think like a customer. 

What will they look for?  You think of your product; but they
think of their need. If you are a drug manufacturer you think,
"My brand of Acetaminophen," they think, "pain killer."

You probably can't really think from their perspective; you're
too close to your business. Ask people what they search for when
they want your services. Challenge a group of people to find you
on the web without using your domain name or company name and see
what they search for.

2. Neither too little nor too much.

Single words are almost useless unless a single, highly-unusual
word specifies your product or service. Otherwise any word is
part of too many unrelated searches. "baby boomers," "baby
supplies," and "baby dolls" are just a few of the thousands of
unrelated categories that would be hit by the word "baby."

On the other hand don't use more than three words in a key
phrase. You can probably get a number one ranking with it, but it
doesn't matter because nobody enters phrases that long. Number
one place on zero searches equals zero site-visits. Even three is
pushing it in most cases. Two is ideal.

3. Be specific.

It doesn't help you to get people to your site if they discover
it's not what they were looking for. Make your key phrases as
specific as possible and you'll draw the highest quality traffic.

In fact, if you have a range of products and services, use a specific
keyphrase for each. Not "shirts," but "polo shirts," "dress shirts,"
custom shirts," etc. You'll get more hits and higher rankings.

4. Use the uncommon as well as the common.

If you use the most common phrases that describe your product,
you'll be in competition for attention from very many searches on
that phrase, but also you'll be competing against everyone else
and may get lost in the crowd. A less common phrase may be entered
less often, but you'll rank higher when it is. Use both, it's free.

5. Don't forget variations.

The same basic key phrase may actually be entered in many
ways. For example with and without plurals, with different word
orders, and in hyphenated and un-hyphenated variations. Think of
"email" and "e-mail;" nobody knows which is correct and both are
in use. You may not even notice the difference, but the machine
will.

And yes, people are not perfect -- a lot. Target misspellings and
common typos!

One last bit of advice: do this exercise early on. One of the
best places to put the words from your best keyphrases is in your
domain name. Too many people wait until too far down the road to
think about keyphrases and have long-since registered their
domains and built their sites before they do.

Thanks for reading this month's issue!

Ernie Kent



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