Do you think that SEO is rocket science? What if I gave you a step-by-step plan that has worked for us and our clients time and time again? What if it was so easy than even a computer-idiot could do it?

Today we will talk about the very first step of SEO, keyword research.

Step 1: Coming up with a list of possible keywords
Let’s say you sell furniture online. Some of the keywords that I could think of are: wood table, metal dresser, kitchen furniture set. Make this list a lot longer. Add as many keywords as you can think of.

Step 2: Use a keyword research tool to get even more keywords
I love WordTracker and even the free version provides priceless information. When I enter “furniture” on WordTracker I get a lot of suggestions: dorm furniture, patio furniture, storage furniture, office furniture. This will give you a lot of keywords you didn’t think of before.

Step 3: Check search volume
You can use WordTracker or/and Google Keyword Tool to find out how many searches your keywords have. You don’t want to waste your time optimizing your website for keywords that are searched for once a month.

Step 4: Check competition
After you’ve found relevant keywords with a good search volume you have to make sure that they are relatively easy to rank for. The less competition, the better. You can go to Google and type “allintitle:patio furniture” (without the quotes) and it will tell you how many websites are competing for that same term.

At this point you should have 5-10 keywords that are highly relevant to your business, have a lot of monthly searches, and are not too competitive.

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