If you've been online for any length of time, you've probably
already realized that most people find what they are looking for
by going to search engines and typing in keywords or "search
terms". Online marketers are well aware of this and, thus, they
try to target specific search terms when they are designing
their websites or paying for ads, so they can drive a targeted
group of potential buyers to their products and services. But
how do they find the best keywords?



In today's day and age, it's likely that most, if not all, of
the big players online are using some sort of search term
tool to help them identify profitable keywords. Most often,
a search term tool tends to be a sophisticated piece of
software that has the ability to scour the internet and return
statistics on the keywords being searched for on search engines
like Google and Yahoo. They can often give you detailed
information on how many times a particular search term has been
searched for, how many competing sites there are for a given
search term, how many people are paying for ads for a given
search term, and other statistics.



Search term tools can make finding the perfect keywords a
breeze, but there are a few things you should keep in mind about
search terms in general, so that you can get the most out of
your search term tools.



Singular versus Plural



When searching for the best search terms, singular versus plural
matters. In fact, it's really quite amazing the difference a
simple "s" can make when it comes to both the number of searches
being performed on a given keyword and the competition for that
keyword. Just as an example, I was using one of my favorite
search term tools the other night and came up with the following
results for a specific keyword:



"search tools"--searched for 0 times and had 36,500,000
competing sites for the term "search tool"--searched for 4,122
times and had 19,600,000 competing sites for the term



I think the above is a clear illustration of just how different
the results can be for the singular and plural forms of search
terms. Keep this in mind when you start using a search term
tool to help you identify profitable keywords.



Reverse the Order and See What Happens



Don't fall into the mind trap of thinking that everyone searches
for things the way you do. You can often find good keywords by
trying to think of other ways people might search for a
particular term.



For example, if I was looking for information on black bears, I
would probably go to Google and type in "black bear" or "black
bears", but keep in mind that other people might actually type
in "bear black" or "bear grizzly" if they were searching for
information on grizzly bears. I've found a lot of great keywords
with little competition by simply remembering this when I'm
using my favorite search term tool.



Size Matters



In general, the longer your search term phrase is, the less
competition it will have, and the more specific it will become
which often results in a higher sales conversion. Let's just do
a quick search on Google for one of my favorite subjects,
fishing, so I can show you what I mean. We'll start general and
work our way down to specific.



If I go to Google and type in "fishing", it returns 204,000,000
results. If I get more specific and type in "fly fishing", I get
11,200,000 results. Let's get even more specific by typing in
"fly fishing for trout". I get 101,000 results. Ok, you see the
pattern, but let's keep going. How about "fly fishing for trout
in Idaho". Wow. Just 2 results!



As you can see, as we added more keywords to the search term
phrase, the number of competing websites went way down. If I was
trying to sell a guidebook about fly fishing for trout in Idaho,
I would be much better off targeting the keyword phrase, "fly
fishing for trout in Idaho", than I would be if I just tried to
target "fishing".



Someone typing in "fishing" may be looking for bass fishing
information, fishing boat information, or any number of things
that may or may not be related to what I'm trying to sell. So as
you use your favorite search term tool, remember to look
for those longer phrases that might get a lot of searches and
have very little competition.



Keep the above tips in mind when using a search term tool
to help you locate profitable keywords. You might just find a
goldmine!

About the author:
Derek Blandford is the co-owner of a successful online splash
page design company, and his passion for online business is
contagious. If you'd rather be sitting on the beach with your
favorite ice-cold beverage while all the most profitable
keywords are handed to you on a silver platter, click here: href="http://www.businessangler.com/searchtermtool.html"
target="0">http://www.businessangler.com/searchtermtool.html