market research for keywords

[nikao]

i was wondering if anyone of you here actually performed a market research to pick your keywords.
It seems to me to be the best thinkable way to pick your keywords. Just ask your public with what search phrases they search.
I never heard anyone mention this or read about a thing like this, that's why i am wondering if this is actually done? (and im curious for the results ofcourse ;) )

[bwelford]

It sounds as though that would be a costly way to do things. A service such as the DigitalPoint Keyword Tool is showing you how real people are clicking on keywords that may be appropriate. I usually find that their lists suggest other keyword phrases that may be useful.

Another useful idea is to go look at the websites of your competitors. They may be using keyword phrases that you may not have thought about. Some companies still use the keyword metatag so you may get useful information there.

[nikao]

Originally Posted by bwelford

It sounds as though that would be a costly way to do things. A service such as the DigitalPoint Keyword Tool is showing you how real people are clicking on keywords that may be appropriate. I usually find that their lists suggest other keyword phrases that may be useful.

Another useful idea is to go look at the websites of your competitors. They may be using keyword phrases that you may not have thought about. Some companies still use the keyword metatag so you may get useful information there.

true.. but i think you should concentrate more on your visitors, not on your competitors. Maybe they can think of keywords you'd never thought of. But that's no guarantee people are really searching with those keywords. And that's where it's all about isn't it?

[voasi]

I also use DigitalPoint to find keywords that are being searched. That will give you a basis to find keywords that searchers are actually searching for.

Then I usually compare with Google and Yahoo! to see how the competition is, or how many pages come up, for a specific keyword/phrase.

But that's no guarantee people are really searching with those keywords. And that's where it's all about isn't it?

That is exactly it. I have picked keywords that were very targeted for my visitors and the website I was developing, but those keywords were not searched enough to make the site any kind of presence on the Internet.