How do you pick your keywords? 

First let's get back to the basics of Internet marketing -- the initial concepts never change. 

I was watching one of the Internet Marketing Center’s first seminars with the late and great Corey Rudl. I still find great inspiration in his message every time I watch it.  Derek Gehl is my new big inspiration, carrying forward the message of niche market: don't turn your website into a flea market!

The Internet has two main groups of people. One is there strictly for entertainment, from adult sites to video games, while the other is trying to solve a problem -- a specific problem. Even before you start product development you need to go back to the basics with keyword/market research. Ask yourself, "Are people looking for a solution to the problem that my product solves?" After that, finding the right keywords to optimize your website will a lot easier.

Go for the specific keyword phrases; do not let that big number pull you in, thinking the more people you get to your site the better.  What is the point about bragging about traffic when it doesn't turn into a sale! 

So you have a brand new solution for acid stomach problems that is natural.  You start to do your keyword research and this is what you find:

Do you want to spend all your time and effort trying to optimize for the phrase in Option 1, which has a very high competing number (2,030,000) with about 288 people a day searching for this term in Google but no clear idea to what they are looking for?

Or would you go for the second term with a much lower competing website number but only about 67 a people a day searching for it?

With Option 1, "natural remedies," the possibilities are endless as to what kind of remedy these people are looking for and what specific problems they're trying to solve.

Option 2 is the way to go when you're optimizing your site for the best keywords. People want instant gratification! Focus on the specific long-tail keywords to increase your conversions and search engine rankings. The more specific the better!

Remember Corey's words:  "A niche market is a group of people on the Internet searching for a solution to a problem, but not finding relevant search results."  So when you are optimizing your website with keywords, focus on the problem your website solves!

Nicole Ephgrave