I recently met with a company owner that offers manufactured homes (better known as mobile houses). The corporation is established and has decent branding, but does not have a Web site (thus the reason I was there). Initial conferences with our potential customers usually involve quite a bit of analysis into the business, their primary target audience, and brainstorming about prospective keywords. Throughout the meeting I gained knowledge about his industry, clients, and the challenges his business runs into. He defined very plainly that they dislike the term “Mobile Home” and selected the phrases “Manufactured Housing” or “Modular Homes.” I am a Broker and have noticed this marketing shift in the last several years and was not surprised.

Soon after the meeting was over and I got back to the office to start the research, it quickly became obvious that the business owner wasn’t going to like what I would definitely tell him. The words “mobile home” was searched around 6x’s greater than “modular home.” If he wants to construct an efficient Web site for his company, he would need to optimize for the words “mobile home” – the term he despises.

This scenario is a perfect illustration of what keyword research is about. Seo is not just about having the site rank high in the various search engines, it’s about doing market research and then targeting the ideal traffic. Please don’t misunderstand, just because one keyword has a large amount of traffic than other, that doesn’t mean it is best for your business to optimize for that keyword.

For instance: As a Broker would it be wiser to optimize for “homes for sale” (X) or “Real Estate Agent” (Y)? Even though (X) may have 15x’s the amount of traffic; an individual that searches for (Y) is likely a superior target market. Some individuals can view houses for years without literally buying, while someone searching for the services of a realtor is prone to convert.

Keyword research and analysis is the fundamental foundation of Search engine optimization function. It can mean the distinction of success and failure for your internet marketing system. I have been privileged enough to be involved in campaigns that actually increased specific keyword traffic by means of integration of Offline and Online marketing techniques. In most cases though, the human user is the driving component which decides the direction of your Search engine optimization attempts and Web page design