A lot of webmasters and newbies to SEO forget one of the cardinal rules which is keyword research. Without performing keyword research, you have no idea of important statistics as they relate to keywords such as search volume, competition levels, and so on. Basically targeting keywords blindly is a huge waste of time and possibly the largest mistake you can make in online marketing when trying to gain organic or many other kinds of traffic.

How to Use Adwords

Note that when I say keyword research, I mean:

-Choosing keywords which are RELEVANT to your niche.

-Choosing keywords which have high or at least adequate levels of search VOLUME.

-Choosing keywords which have realistic levels of COMPETITION.

-Choosing keywords which are rich in COMMERCIALITY.

I’ve done a complete run down for what is a good keyword, so refer to that for more expounded definitions of each factor listed above.

If someone doesn’t know anything about keyword research or search engine optimization, they’re apt to jump in and start targeting (though that’s too technical and generous a term in their case) keywords simply based on relevancy while not considering the other factors. This is a huge mistake which will cost you time and likely money, as well.

I’ve addressed how to choose the best keywords based on volume and competition between the above mentioned post and this video on how to do keyword research, but that leaves commerciality, or specifically how can we find the keywords which will not only bring people to our site but which will lead to sales or other conversions on our goals?

We can actually use a little Adwords research to discover just that believe it or not and circumvent (in part) and assist the keyword research process. Do your keyword research to find relevant, high search volume, and low competition keywords.

Now plug those words into an Adwords campaign. Don’t use Adwords or aren’t familiar with it? Check out my complete Google Adwords tips post to get familiarized with it immediately and discover how to get the lowest cost per click and greatest click through rate.

Once you build individual ad groups around each of your keywords, you can determine and track which ones are delivering the greatest conversion ratio using Google Analytics. Once you have identified that, you know which keywords should be at the top of your list to target first and because you’ve done your initial keyword research for finding keywords which have good search volume and are attainable competition wise with a little elbow grease and rolling up of the sleeves.

Once you’re ranking at the top of Google for that keyword, you’ll really start to enjoy life as you’re receiving all of that (most targeted) traffic for free and will be enjoying all of the conversions and income which come with it.