Comparing the Alternatives for Startup Online Business’ Keyword Study
Is it preferable to hire a professional for keyword research or can our company handle that internally?
The answer to this central question depends upon a number of related variables. Some of the most important of those are these:
1. The extent to which you understand how to locate keywords and track down keywords that are closely related
2. The various software tools that are available to your company
3. Your skills at using the software
4. Your knowledge concerning determining which keywords are actually beneficial from a business perspective
5. The overall amount of money that you have available for business development
As you can see, all of these come down to what you know and how much money you have to dedicate to this part of your Internet business plan. I’ll go into each of those a little more deeply
Your Familiarity with Keyword Research
Identifying relevant keywords and phrases is as important as any other part of your new business. In fact, it is more important than most of your planning. The lengthy list that you generate is central to all of your marketing efforts. The tactics impacted include your article marketing, your search engine optimization, your paid advertising and your copywriting. In other words, without a good foundation of keyword research, all other aspects of your marketing will suffer.
Some available tools are free to use, such as Google’s keyword research tool. Others can be purchased as desktop software or as online membership applications. It is important to use multiple tools for your research, because results will different based upon the databases that the tools consult and the formulas with which they conduct their searches. You should gather information comparing keyword research tools.
While use of the tools is relatively simple, in most cases, interpreting the results can be very tricky if you do not yet have considerable experience or a significant knowledge base. Each keyword that you discover will not have the same value to you as every other keyword, and the number of searches for any given keyword does not automatically make that keyword of greater importance to you particular business than another keyword that draws much less traffic.
Money
I believe that even if your funds are limited, keyword research is so important that, if you are not capable of conducting and interpreting the study, this is a place to spend those precious financial resources. The cost of a keyword research package is relatively small when it is compared to the potential benefit. I recommend that, if you do hire professionals for this task, that you make sure that they also do a competitive analysis of your industry or niche and offer advice concerning how to use the findings of the study to your competitive advantage.
Often keyword research is bundled into an overall search engine optimization (SEO) contract. Consequently, if you plan to invest in such a large scale purchase, there is usually no point in buying a keyword or niche research package as well. If you choose to go this route, make sure you understand exactly how thorough your SEO company will be.
Bottom line: You can do this task yourself if you already know a great deal about the process (or are willing to take the time to learn what you need to) and if you have the critical tools.
