Use Keywords To Beat Your Competition

It may not seem like it at first glance, but you have more competitors than you think.  If you’re making your living online as an internet marketer, your competition isn’t limited to just a few thousand other marketers.

Laptop Salesmen Are Also Your Competition

“Huh?  How can a laptop salesperson be in competition with me?”.  Well, it’s not only them, it could also be sales staff at your car dealership, refrigerator store, bookstore, music store or any other place that needs business.

Why?

Because in reality you trying to get some of your potential customer’s VERY LIMITED amount of disposable income! So, in effect, you are competing against a FAR larger group of people than you thought.

It’s Not All Bad News

While this may really depress you, it shouldn’t.  This is because you can can some things about it  Once you understand what you’re up against, the task becomes easier.

For example, you can eliminate a lot of the competition by focusing your online marketing efforts towards using keywords that are more focused.  It’s easy to make the mistake of using only the keywords that you THINK are the right ones.

Keywords

It’s easy to GUESS what words your website is being searched for, and GUESS WHAT?  You’re most likely to be entirely wrong.  So, to attract the right kind of people, that is, people who are looking for something that YOU have to offer, make sure you use keywords that are DEFINITELY being searched for.  There are several free Keyword Research tools out there.  Here are two:

WordTracker

Google Keyword Tool

BUT, also be sure to choose keywords that aren’t in HUGE demand.  Remember, the point of this is to reduce the amount of competition you have, not to increase it.  So, the keywords you use should be targeted, but also without too much competititon.  So, perhaps instead of using ‘make money online’ use ‘making living online’.  It will still be searched for, but their will be far less competiton for it, which means’ you’re much more likely to be found for it.

What Else Can You Do?

The other big thing you can do is to reposition your website.  So, instead of trying to appeal to people who are ONLY interested in how to become an online marketer, you could, like I do, spend some time and effort offering a broader range of work.   As a blogger, your posts could be more varied.  I like to write about the financial world and also general marketing methods, which aren’t limited to just the internet.

This way, I can attract a wider audience than if I wrote JUST about internet marketing.

What Are People Interested In?

Unless somebody is autistic (and I don’t mean that facetiously) people aren’t interested in ANY one thing.  They generally like to know about a great many things, though they are MORE interested in some things than others.

Two extremes might be somebody who is solely interested in keyword research.  NO other area of internet marketing interests her.  At the other end of the scale would be somebody who is interested in EVERY aspect of making money online, including trading stocks online and selling handbags.

Which Is Better?

Neither way is better than the other because neither way is any good.  In the first instance, they are being so specialized, that they have limited their market to just a few dozen people (or maybe a few hundred) that only want to learn about keyword research.  And once those people have learned what they wanted, they will be gone, never to come back again.

The other extreme is no better because the audience would be so huge, that you couldn’t possibly meet ANY of their requirements.  Websites with this sort of information will never get a loyal readership or customer base either.  And you must realize, having regular customers is the key to success as any successful business owner will tell you.

You want people to get to know you, then to trust you, then to buy from you.  The you want them to come back for more.

Balance

So, keep the balance right.  This won’t come quickly but it WILL come.  Websites cannot help but take on the personality of the people who create them, and they seem to evolve almost by themselves.  Blogs are particularly like this for obvious reasons.

They SEEM to evolve by themselves!  In reality, they are working on a feedback system (as all things do); the people maintaining the website REACT to input from others (readers comments, successful sales, popular posts, failed marketing campaigns etc.) and in so doing, they will change the site accordingly.

Keep in mind that you are competing for people’s LIMITED resources and also remember that your job is to provide them with what they are looking for.  If you keep that in mind, you won’t go wrong.

Luke.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Keyword Research Tools Could Determine the Activity of Your Listed Terms (articlesbase.com)
• Advanced Keyword Research Checklist: Using Multiple Datasets (searchenginewatch.com)