knowing your market is important, do you know who is looking for your site? what information they may be seeking, what problem are you solving and is there a market for it? what are the trends
Doing some sort of market research is important before you jump into an SEO campaign or even a business venture I’m not going to get in to how to actually do your research because this is general, I will be posing some questions to ask your self.
before I start an SEO campaign I like to ask myself:
1) who is my target market? - kids, adults, teens, mothers, men, women… More than likely they will search on different terms this is good to keep in mind as you’re looking at the traffic on a keyterm
2) how do users search terms on the web? - If you are trying to get traffic for your children’s game, a child may search on a specific game such as Xeko where as an adult may search on the term children’s educational game which term should you choose? which makes more sense in your contents context? which has higher traffic? who is going to get you the sale?
3) where are the communities on the web that are centered around your search term? - If I were SEOing for Vacation Rentals, what communities might I want to interact with on the web? what good quality information can I offer them? will they allow me to post contextual links within my content?
4) who can I contact or read about to verify my assumptions about my target audiences behavior? - I ‘m looking for free market research, look for events in your area that may be happening, that you can attend that your target audience is attending. Ask individuals you think are in the know around your audience. online magazines about your target audience. (think library) scour the web for reputable resources.
5) what are the general market trends around the keyword and audience? - do you follow market trends these may be hard to find for some keyterms and target audiences, and definitely worth the effort. this will help you anticipate what and who to target next.
much of this is common sense, go down the path of asking questions and looking for answers. before you get rolling. this will save you a lot of headache in the end.
**sponsored by VRBO, People finders background check and web design St. Louis
