Recently i met with a business owner that sells manufactured houses (better known as mobile houses). The company is established and has respectable branding, but lacks a Web site (thus the reason I was there). Initial meetings with our prospective clients commonly include a substantial amount of investigation into the business, their primary target audience, and brainstorming about possible keywords. During the meeting I gained knowledge about his industry, clients, and the difficulties his business runs into. He stated very plainly that they despise the phrase "Mobile Home" and preferred the words "Manufactured Housing" or "Modular Homes." I'm a Real estate broker and have observed this marketing change in the past several years and wasn't surprised.
Soon after the meeting was finished 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 tell him. The phrase "mobile home" was searched roughly 6x's greater than "modular home." If he wants to develop an efficient Web site for his enterprise, he would need to optimize for the term "mobile home" - the term he despises.
This story is a excellent illustration of what keyword research is all about. Seo isn't just about having the site rank high in the major search engines, it's about going through market research and then targeting the desired traffic. Please don't get me wrong, just because one keyword has alot of traffic than other, that doesn't mean it is better for your business to optimize for that keyword.
For instance: As a Real estate broker would it be wiser to optimize for "homes for sale" (X) or "Real Estate Agent" (Y)? Despite the fact that (X) may have 15x's the amount of traffic; an individual that searches for (Y) is likely a superior target market. Some individuals can browse homes for years without actually buying, while someone searching for the services of a realtor is more prone to convert.
Keyword research and analysis is the primary groundwork of Search engine optimization job. It can indicate the distinction of success and failure for your online marketing system. I've been blessed enough to be associated in campaigns that truly enhanced specific keyword traffic via integration of Offline and Online marketing strategies. In most cases though, the human user is the driving aspect which decides the direction of your Search engine optimization attempts and Web page design