This free keyword research guide outlines the basic steps for SEO, designed more for marketers, PR folks and social media pros who are relatively new to search. The gist of the guide is help people to identify the proper keyword terms and phrases to optimize website content, news releases and other digital assets. Optimizing PR and marketing content for search is something a lot of people talk about, but rarely gets the attention it deserves. There is a process to keyword research that involves collaboration, reasoning, research and technology. Simply getting a list of the top high-traffic terms from Google isn’t going to cut it. Traffic PRM has put together this list to help you get found on the Internet, so if you're serious about inbound marketing, these are your first steps!

1. © 2010

2. Optimizing PR and marketing content for
search is something a lot of people talk about.
Keyword research is one of those things you’re bound to
hear in seminars, webinars and “how to” white papers, but
it rarely gets the attention it deserves. There is a process
to keyword research that involves collaboration, reasoning,
research and technology. Simply getting a list of the top
high-traffic terms from Google isn’t going to cut it.
TrafficPRM put this short guide together to help shed some light on the
keyword research process and offer a foundation for more relevant and
meaningful search results. As always, we welcome your feedback and
ideas to make this guide better!
This document is available to all under a Creative
Commons Non-Derivative license - it may not be
changed or altered without express written consent. © 2010

3. 1
• The first step is to define where your site or
sites stand when it comes to organic search
optimization. For this you’ll need to have in
place and be familiar with back-end analytics
tools such as Google Analytics, Omniture,
Compete, Coremetrics or others (Google
Analytics is free.) Most content management
systems (CMS) also include some level of
analytics. Any of them should be able to give
you a quick view of traffic trends on your site,
Assess and the keywords people are using to find you.
where
• Your analytics tools also offer insight into
you are. competitor sites and their traffic trends. Identify
terms and phrases where they do well and/or
where they outrank you.
© 2010

4. 2
• Develop a foundation of relevant search terms.
Talk to customers. Sit down with your team
and come up with a list. Talk to the sales and
marketing team. Benchmark competitors.
See what industry media are writing about.
Naturally, your products and services will
suggest good terms as well.
• A good number of free tools offer insight into
search trends and suggestions for keywords.
Brainstorm a Google Sets, Google Insight for search and the
beginning list SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool are just a
few to help come up with an initial list.
using people
and technology.
© 2010

5. 3
• Coming up with a list of generic individual terms
is just a first step—unless you’re a huge company
with strong domain authority it’s likely you won’t
rank for them.
• Multi-word phrases indicate that people are
more specific and serious about what they’re
searching for. Often these folks are further down
the sales funnel. Make a list of phrases, not just
individual words, that logically fit your product
Don’t rely or category. Then use keyword research tools like
solely on Google Wordtracker to benchmark relevant multi-word
phrases that get traffic.
Adwords to define
• Don’t make assumptions about what words
your primary and phrases are popular. You are bound to be
search terms. surprised by the difference between what people
would logically search for and what they actually
do. Just like everything else we find in marketing,
human search behavior is often unpredictable.
© 2010

6. 4
• Find out who you are competing with for various
phrases and how powerful those other brands are.
If a keyword is ‘owned’ by a major brand or a site
with tens of thousands of links, it may not be worth
your time.
• Narrow down your originally identified keywords
by evaluating the number of daily searches for a
particular phrase as well as estimates of how many
pages are competing for that phrase. Your best
Discover who phrases will be marked by both a significant volume
you’re up against of daily search traffic and by low to moderate
competition. A really unique phrase is only good if
as far as keyword people are actually typing it into search engines,
competition. and a phrase that gets typed in all the time is only
good if you have a decent chance of ranking well
among the results.
© 2010

7. 5
• Unlike search engine marketing or SEM, where
you might compete for dozens, hundreds or even
thousands of keywords, SEO is about a more
methodical, focused approach to gaining traction
in primary SERPs (search engine results pages).
• You’ll want to keep the keyword selection
manageable for you and your brand. There’s only
so much content you can optimize.
Start with a • At Traffic, we like to start by focusing on the top
dozen or so keywords, beginning with high-traffic
keyword cluster. terms. Remember that Google and the other search
Don’t overdo it. engines don’t look favorably on “keyword stuffing.”
A good rule of thumb is that a Web page or given
Focus in on a piece of content, such as a news release or blog post,
handful of the should contain at least one and not more than four
most relevant keywords or keyword phrases.
phrases. • In organic search optimization, remember that the
long tail is key. You won’t always be able to compete
for high-traffic terms, but choosing a number of
terms that get moderate traffic can deliver more
visitors in the aggregate over time.
© 2010

8. 6
• As you conduct keyword research, think about
where and how you are going to deploy terms and
phrases. Review your existing Web content and
PR and marketing content with your keywords in
mind—ideally, your keywords should direct people
back to a particular landing page for that term
or phrase. Does your site have a page that can
serve this function, or do you have to create a new
one? Press releases, site copy, newsrooms, blogs
and multimedia are where you should embed
Give your keywords. Are they good enough to engage people?
keywords
• Devise a content marketing strategy to keep fresh
a home. material going and give keywords more places to
live on your site.
© 2010

9. 7
• Monitor how well you are climbing the search
rankings for your keywords. It can take as long
as 4 to 6 months, if not longer, to gain traction.
Keep the keywords that drive traffic and ditch
the ones that don’t. You might speed up the
process by performing some quick trials with
pay-per-click ads.
• Your competition never sleeps, and neither do
the search engines, which are constantly looking
Monitor your for fresh content. Your keyword research must
progress. Adjust continue. In a Web-centric world, devoting some
time and energy each week to SEO management
your approach. is necessary—and well worth the investment.
Do it again. Think in terms of how business objectives can
translate to new keyword clusters.
© 2010

10. TrafficPRM is an interactive PR firm based in St. Louis. With
a strong background in corporate communications and marketing
public relations, Traffic helps clients develop compelling programs
that promote products, build brands and enhance discoverability.
Traffic delivers an integrated mix of traditional PR and marketing
services, including media relations and reputation management,
and in-bound marketing services, including SEO and social media.
We hope you find this guide helpful. For more help with
SEO or for more information about TrafficPRM, please
contact us at info@traffic-prm.com.
www.traffic-prm.com
© 2010