Online tools assist you with Web site keyword analysis

I’ve been doing a lot of search engine work recently, helping clients channel more traffic to their Web sites from search engines.

My book, “Search Engine Optimization for Dummies,” probably will be in the bookstores by the time you read this.

One of the foundations of search-engine optimization is keyword analysis. That is, you must know what search terms people are using to find products and services such as yours. If people are searching using the term “sports fan,” for instance, you’re missing the boat if you optimize your pages for the term “sports enthusiast.” People who search using the term “sports fan” won’t find your site, because your pages don’t contain that term.

Obvious, perhaps, but companies usually guess at the search terms they should use. That’s where keyword analysis comes in; you must find out what people are actually searching on, not what you “think” they are searching on. When I carry out detailed analyses for my clients, I discover two things. I find that some of the search terms the client believes are important really aren’t — few people use them. And I find important search terms that my clients have missed, frequently used terms that the client’s staff didn’t think of.

How do you do a keyword analysis? You use a free tool such those provided by Overture (http://www.overture.com/) and Google (http://Adwords.Google.com/), or, better still, pay to use Wordtracker (http://www.Wordtracker.com/), probably the best tool available.

Wordtracker analyzes searches carried out over the prior 60 days at several search engines, around 340 million searches. It’s like peeking behind the curtain; you get to see what people are actually typing into the search engines, which can be fascinating. Keyword analysis is an important tool for my clients …, but it’s also a very interesting look into the psyche of the Internet user.

You can get a free peek by viewing the scrolling banner at the top of Wordtracker’s home page, which shows the top 50 searches for the current day, or by subscribing to their weekly report of the top 500 search terms. (They remove sexually explicit terms from the banner, while one can get the weekly report with or without such terms, according to one’s taste.) As I sit here writing, for instance, the scrolling banner is showing me, in position No. 1, easter eggs, followed by google, april fools, kelly osborne, yahoo, ebay, fallujah, milf, home depot, jokes, easter, paris hilton … .

What can we tell from these terms? Well, as I write this, it’s almost Easter … that explains the first and 11th entries, of course. There’s a battle raging in Fallujah, Iraq, explaining No. 7. Terms No. 2, 5 and 6 (Google, Yahoo, and ebay) are actually an indication of just how poorly the average person understands how to use the Internet. A huge number of “searches” are actually domain names; people type Google into a search engine instead of typing google.com into their Web browser’s location bar.

No. 4, Kelly Osborne, is a sad reflection of our MTV culture, of course; the not-so-talented offspring of a sick and aging rock star entering a detox center is of more interest to the average Internet user than, say, the impending genocide in the Sudan.

No.3, april fools? Well, it’s a few days after April Fools’ Day; perhaps people have nothing better to do than find tricks they can use next year. In position No. 8 is the term milf, which, although not explicit, is definitely sexual … and I have no intention of explaining it. Let’s just say that the term is an indication of how rapidly online pornography can influence modern culture and push new slang into the consciousness of men.

Home Depot? Wow, I need to buy some stock in that company! Sometimes companies rise to the top thanks to news stories, but I can’t find any big story in the last few days that might have done this. Maybe it’s a combination of stories about a fire at a New Jersey Home Depot store, Zack’s brokerage adding the company to their buy list, the store sponsoring the Mexican national soccer team, and so on. Or maybe it’s simply an indication of a rise in interest in home projects as spring hits us.

And how about positions No.12 (jokes) and No. 14 (paris hilton). Well, it’s sometimes joked that jokes were why the Internet was invented. And as for Paris Hilton, I’m just glad to see that she’s no longer in positions 1, 3, and 5 simultaneously. Paris Hilton’s entry is, of course, an indication of the influence of both our MTV culture and online pornography at the same time.

Things get even more interesting when you begin searching for terms. For a client recently, I was researching the term “business trip,” and up popped “dallas tx and sexy business trip,” “men that cheat on business trips,” and “secretary sex business trips.” The most innocuous search term, corrupted. Keyword analysis can be a voyeuristic pleasure, sneaking a look at what people are really thinking about.

Peter Kent is the publisher of the Poor Richard’s series of technology and Internet books. Visit www.TopFloor.com for more information.

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