To "brainstorm" something means that you're going to dedicate every part of your throught resources to a particular situation or problem. Brainstorming as part of the keyword researching process is important because it helps you come up with keywords and phrases to use in your content and site structure.
So, the first thing you'll want to do is to sit down and write every single imaginable word that someone might use in a search engine to find your site. For example, if you are constructing a site on beaded jewelry, you might come up with the following:
- Beads
- Beaded jewelry
- Bead crafts
- Bead projects
However, not every person who is looking for “beaded jewelry” will come up with these particular terms. Therefore, you need to brainstorm for any and all keywords and phrases that people might use, such as:
- Handmade jewelry
- One of a kind jewelry
- Unique bead art
- Custom necklaces
- Special occasions (this could include birthdays, anniversaries, Mother’s Day, etc.)
- Handmade
- Handcrafted
- bead gifts
- birthstone bracelets
- unique bead art
- glass bead
- beadwork
- necklaces
- earrings
- crafted anklets
and the list could go on and on. The important thing to remember in brainstorming is that you should try to think of what you would look for, and branch out from there. The more specific you can get, the better. A good rule of thumb would be to come up with 40-50 keywords and phrases, and then narrow them down to the top 20 absolute most effective; which brings us to the question of "how do I know which keywords and phrases will be effective?" In other words, which key phrases will bring more searchers to your site and give them a better user experience?
There are a few keyword tools that have been created especially for this purpose; my two favorites are Digital Tracker and Overture. Both of these sites will be able to tell you how many times in a given time period that particular key phrase was searched for.
The trick is to target the keyphrases that are most relevant for your site, not merely choosing the words that are the most searched for in terms of traffic. Instead, choose a couple of key phrases for each page in your site that are "niche" phrases (less competition).
For example, there are a lot of people that search for the word "boat", but probably not too many people that search for the phrase "keel-bottomed boat." If you have a site that is all about keel-bottomed boats, you're providing a service to those searchers who are looking for information on these kind of boats by targeting that particular phrase; plus, you're going to get more focused visitors that are already looking for what you're offering. It's a win-win situation.
