If you go to a handy tool like the Yahoo! SM Keyword Selector Tool you can find out how many times in the previous month a specific keyword was searched for at Yahoo! Search and MSN (which combined, represents approximately 48% of all searches done in North America). As well, you can check out variations on the search terms with this great, free tool to even better identify what your customers are searching for in the Search Engines.

Wow, you can identify the terms your customers are using to find your products, and you can evaluate the frequency a keyword is searched on. You can then use this information to determine what the content of your web site should contain. You can provide your potential customers with the information they are looking for - because you 'listened' to their request.

Sounds great, sounds logical, sounds simple, so why are so few websites doing this? Why do so many websites go to the trouble of finding out the keywords being used by their customers, implement extensive Search Engine Marketing plans based on those keywords, and then fail to provide the information that the customer has asked for?

Over the years, I have heard many excuses. They almost always boiled down to: 'Just deliver the customer - we know what they really want.'

Perhaps you remember that store you visited to purchase an item, but the sales clerk refused to listen to your wants. You walked out, frustrated at the time you wasted and the negative experience you had just been through.

How do your website visitors feel when they click on one of your listings after having searched on a specific term? Do they find what you promised them in your Search Engine listing? Have you made sure that you are delivering what the customer wants and not what you think they want? Are you listening to your customer?

Brenda Wright
Head Sponsored Search Strategist
Enquiro Full Service Search Engine Marketing

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