Even if you don’t know what they are, keywords are really the backbone of your website. These are the words that people enter into search engines when they’re looking for content, and that will ultimately lead them to your site. Most Internet users, even if they’re going to the same websites every day, use search engines and keywords on an almost constant basis, and so if you want to get more visitors to your site, you must know how to use them. But where do you start? And will it involve hours of keyword research? Well, you can begin your research right here, and all of it will take just a few minutes.

Start your keyword research by simply pulling out a blank sheet of paper and pencil (or you can do it right in your computer using a program such as Word.) Think about all the words and phrases that apply to your website, and start jotting them down. For instance, if your website teaches people how to cook, some of the words and phrases that might apply include “recipes,” “easy recipes,” “best recipes,” as well as different kinds of food – “turkey,” “beef,” “spinach,” and anything else that you cook and post regularly. Because you come up with these keywords easily and naturally, they are likely to be the most organic keywords you will find.

Unfortunately though, compiling a list of your own keywords and phrases isn’t enough. Once you have your own list, you’ll need to expand on it by utilizing keyword research tools. These are tools that will not only provide you with even more keywords and phrases, but that will show you which ones will perform better than others on your website. You’ll be able to see how much traffic certain keywords will bring in, as well as how many searchers are currently using specific keywords. Still don’t know where to start? Some of the most popular keyword research tools you’ll find online are: Wordze, Keyword Discovery, Wordtracker, Google Adwords Keyword Planner, Bing’s Keyword Tool, Wordpot, YouTube keyword tools, and Keyword Spy.

Lastly, make sure you’re using long tail keywords. Many people see long phrases such as “the best beef stew you’ll ever make,” and automatically discount them because they think they’re simply too long for a keyword. However, that’s not the case. These longer phrases are known as ‘long tail keywords,’ and because fewer website owners tend to use them, they’re far less competitive. Because of that, when you incorporate them on your website, users that are searching for that long tail keyword will be taken to your website over someone’s who has just used the keyword “stew.”

Keyword research is essential in order to draw traffic from the search engines, but it’s important for other reasons too. It will show you which niches are most profitable for your business, tell you about the specific content ideas people are most interested in, and give you hints about the products and services that will be most profitable on your website. Keyword research doesn’t have to be difficult, and it holds so many benefits for online business owners.