One of the most beneficial activities you can do for your internet marketing initiative is come up with a good, solid list of keywords and phrases that will help customers find your site on the World Wide Web. Sounds easy enough, right? After all, no one’s more tuned in to your industry than you are, so you’re bound to know what your customers are looking for. All you have to do is think of ten or fifteen words you use every day, plug them into your website, and voila! Instant hits!

Unfortunately, generating a keyword list is a bit trickier than that, and when the task is taken too lightly, the work usually ends up being all for naught. If you really want to be found online, you need to do some research and refining.

• Start with a good brainstorming session. Browse trade publications, read customers’ emails, analyze your competition, study your products, and jot down all the words that might apply to your business. Some of these words might end up being gems; others might be duds, but what’s important is that you have some raw material to work with.

• Back when the Internet was shiny and new, searchers could use generic terms to find what they wanted. Now that the Internet is older and a heck of a lot bigger, searchers have to look for specifics if they want search engines to turn up anything worthwhile. Your customers aren’t searching for any old “suit” or any old “dress” anymore—they’re looking for a “custom suit in Dallas, TX” and a “vintage evening gown.” So if you’re selling prom dresses in Timbuktu, make sure your keywords tell that story.

• Only choose words that are relevant to you. You might think that you’ll reach a broader audience by using popular keyphrases like “global warming” and “Star Wars” on your fashion boutique’s website, but anyone who finds your site using these terms won’t stick around long enough to browse your selection of designer scarves. Also remember that search engines don’t respond well to sites that try to trick them, so using irrelevant keywords and phrases might get your site penalized.

• You might know your industry better than anyone, but your insider info could actually harm your keyword list if you’re not careful. For example, you might notice that your female customers are suddenly so ravenous for weskits that you’re having trouble keeping them on the shelves of your fashion boutique and it occurs to you that “weskit” would make a great keyword. Except all the women who are buying your weskits are calling them “vests” or “blouses,” so odds are good that introducing “weskit” as a keyword won’t do much for business. To avoid this snafu, try asking friends, family, and customers to look over your keyword list or to generate some ideas of their own. These people are some of the best representatives of the searching public and might make some excellent suggestions that hadn’t even occurred to you.
   
• Plug your keywords into a keyword research tool (we like Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool and Wordtracker) to determine how many people are actually using them in searches and how competitive they are (that is, how many other sites are linking to them). You want to use words that are searched often and that aren’t so competitive that you’ll never make it to page one. These research tools might also suggest great words and synonyms that you hadn’t thought of, so keep an eye out for them.
   
• As with any marketing initiative, you have to make some alterations time to time. Your site’s and customers’ needs will change, and your keyword list needs to keep up, so you’ll have to update as necessary.