Keyword selection is the most important step in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. Smart selection of keywords is the first step towards the success of your SEO campaigns. In this article I have presented the ways I use to select the keywords for my SEO campaign. For this discussion let me use the keyword “CRM”.

Google Keyword Suggestion Tool

You’re targeting Google and definitely this is the first place you should go to select your keywords. Enter the keyword “CRM” and get the keyword suggestions by Google. Make sure you have selected your country of target in the field just above the search box. I usually keep the match type as “Exact” as this will give me more clarity on the keywords which I have to choose. After zeroing in the keyword which you’re planning to use, click on the “Google insights” button to view the search trend in Google over a period.

Export the selected keywords which you’re planning to target and keep this in one sheet and in the other sheet note the trends/position of all the available keywords. This will help you to prioritize your keywords based on the trend and the search volume.

Once you’re done with your keyword selection then next step is to verify your selection. There may also be some related keywords which you might have missed in your first step. So let’s make sure we haven’t missed any related keywords. Below are the few ways to verify your selection and ensure the quality of your selection.

1. Google Search Suggestion

Go to Google.com and type in your keyword CRM and Google will present you some related keywords as you typein. Note down all the keywords listed and click search with your search term “CRM” once again Google will present you with some related search suggestions. Take a note of this and compare all the keywords which you have selected during this process with your original list. If you found any new keyword using this method, go to Step one and check the search volume and trend of that keyword. Based on the search volume you can decide whether to add this to the original list.

Try different iteration with different related search terms and build your list.

2. Search in Wikipedia

This step will help a lot for the search engine service agencies who work on their client’s campaigns optimizing some difficult business terms or products.

Search in Wikipedia and read the relevant CRM article. This will help you to understand more about CRM and the related keywords. When you read the article note down the keywords (business terms, sub sections, images… etc) within in the article and check the global volume for those keywords as mentioned in the step 1.

3. Keyword Spy

Goto Keyword Spy and check the “Keywords” radio button and enter your keyword. In the results page the overview tab will give you some related CRM keywords and the “organic competitors” tab will show the top 20 competitors for that particular keyword. If you’re using a free version of the tool then you will get only limited results (upto 20).

This step will help you to compare and verify the keywords which you have chosen in using the Google keyword suggestion tool and analysis the competition for that particular keyword.

When you follow the above mentioned list you’ll get a very quality selection of keywords for your SEO campaign. These are the step I follow in my SEO campaigns for keyword selection. If you have a different view on these steps or if you follow a different strategy for your keyword selection please let me know and will be glad to add those to this list.