Should I outsource keyword research or can I do it myself?
A number of related issues go into the answer to that core question. Some of the most important of those are these:
1. How fully you understand finding the keywords pertinent to your niche and those that are closely related to your niche
2. Access to the tools that are available to assist in this process
3. Familiarity with using those keyword research tools
4. Your knowledge concerning determining which keywords are actually beneficial from a business perspective
5. The total funds that are available for you to grow your business
Glancing at those five, notice that they boil down to how much you have studied the process of keyword research and whether the outsourcing alternative is within your financial resources. I’ll go into each of those a little more deeply below.
What You Need to Understand
There is no aspect of online business that is more important than identifying appropriate keywords. The lengthy list that you generate is central to all of your marketing efforts in the short and long term. The tactics impacted include your article marketing, your search engine optimization, your paid advertising and your copywriting. The entire future of you business is directly related to the quality of your keyword research.
Some available tools are free to use, such as Google’s keyword research tool. Others can be purchased as desktop software or as online membership applications. It is important to use multiple tools for your research, because results will different based upon the databases that the tools consult and the formulas with which they conduct their searches. You should gather information comparing various keyword research software options.
While use of the tools is relatively simple, in most cases, interpreting the results can be very tricky if you do not yet have considerable experience or a significant knowledge base. Each keyword that you discover will not have the same value to you as every other keyword, and a high volume of searches for a certain keyword does not necessarily make that keyword of greater importance to you than another term or phrase for which there may be substantially fewer searches.
Money
If the amount in your budget for early business development endeavors, this area merits the allocation of its share of those funds. The cost of a keyword research package is relatively small when you consider the potential return on that investment. I recommend that, if you do hire professionals for this task, that you make sure that they also do a competitive analysis of your industry or niche and offer advice concerning how to use the findings of the study to your competitive advantage.
Sometimes, although not always, researching keywords is part of an overall search engine optimization (SEO) package. Consequently, if you plan to invest in such a large scale purchase, there is usually no point in buying a keyword or niche research package as well. If you choose to go this route, be absolutely certain that your SEO company will be extremely thorough in its keyword research and that the complete keyword list is included in your report from that company.
Bottom line: You can do this task yourself if you already know a great deal about the process (or are willing to take the time to learn what you need to) and if you have the critical tools.
