When any search engine optimisation campaign is carried out an effective keyword analysis needs to be conducted. A keyword analysis can be defined as " utilisation of variety of search engine data in order to determine which words or phrases are likely to bring the best Return On Investment to a given website" .The whole purpose of an effective keyword analysis is to find out under which key phrases or keywords a website should be marketed under. Here at SEO Bank LTD we consider numerous factors in the keyword analysis process.

Some of these factors include keyword phraseology, keyword targeting, keyword competitiveness, and keyword popularity. Here we will discuss each of these factors in detail.

Keyword phraseology refers to searchers being done in either plural or singular. A good example of this is with the keyword "buy" a first person verb or will they type in verb principles e.g. "buying". Other areas that need to be considered does the searcher put nouns in front of adjectives and verbs, or alternatively verbs in front of nouns and adjectives? In order to carry out an effective keyword analysis it is of paramount significance that one is aware of what people are typing into search engines. This is referred to as keyword phraseology.

A frequent misconception is search engines will return the same results for both singular keywords and plural keywords. Research has shown that this is not the case. Anyone can carry out a simple test by typing both and singular keyword and a plural into search engine such as Google and you will find that different results are returned.

Keyword targeting refers to targeting the correct keyword for a particular website. This is perhaps the most crucial aspect of keyword analysis however it is also the most subjective. A keyword that his highly targeted may not necessarily bring you more traffic but would usually result in a higher conversion. Take for example someone is looking for dog grooming, there would be a higher conversion under the search term "dog grooming Manchester" than if someone typed in Alsatian, even though there is more searchers for the term Alsatian.

Keyword Competitiveness is another area that needs to be considered when carrying out an effective keyword analysis program. Therefore it is essential that if your competitors are ranking well for certain competitive keywords then it is essential for you to be there. The competitiveness of a particular keyword is dependant on two main factors.

Firstly, how many listings or websites show up when a particular keyword is typed into the search engines? The more results that show up, the more competitive that keyword is. If it is several hundred to several thousand, keyword competitiveness is relatively small. If there are several million, keyword competitiveness is likely to be high.

Secondly competitiveness is determined by whether or not your competitor has sponsored listings. If that is the case it is highly likely that phrase is competitive and people are bidding for it.

Thirdly there is keyword popularity. The more the search phrase is being searched for the more likely people will want that key phrase due to the fact that it generates traffic. Keyword popularity can be determined using tools such as Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool, Espotting, and other SEO resources.

All the above factors need to be considered when carrying out an effective search engine optimisation campaign. As such an effective keyword analysis forms the foundation upon which an effective search engine optimisation campaign needs to be based around.