Keyword Research: In House or Outsource

When it comes to determining all relevant keywords, should we attempt to do it ourselves or is it preferable to hire an experienced company or freelancers to perform this task?

The answer to this central question depends upon a number of related variables. Among the most important of those are these:

1. The extent to which you understand how to locate keywords and track down keywords that are closely related

2. The keyword software that you have at your disposal

3. Familiarity with using those keyword research tools

4. Your knowledge concerning determining which keywords are actually beneficial from a business perspective

5. Your budget

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

What You Need to Know

Identifying relevant keywords and phrases is as important as any other part of your new business. In fact, it is more important than most of your planning. The lengthy list that you generate is central to all of your marketing efforts. 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. You must be willing and able to use a mix of these resources in order to develop the most comprehensive list. You should gather information comparing various keyword research software options.

Most of the tools are relatively easy to use, but the interpretation of your results can be difficult unless you have experience in doing so. Not all of the keywords that are uncovered are of equal value to a business, 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.

Budget

I believe that even if your funds are limited, keyword research is so important that, if you are not capable of conducting and interpreting the study, this is a place to spend those precious financial resources. The expense of outsourcing keyword research is relatively small when it is compared to the potential benefit. 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.

Often keyword research is bundled into an overall search engine optimization (SEO) contract. These contracts are considerably more expensive. However, if you choose to go this route (contracting for an SEO package), make sure you understand exactly how thorough your SEO company will be.

It is possible to handle all of this on your own, if you are willing to take the time and invest the money in learning how to do it the correct way. Of course, you must also plan to invest in some of the software tools, as well.