Web marketing seems to come down to one of two things:
1. Stay on the cusp of search engine manipulation. Keep one step ahead of Google so that you can have well-ranking web pages that customers will blunder on to, only to have to click an AdWord link to get to what they were looking for in the first place. Or,
2. Work steadily to create legitimately useful content, and hope the search engines will eventually notice its value and send users your way.
After looking around for a while, it seems that all of the keyword research tools available cater to the get-rich-quick school of thought (number 1 above). The “Keyword this-and-that” programs have mile-long web pages full of infomercial style sales pitches, promising that once you buy their software you’ll be an instant internet mogul. They make my skin crawl just scrolling down the pages.
I can’t seem to find much for those of us in group #2.
My main goal in web marketing is to help my customers find me. I know they are out there. The trick is writing articles and pages that word their problems in the same ways they do, so they’ll find them.
I’ve decided that I should develop my own keyword research software. I have some very specific needs in mind that I don’t see being filled by these programs.
What about you? If your work includes web marketing, have you ever thought “hey, I need something that does X?” Let me know.
Brandon, this sounds like an excellent idea – and please keep your buddies informed. I agree the keyword utilities I’ve looked at seem to be just methods for ringing through the changes. They aren’t smart at all about helping the marketeer discover what it is their potential users are “thinking of” when they go foaraging through the slush pile.
If you’ve got a better idea (and knowing you – you probably do) go for it!