Now that Google has started using the new external keyword tool interface, there’s one thing I noticed that may trip some users up.

When you enter your keyword or website, just make sure to change the country to the one of your choice.

I’m in the U.S. and the country is usually pre-listed as Australia or the United Kingdom.

Hope this helps.

It can be a rude awakening. You’ve worked hard getting your site to the 1st page of Google and keeping it there.  But maybe you’re #7 and you want to move up a bit.

So you add or change your content or other SEO elements…then ugghhh…what happened?

Your site has dropped like a tons of bricks to # 28 way down on the – gulp – 3rd page!!!

The worst thing you can do at this point is panic and start changing things to chase Google.  More than likely Google is playing with you.

It’s what we SEOers call, The Google Dance.  See, when you make changes to your site, sometimes it’ll drop like a ton of bricks.

And yes, you’ll have to sweat it out…anxiously checking your ranking daily.  But more than likely, in about 10 days or less, you’ll end up at least where you left off.  In this case, #7 or maybe even higher!

So don’t panic if this happens to you.   Remain calm and wait for the mystifying thing we call, Google, to finish it’s dance.  And in the end, hopefully you won’t be dropped!

I’ve got an important question for you and your answer will directly impact the success of your website.  So come in close and read carefully.  Here’s the question:

Is the goal of your website to sell or to gain leads?

See, there’s a big difference here. And you better know the answer or you’re blowing a hole right through your winning strategy.  Your approach will be completely different depending on whether you want your visitors to pull out a credit card or simply hand over information.

How to deal with visitors once they hit your website is a copywriting issue.  But getting the “right” kind of visitors to your website is an SEO issue and keywords play a starring role.

If you want visitors who are interested in buying…you know, the kind of folks who have a credit card ready, you’ve got to target your keywords properly.

The way you do that is by determining the commercial intention of particular keywords.  So if you are selling an eBook on vegetable gardening, one of your keyword phrases might be “how to grow vegetables.”  Now using this phrase would be a mistake because it scores very high for non-commercial intention.

That means most folks searching this phrase are looking for free, how-to info.  You may attract a ton of visitors if you optimized your site well enough but your sales will fall flat.

If you use the phrase “vegetable gardening book,” it scores high on the commercial intention scale.  People you hook with this phrase are more likely to be searching for a book to buy.  They’ve already done their research and they’re ready to roll.  Those are the tye of visitors you want.

But…

If your goal is to build a list, the first phrase would be a better choice.  Offering a free report or email how-to series would be successful.

Do ya get it now?

Now if you’re wondering how the heck I know which phrase scores what, you’ll be glad to know there’s a handy little free tool that will make the calculations for you.

Microsoft’s adCenter Labs has created an online commercial intention tool.  Here’s the link: http://adlab.microsoft.com/Online-Commercial-Intention/Default.aspx.

Now have fun with the tool and go find success!

Evy Schwartz
SEO Services, San Antonio