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Keywords aren't just some words that allow search engines, like Google, to find your web site. They are also key elements for creating attractive language to use in your marketing or advertising material. For instance places such as: brochures, business cards, flyers, and ads. Keywords can also fit well into speaking engagements scripts or audiotapes scripts as well as audience handouts.

It is important to create a keyword list for each product or service you have. The keyword list might even change slightly if there are various groups or audiences for that product or service.

For simplicity, I have omitted the word service and for the word product to reflect both.

Creating your keyword list can begin after you have clearly identified the buyer or audience for a particular product or service. You will need to know as much about the buyer's demographic and charactertics as possible. I also recommend including their descriptive qualities and personalities. Here is a list to kick start your brainstorming process:

- Communicative
- Competent
- Dedicated
- Enthusiastic
- Expert
- Hardworking
- Improved
- Positive
- Negative
- Professional
- Relationship-driven
- Self-confident
- Successful
- Tranquil
- Spiritual
- Understanding
- Socially conscious
- Early adaptor
- Later buyer
- Has to see it to believe it
- Guarantee a must.

The list of keywords will describe the product and target the specific quality you have isolated as most important to those buyers. No grabbing out of midair. Take the time and research, this will help you save money and reduce costly marketing experiences.

You can complete your research with any combination of methods. Here are eight methods to help you build from:

- Brainstorming
- Yellow Pages or other indexes for services or products.
- Reviewing your company literature already created
- Checking out the competitor's literature
- Surveying key customers
- Searching through trade publications (articles and ads), and contacting them or visiting their web site looking for their buyer statistics/demographics.
- Use a general dictionary and thesaurus
- Use a specialized dictionary like the, Flip Dictionary.

You can use resources like the yellow pages or other catalogue-type indexes listing grouping to discover keywords your product or service would be listed under.

Let's move through an example. If you were selling a professional development product - you could be in any one of the following professions: professional speaker, life, business, or executive coach, consultant or trainer. Your buyer or audience is somewhat successful you're your product will help them add additional success. Here is a list of keywords that could describe their characteristics or qualities:

- Able to motivate others
- Clearheaded
- Clear-sighted
- Committed to achieving excellence
- Demands excellence
- Full of character
- Has good judgment
- Has a wonderful stress-free life already
- Highly perceptive
- Lives up to her or her potential
- Life-long learner
- Sts high standards for themselves
- Stays on track
- Strives for perfection
- Strives to excel
- Takes the initiative
- Motivated to achieve

Okay, good start. Now, let's begin to put all this together. Let's zoom in on one of these: strives to excel. Let's narrow down further to one word: excel.

Look up the word excel in a synonym finder, thesaurus or my preference, the Flip Dictionary and you find the following keywords that you can add to your keyword list: best, better, exceed, outclass, outdo, out rival, outstrip, shine, star, superior, surpass, take the cake, transcend, dominate, tower above, be head and shoulders above, stand out in the crowd, hold sway, lead, take the lead, lead the pack.

The list can go on, however, will stop here because the point is made.

After this, you could let your fingers travel through the thesaurus and then add those words.

Alternatively, you could continue your list by visiting a few of your competitor's web sites and see what keywords they use. You do this by visiting their home page, right clicking the mouse on the page, and select "view source." In the HTML code look for "keywords." These are the keywords they use for the search engines to find them.

You will want to specifically focus on the competitor web sites that appear in first ten spots on one or two major search engines, like Google.

Next, select another method from your list of resources and continue until you feel you have enough right words.

After completing your list, you will want to review and place the keywords in priority order as best possible and eliminate any words that might be misleading. If you market globally, make sure none of the keywords mean something offensive in their language.

Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing & Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.com