Is it preferable to hire a professional for keyword research or can our company handle that internally?
The answer to this central question depends upon a number of related variables. Some of the most important of those are these:
1. How fully you understand finding the keywords pertinent to your niche and those that are closely related to your niche
2. Access to the tools that are available to assist in this process
3. Familiarity with using those keyword research tools
4. Your interpretive abilities when it comes to the surprisingly complex task of keyword analysis
5. The overall amount of money that you have available for business development
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 Must 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. Your list will form the basis of all of your search engine optimization efforts, your advertising campaigns (PPC and others), your copywriting and your article marketing efforts (as well as your other content syndication). In other words, without a good foundation of keyword research, all other aspects of your marketing will suffer.
There are many tools available online. Some are free to use, such as Google’s tool; others are not. You must be willing and able to use a mix of these resources in order to develop the most comprehensive list. You must study the keyword research tools.
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 automatically make that keyword of greater importance to you particular business than another keyword that draws much less traffic.
Financial Issues
If the amount in your budget for early business development endeavors, this area merits the allocation of its share of those funds. The expense of outsourcing keyword research is rather modest 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. If you choose to go this route, be absolutely certain that your SEO company will be extremely thorough in its keyword research and that the complete keyword list is included in your report from that company.
Bottom line: You can do this task yourself if you already know a great deal about the process (or are willing to take the time to learn what you need to) and if you have the critical tools.