As you may already know, keywords are an essential part of search engine optimization (SEO). And
usual approach recommended to finding right keywords to target with one's site involves ideas of demand, supply and KEI (and/or CID). I would like to propose that one thing is missing in this research approach.What is missing is a consequence of one of major advantages of Internet. Let me explain... When I use Internet to look for information, or software,... I don't care about what country is hosting site, nor do I care about nationality of owner of site. I am only concerned about finding what I am after. So, for me, when I use Internet, fact that world is made up of countries is not something I think about, nor is it an issue because Internet has in some ways effectively removed existence of country borders.
Yet, it is this very positive aspect of Internet that, I believe, leads us to perform incomplete keywords research when we look for keywords to target with our site.
You see, while Internet has helped us forget about existence of countries, when it comes to keywords, we must not forget that world is made up of countries. The reason for this is that demand for keywords can be country specific. This means that a keyword in high demand in one country, may not be in same demand in another country. And in some cases, a keyword in demand in one country will not be in demand anywhere else.
To illustrate this idea, consider following demand numbers for stated keywords, as reported by Overture (the research being done in June 2005).
Using keyword "keyword",
- Australia: 669
- Canada: 17
- United Kingdom: 10,770
- USA: 125,177
Another example, looking at keyword "meta tag",
