Testing the "Keyword Theory"
By Dave Squires, Co-author of The Ungettable Joke
As
part of this blog, I occasionally want to inform readers about some
discoveries made as we work to promote our book The Ungettable Joke. In
this particular article, I am going to talk about an experiment I am
running to explore the value of using keyword-focused articles to earn
money on the Internet. Perhaps that sounds a bit shallow, so let me
elucidate further. I do NOT intend to talk about writing meaningless
articles, packed with keywords, just for the purpose of gaining an
audience. That is not only silly, but also counterproductive. Any
blogger or author wants to attract the right audience, and audience that
will be interested in what they are selling.
In that regard, I have an especially tough row to hoe. The Ungettable Joke
is an unusual book. It explores the connections between the human mind
and the mysteries of the universe and its founding. "So," I ask myself,
"how do I gain an audience online? What keywords and tools can I use to
attract reader who will buy my book, and become energized by enough to
be sales ambassadors for me?"
In the search for the
right keywords, I need to identify the character of a loyal reader and
follower of of The Ungettable Joke book and overall concept. Here's how I
define the reader:
1. They think like me and are interested in where the Universe comes from.
2. They believe that coincidences are telling them something, that they often happen for an important reason.
3.
They are not satisfied with "common sense" that they are told should be
taken at face value. They believe as I do that common sense is often
uncommonly bad.
4. They enjoy science and love to think in the realm of possibilities.
5. Movies like Back to The Future and Star Trek and Iron Man
intrigue them because they show credible possibilities for a noble and
exciting future of applied science, and our ability to move out into the
Universe.
6. They believe in honesty, integrity, the rewards of hard work, and honor.
7.
They are grateful for the sacrifices made by others to secure our
freedoms and improve our lives. They might have made such sacrifices
themselves.
8. They believe our Constitution is an inspired
document, perhaps divinely inspired, and that those who violate it do
not have the best interest of the country at heart.
9. Most importantly, they believe there is such a thing as universal truth and they want to know it.
That
is the beginnings of a definition of a loyal UJ reader and fan
according to me. My co-author Bill might see it a little differently,
but by and large we tend to agree on things. Clearly, this definition
leans well away from readers of romance novels, and leans strongly in
the direction of science fiction and heroic adventure. Those genre's are
close to defining The Ungettable Joke, but not perfect. That's OK. I
believe that no book should perfectly fit a genre, or it risks showing
lack of originality.
So, what keywords will work best
in the meta data and content of an article to sell this book? A very
good question. There are some Internet experts and businesses that serve
the purpose of listing the most used keywords on a daily basis. So, for
my first experiment, I might try using some of these keywords. But,
search engines are smart. Very smart. They can tell if the content of
your site does not match the keywords and meta tags you have embedded in
your pages. That means they'll give you low scores and shove you way
down the page list when the search results return to the searcher (e.g. a
Google search result). So, HOW on Earth do I get The Ungettable Joke to show up in search results unless someone searches for it by name?
[Mind numbing thoughts accompanied by dull humming sound.]
Oh,
are you still there? Sorry, I think I took a nap. Marketing might be
exciting to some, but I really just want to write books and live well
off the revenues. So, in the ongoing quest for success, I am now
experimenting with keywords and meta tags.
One Internet
site recently listed the following top twelve searched keywords and
phrases on their top 1,000 list (Please ignore the use of lower case.
Internet software ignores it too.):
Can you see connections to my core audience in these? It's a
real stretch. The mere fact that I included them in this article won't
help much because my loyal UJ reader (LUJR) is not necessarily looking
for these things. Or, are they?
Here's the experiment I
propose: Create key phrases that describe the loyal UJ reader with
those that seem to align with the top search words.
Examples
(it's OK to laugh -- the same way you might laugh at a wobbling two
year old as he learns to walk. Warning: Some of these are ungettable,
but you might laugh anyway.):
I seriously doubt this will work, but it let's me stay on topic -- and it's fun.
By Dave Squires, Co-author of The Ungettable Joke
Copyright, Dave Squires, Co-author of The Ungettable Joke ( http://www.ungettablejoke.com )
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