There are many third party companies that can help you pick out keywords for your various search campaigns.  I have found that some of the best ideas for keyword selection can be found within your own sphere of influence.

1) Use trade magazines and journals. They are loaded with industry jargon and little niche phrases that may help you uncover a few great keywords that don’t cost a great deal for prime time positioning.

2) Set up a focus group. Make sure they have a basic understanding of the products and services you offer before sending them searching. This works well in areas such as real estate and many retail categories. Might be more difficult in companies that work with specialized products. Ex) packaging company that produces blister packaging, etc. In this case, the focus group may need to be another company you’ve developed a relationship with or is a current client. Perhaps they could be part of your focus group.

 3) Always be thinking. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had a brilliant search phrase and didn’t write it down. It passes quickly in the recesses of my mind. It literally pays to have a notebook with you to write down all your ideas. One of those ideas will make you rich someday.

Many businesses simply don’t have the budget or staff to craft a campaign. If you’re stuck, you can always leave it to the experts. A good search engine management company will spend time with your company learning it’s culture and marketing strategies. Remember that the company should constantly be tracking, split testing, and coaching you on the results.

OK, so you’re a confirmed “do-it-yourself-er”. Some of us are just that way, and that’s OK. As long as you get good training upfront you’ll be fine. Make sure you hire a consultant to know that you’re doing the job right and then get after it. I will warn you, small business owners are the good at the art of distraction. Are you tweaking your PPC campaign but losing business because of it? Know your gifts, and focus on those. If you have time to manage your PPC campaign yourself, then great. But if you’re hiding behind your computer when you should be meeting with customers then hire someone to help. If you’re going to hire, then hire us! Enough preaching and shameless self promotion.

This is going to be a series of reviews on various SEO tools that you can use to enhance your business. Some of these tools are what we use at The Search Factory. As always, if you have any questions regarding what you see here, please feel free to send us an e-mail at http://www.thesearchfactory.net/contactus.htm.

 Tool #1: Keyword Spy

This is one of the best tools in the world. Want to know what keywords your competitors are bidding on? What position they are in? It’s simple with Keyword Spy. You simply type in the web address of your competitor and Keyword Spy spits out the keywords and allows you to download them to a spreadsheet. You can then upload your new keywords into your Yahoo!, Google, or MSN campaign. All this and it’s as simple to use as writing your name.

Think about it, you could spend hours of research coming up with your own keywords for your PPC campaign. And if you’re like me, you’ll wake up in the middle of the night thinking of new ones, having to write them down, and add them in the morning. Or for those neurotics out there, you’ll have to go to your computer and add them immediately-go to sleep for crying out loud!

Keyword Spy takes the guesswork out and allows you to have an upper hand in the fight for online supremacy. Like most online programs, there’s a free trial available online, give it a spin and see if you like it. As always, in order to get the full featured version, you’ll have to purchase.  Simply visit Keyword Spy and see what it can do for you.