Keyword research is an essential tool. It gives you the ability to find and research specific search terms which people individually enter into the search engines when performing any sort of search for information, products or services. This is incredibly helpful for optimising websites, because if you can see what people are searching for, then you can quickly set up your site and its content so that the search engines index these specifically chosen keywords. This will tip the scales in your favour when it comes to driving targeted traffic toward your website. It’s not overly complex, and there are several really easy to use applications available to help you pursue this sort of research.

As one of a multitude of virtual assistants offering services, you’ll want to optimize your own in-house websites, and it’s also quite possible that many of your clients will ask you to look into this sort of research for them as well. If you discover that you’re performing keyword search often, then you might consider investing in a program that will take care of some of the time consuming steps for you. However, you should always know how to do it manually, as these programmes aren’t infallible, and it’s always good practice to check the results you’re getting periodically.

Here’s a quick guide on how to do a keyword search with Google:

1. Look up the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. You don not have to be signed up for AdWords for this. It’s an external search that you can perform at no cost to yourself.

2. Insert the Keywords that you have an interest in checking out - in this example I’m looking up “Virtual Assistant“, then type in the captcha character text (if required) and click the Get Keyword Ideas button.

3. You will be presented with a detailed list of potential keywords and similar keywords from the initial keyword that you inserted.

4. As you can clearly see, the application has given us a list which I have itemised by local search volume for April. This tells us that there is very high competition for the word Virtual Assistant, and it also tells us that there were 135,000 searches against this term in April. We’re looking for a word that we can use to get ranked high up in the search engines so we can get more traffic to our site. So if we view this list, a good target is to locate a word with at least 100 searches per day. The competition for Virtual Assistant Services is still fairly high, but if we now go over to Google, we can take a look at our potential competition.

5. So, let’s do a search on “Virtual Assistant Services”, and make sure you use the quotations marks or you’ll get results returned for any combination of those words.

At this point, as you can clearly see, this page shows us that there are (at the time this article was written) 57,700 pages ranked for this particular combination of words. It’s not impossible for you to be able to compete with your page ranked for this specific word - you just need to put in a bit of work.

I’m not saying that this is the ideal term for you to attempt to rank your Virtual Assistance business. It’s simply an example of what you might have an interest in checking out. Be creative and ‘think outside the box’ with your ideas. What terms do you think your clients would search for? You’re going to want to repeat this process to find several keywords that you can utilise for establishing your Search Engine Index niche.

In regular advertising, you communicate the fact that your service or product may be of interest, but article marketing, one of many virtual assistant services available, is more subtle but equally as powerful. By approaching from this angle, you have to establish your website as an authoritative destination. This is achieved through the dissemination of valuable information. Don’t forget that there is a lot of choice on the Internet and you will have to provide something rather different to trigger the decision to buy. When you have shown that you are trustworthy and credible by giving a lot of information away from within your articles, then you have gone a long way to achieving this position.

You have to set your website apart from all the rest and use virtual assistance services to make sure that you are more than just a number. You will need to earn trust over time and should understand from the beginning that you will have to give far more than you get to start off with. This is where article marketing has its forte, as through a concerted plan you will distribute articles throughout the Internet, giving valuable information and educating your prospects about the subject. Within your articles, back links to your site prompt your readers to search for more information and bring them closer to that ultimate purchase decision,as they learn more from you.

You do not want to employ a hard sell when you engage in article marketing. Few article directories will accept an article that is an out-and-out sales pitch anyway and remember that there’s a time and a place for you to disseminate your contact information. A “resource box” is found at the end of your article with information about the author. This is where you suggest a location for further information and link back to your website.

Branding yourself as an expert is very important. When you expertly research articles, write them well and send them to top directory sites, you are engaging in a long haul article marketing campaign. A constant and repetitive approach, using a whole variety of different, yet appropriate keywords for variety, will ensure that your name and product grows in stature and builds the all-important social proof.

While instantaneous returns may be expected from in-line or display advertising and pay per click campaigns, these rarely have any lasting legacy. Well-written and respected articles that you distribute will remain on the web for years and the increasing credibility of these virtual assistants and their services will, over time, result in exponential returns and a far stronger overall marketing campaign.

It is the most widely respected form of Internet marketing available today. So long as you maintain an educational and informative approach and write your articles well, readers will want to know more. Article marketing, when approached correctly, can result in direct traffic, attention to SEO services through back-links and tremendous credibility in your chosen marketplace.