Marketing Research Online –
Mine Your Website’s Goldmine
Here’s a qualitative marketing research online tip.
Every website contains a gold mine of consumer insights.
The consumer insights are the keyword search terms or keyword phrases people use to find your website. They type keyword phrases into search engines, like Google, Bing, Yahoo, or Ask.
The keywords tell you what people want and need, when they visit your website. Best of all, this information is usually free.
When people use search engines, they seek something specific. They type in keyword phrases into search engines because they are looking for information, or want to read, see, download, listen, or buy something. They actively search and seek. It is consumer behavior.
Every time someone types in a keyword phrase in a search engine and lands at your website, your website logs and stores the specific keywords.
The majority of websites have web logs. For example, AWSats is a popular open source web log. Google Analytics is another. There are dozens more. And several are free. It's marketing research online.
And you can easily get and read keywords from your website log. It's a type of online marketing research.
What Do You Do with Keyword Search Phrases?
You use keyword phrases to figure out what people want and need from your website.
The keyword phrases are word for word quotes…verbatim quotes. They offer clues about your visitors’ keyword search behavior. They tell you what people are looking for. They suggest what people want or need.
A website log of keyword phrases is like a transcript from a focus group.
Focus groups or depth interviews are popular ways to generate verbatim quotes from customers and prospects. Managers study consumer verbatim quotes. They look for clues about consumer behavior. So managers can develop appealing products, services, and advertising.
You can analyze keyword phrases in the same way you would focus group transcripts.
You look for frequency, patterns, and themes.
You analyze keyword phrases by organizing them into similar groups. Then, you develop information by labeling each group of answers. You gain knowledge by asking what the information means. It is qualitative marketing research online.
How to Analyze Keywords and Consumer Search Behavior
Login into your website log and go to Keyword Phrases, or ask your webmaster to get them. Then export keyword phrases to a spreadsheet. Organize keywords by month, and look at the past 12 months.
Look at each keyword phrase and ask yourself,
- What specifically is your website visitor looking for?
- What problem is the visitor trying to solve?
- What benefits does the visitor seek?
Jot down your thoughts next to each keyword phrase. Work through the list of keyword phrases. Then ask,
What similar categories of information emerge?
Organize the top categories by search volume. Then ask yourself, if your website delivers what people are searching for. Is your website giving visitors what they want? If not, you may be missing the mark.
Here are some more hints. Short, general, vague keyword search phrases may indicate that people are in the early stages of their search. People are not exactly sure what they are looking for, but have a general idea. They are looking for general information.
Longer, specific keyword search phrases indicate people are looking for something definite. They may be ready to buy, or want a specific piece of information.
Your website keyword phrases can tell you about trends. You can look at the history of your website’s keyword phrases. By looking at snap-shots over time, you can see trends and changes in search behavior. Is you website keeping up to date with changes in consumer search behavior?
Goldmine
Mine the gold in your website… study keyword phrases. Understand consumer search behavior. Think of it as another qualitative marketing research online tool.
Tailor your website to match your customers and prospects’ search behavior.
Also see the article about analyzing qualitative data.
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