Should You Use Keywords Especially When Creating eBooks And eProducts?

I had this thought about ebook keywords for a long time now. But with each month that passes it becomes more relevant.

We are told that you must research keywords, create content around it so that people can find you online.

People do most of their searches through engines like Google. So it seems like a bright idea to optimise for the engines right?

Seems to work?

Yep, it does.

But have you noticed something? Not every site follows this practise and still they get on- sometimes super successfully.

What I have found is 3 things.

Keywords initially can form a base and then people socialise the content that you have created
You dont actually need keywords to create anything
There is a point where keywords just wont budge that traffic needle

Lets take each one and see.

Ebook keywords as a base

One of the best ways to attract search engines and people to your site is through optimising your content for those specific engines. So if you were writing about sunflower potting methods. You could check out the search engines and trends to see which of the following terms has the best chance to gain enough traffic at the same time having minimal competition to that page:

sunflowers
sunflower potting
sunflower potting methods
how do you plant sunflowers
can sun flowers be planted

The last couple of search terms show what people would be actually be searching for. Most people never type onto search "sunflowers". They want to know something specific.

If the term is easy to write about you may get some search engine love- especially if your site is on topic and you have been posting regularly. Engines will find the content quicker if you post regularly.

The only problem with this game is the following:

what happens if the search engines dont like it that you have been number one in the search for months? You drop down and loose that traffic stream
Googles problem is that not many people go past the first 2 pages of their results. This then results in a frantic rush to get into 20 spaces. Out of all the websites in the world this is quite difficult- especially if you want to stay there. I believe Google drops some pages down to bring others up- so visitors are made aware of other pages out there. If you think about it, the top 20 pages, in theory, would be the best and static.
there are multiple amounts of different factors which dictate where you end up in search engines. Some people have made it their job/ career to find out what makes search engines tick.
you are making your site very dependent upon one source of traffic. It is a loop. If you are writing about ebook keywords to rank, you always need to be looking for keywords. You will always be changing and writing more/ less/ adding more pictures for Googles sake, not your audiences.
at the end of the day is it the engines that bring you traffic or is it the people who visit your website and then tell others about it?
what if I want to talk about something different? Should I build another site or keep with the main website and create a subdomain? When I watch some Youtube videos I get spammed with adverts that are completely not related to the video that I am watching. But- the audience might be interested. So you see back to school ads on kids videos because it is aiming at the parents who could be watching, not the kids.

You dont actually need keywords to do anything

This may sound odd, but stay with me. What happens when someone creates something on a social page instead of a website? It gets judged and deemed OK or not to pass along to others who have similar tastes/ styles. This is a type of reciprocal linking and sharing.

But what about search engines and stuff like that?

This is something that bugged me for a bit.

If I put videos on my website then Google judges me on the content and relevance to the topic on that page. So I need X topic to go with X video.

But what about Youtube and Vinemo? Why can they have multiple video topics and rank very highly for each one. Take then Walmart and Amazon. They rank very highly for keywords when their pages are not optimised for those keywords. You could even state that they offer a sales page and not a content page. Why do I have to write >500 words to scratch the surface of Google when large companies have to write a minimal page and get to the top spot?

This further highlighted with the fact that one of the best marketers online is Seth Godin. Yet when you type in "internet marketing" or any other related keywords, he never shows up. But he is an influencer and always features in marketing charts. Read some of his posts, none are keyword related. Many are not past 300 words. His homepage is not set up for SEO.

What I came to realise is that keywords are not necessarily the main thing that is looked upon. It is trust and authority within that field.

Seth Godin has multiple backlinks from a huge diverse range of websites.

Amazon has built trust within its brand- regardless of what it sells, there is assumed trust even if some of the products could be poor.

Walmart has been around for years.

There are also other issues. If you are a marketing author- like Seth Godin, then wouldnt there be links back from ebook selling websites? And there is.

Amazon and Walmart spend a ton of money through Google promoting their wares. So indirectly Google knows that they are trusted companies who are willing to spend money to get a placement. Therefore they should be making money/ successful in doing so?

So if you are promoting sunflower potting tips, wouldnt it be a good idea to create good content first, regardless of keywords and then concentrate on promoting your content to other gardening websites?

I never have submitted my websites to anyone else apart from Google, yet other search engines find my sites. This is mainly because if the content is good (ahem :)) then they have to find you and index you.

If you just focused on creating good content and interacting with people in your knowledge space the search engines will find you. This is done easily through Facebook and other social media sites. In fact it is done quicker and why "influencers" suddenly appear from nowhere.

Ebook keywords might not budge that traffic needle

If your website is bringing in 1000 people per week, which is simple to do, your articles are only going to do so much. It is merely keeping people in the know, keeping your website updated and answering different questions etc.

But there might not be many articles that can give you 1000/ week extra. For the amount of time and effort content plateaus off.

This is another reason why Amazon/ Walmart/ Youtube don't write articles for traffic as such. They write to keep people informed and if it is worthy it get shared a lot. But it is not necessarily their main draw of traffic.

There comes a point where you have to think what is the next step to get traffic to my site. This can be:

video marketing
Podcasting interviews
buying Adword traffic that converts into something (don't just buy traffic that does nothing)
buying placements on other websites

But it all comes as the next step in time management as well and when your online business actually becomes a business. Why?

Because you are still generating content to your website and selling ebooks. But now you are adding a side traffic promotion benefit which in itself needs to be time managed. Then after that, you will find that area will plateaus. Then you find a cycle continues. Most people find that one or two traffic sources is enough for them and brings in a decent income.

Some people jump into buying in traffic which is dangerous if you have no idea how to convert that traffic into money to reinvest.

For more info on eProduct selling, check out the blog.