Keyword analysis is a major part of search engine marketing. Choose the right key phrase,check the market and calculate the ROI in terms of time and money.

I am just trying to redefine "The Boston Matrix" in terms of key phrase analysis, hoping that it will help in your investments.

There are three steps to it,

1. Market
2. Competition
3. Conversion Ratio

Let me explain it one by one:

Market

Check different key phrases using suggestion tools like Word Tracker, Overture Keyword Selector Tool or Espotting Keyword Generator Tool , it doesn't have to be perfect as we are just looking for key phrases with high search shares. Choose as many as possible with promising market. Google Adwords Keyword Tool can also be used.

Competition

Search in Google or Yahoo! and see how many sites are listed under respective key phrase search . For example when I search for 'key phrase' in google it says, - Results 1 - 10 of about 4,800,000 for 'key phrase'- this gives the primary idea of the competition. Take the first ten web sites in SERP and check the following factors:

1. Back Links (directly proportional to PR)
2. Saturation
3. Ranked Page's On-Page Factors like Title, Keyword Density, etc.

Competition is directly proportional to Back Links, Saturation and On-Page Factors but I consider the back links more crucial as achieving better saturation level, and on-page optimization, are comparatively easier to obtain.

Conversion Ratio

If 100 visits are made to your web site from a key phrase, how many will get converted (sign up or buy). For example the key phrase 'mortgage quote' will have higher conversion ratio compared to 'mortgage rate' as the person searching for 'mortgage quote' is more likely to sign up.

Create your own 'Boston Matrix' for key phrase analysis

Create the matrix in the following way:

• Take a blank paper and pencil. Draw a square about 10 cm by 10 cm in size. Divide the square into four equal parts (cells). Each of these cells will denote a type of key phrase.
• Take X-axis starting from the bottom left corner towards right. Take Y-axis starting from the bottom left corner towards top.
• Name top two cells as C and D . Name bottom two cells as A and B. X-axis denotes Search Market. Y-axis denotes Competition.
• Values on X-axis will be from high to low from left to right. Values on Y-axis will be from low to high from bottom to top.

Thats it - now you are ready to analyse!

C: These key phrases require high investment of time and money but will deliver high in long run. Proper strategy and resources are required.	D: ROI is very low, its better to avoid such key phrases in the initial stage of business but at later stage some key phrases do well without any investment due to the improved standard of the site.
A: Low Competition but high market. It is with High ROI. Target such key phrases as it generates the money to survive and invest on other cells of the matrix.	B: You may choose not to invest at the initial stages of business as many of these key phrases will automatically make it to top with time without any investment. After making few A's and C's, check the investment required for B.

Summary

In the initial phase of your business invest on 'A's, later invest on 'B's and 'C's. I will advise not to invest on 'D's until it starts appearing in top ranks with time. In marketing we say that retaining a customer is tougher than getting a customer. Similarly if making it to top ranks is tough, then tougher it is to retain the position. So do proper risk analysis at every stage of your online business.

About the Author:
Aji Issac is an operator of Hedir Web Directory. Submit your Internet Marketing site at www.hedir.com/internet.html