MumsTheWord.com: Keyword strategy inspires niche business Posted by Neil Davidson on 22 July 2007

Finding a niche business is often the key to online success. Andrew Smith thought that most of the competitors for his new online baby store seemed to ignore the needs of mothers. In this case study Smith focuses his keyword strategy on the needs of mums, not just babies.

Andrew Smith always wanted to set up an internet based business but his only problem was in deciding what that business should be. Then Mother Nature gave him a helping hand, as Andrew explains.

'I had been waiting for an idea. My friends were at the age of thinking about starting families, and a few of them announced they were pregnant. Baby conversations were common and a business based on pregnancy and babies seemed obvious. It was a clear niche, but I needed to find a strong position within it.

When Andrew looked at the competition, he saw that most of them catered for the baby's needs and forgot about mum. He decided that his website would focus on the mums first.

Keyword insights soon became a key part of doing business

From day one, Andrew focussed on making his website (www.mumstheword.com) visible. He understood the importance of SEO, but the more work he did with keyword research data the more he saw that it could help him with more than just search engine visibility.

'I started thinking about its wider implications for the business. It wasn't just telling me the best words and phrases for SEO; it was telling what my potential customers were thinking, and what their unfulfilled needs were.'

One example was around the area of 'baby shower gifts.' It's one of the most popular search terms, but one that Andrew admits he would never have thought of it without keyword research data.

'It kept coming up in my results, so I couldn't ignore it. I soon came up with baby shower offers for customers and it's still one of our best selling product ranges, and a big driver of the business's profitability. That's been the power of keyword research, in adding value to other areas of my business, like new product development.'

Keyword insights bring the baby sector to life

No one new to the mother and baby market could hope to equal Andrew's level of knowledge, but it's still fascinating to see what consumer insights an examination of keyword research data reveals:

A high number of searches for 'baby gift vouchers.' The most obvious conclusion is the desire for vouchers and the need to offer them within a baby business, but it could reveal more than this. If consumers are searching for vouchers it's probably because they don't have the knowledge to decide what to buy, or even how to deal with the uncertainty of not knowing the gender of the baby.

Businesses could think about meeting these needs by offering more than gift vouchers - advice on the most popular and highest-rated purchases, a clear returns policy and help in guiding purchase decisions, e.g. what to choose if you do or don't know the baby's gender.

Searches around the area of natural baby products. There are a high number of search terms based around 'organic' and 'all natural', in terms of advice and products. Not only could a business offer advice in this area it could also rate products against these criteria and offer it as a way to choose a gift.

The need for general information, reassurance and safe products. Few consumer groups want more information and reassurance than first-time mothers, for obvious reasons, and this seems to be proven by high-ranking search terms such as 'consumer reports baby products', 'parent-tested baby products' and 'baby safety products.'

A mother and baby-focused business could capitalize on this by recognizing and dealing with this audience as different to second or third-time mothers, as well as offering relevant products and gifts, e.g. a first-time mothers' starter-kit.

Keyword research data will continue to add more value to the business.

Business is good for Andrew, with turnover up 37% year-on-year so far, and he attributes much of that growth to keyword insights. Keyword research is already doing the business for Mum's The Word, in terms of general SEO, informing copy decisions for the website, getting maximum value from paid-for search terms and helping in new product development, but Andrew agrees that there is potential for most businesses to get more out of keyword research.

'It makes you think more laterally than you would if you thought through issues without its stimulus and insight, and that's what all businesses desperately need if they're going to stand out from the competition. We're developing a new version of the website and the lessons we have learned from keyword data will enhance this. But thinking about the wider business, I can see other uses in the future, such as using the keyword insights to drive brainstorming and idea-generating sessions. Of course, using keyword research to improve search engine optimization is crucial for an internet based business, but it's only part of the equation when it comes to making the most of the insights it offers.'

Have a look at our On-Page SEO page for more information on using the well-chosen keywords you've put together using the Wordtracker 7 day trial.