Keyword
The words a person types into a search box to describe what they want. It is the target your content is aimed at.
Analogy Mental model
Bait on a hook. You have to know which fish you are after and what it actually eats before you tie anything on. The bait you would choose for yourself is irrelevant.
In practice What you actually do
For work in a second language, never translate your own market's term and assume it carries over. A buyer looking for a noodle-making machine in Ohio searches pasta maker, while the person typing noodle machine often wants something else entirely, with different competition behind it. Check the results page before you commit budget.
Where people get burned Pitfalls
One seller built an entire category around cheongsam and lost most of its demand, because American shoppers type qipao dress or Chinese traditional dress. The product was right, the word was wrong, and the traffic went to sellers who checked first.
This entry was written in English from the Chinese original, not machine-translated. Read the Chinese version →