In order to drive targeted traffic to your websites, you need to understand the buying psychology of your potential customers. When a customer searches for information online, there is a distinct pattern in the choice of keywords used. These keywords reflect their thought process, which serves as a valuable insight into their buying mindset. This pattern is known as keyword life cycle.

The keyword life cycle can be classified into browsing, comparison and buying categories.Browsing Keywords:

- generally one or two keyword phrases

- non-product/brand specific

- Examples: MP3 player, portable music player

The typical consumer starts the buying process by researching existing products or services that can potentially satisfy his/her need. Competition for browsing keywords is usually stiff since search volume tends to be high. This is one reason why internet marketers, with little or no experience, should focus instead on long-tail keywords used for niche market.

Alternative is to do content publishing. Although content sites take time to build, it may pay off well in the long term enjoying Free traffic through search engine ranking. Focus on providing comprehensive and updated information with depth and breadth.Comparison Keywords:

- two or more keyword phrase

- keyword modifiers: review, compare

- Examples: MP3 player review

After acquiring sufficient knowledge, the customer proceeds to make comparisons between offerings. Blogs, forums and portals are usually where comparison keywords search will lead to. This group of keywords constitutes medium search volume.

Creating reviews for products in your blogs or giving helpful advice in discussion forums are some techniques to drive such customers to your website. Use keyword modifiers such as review, compare, feedback, disadvantage and complaint to drive these customers to your website.Buying Keywords:

- two or more keyword phrase

- keyword modifiers: Buy, best Price, Second Hand, Offer

- Examples: Mac iPod Nano Price, Buy Mac iTouch

Finally the customer finds out the price point of specific brand name and model of the product he/she desires. The internet marketer will be able to target these potential customers by using targeted keyword campaigns or building landing pages that focus on only information about the specific product model. Use buying keywords to drive potential buyers to your sales conversion websites.

Understanding the keyword lifecycle enables the internet marketer to select keywords with high KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index) for niche marketing. The online business can then drive qualified traffic to their websites with increased conversion rate. This is the essence of Search Engine Marketing.