Today is one of those unusual posts, and I owe it to our local newspaper. Not the big city-wide one, but the little Green Valley Home News.

I began reading their article in the Arts & Style section only because it talks about a game I personally enjoy (but haven’t played for years)… Scrabble. Now bear with me, because this post does have a point, and you won’t want to miss it.

Here’s the interesting facts about Scrabble and why this has anything to do with the title of this post “Keyword Research.”

First, a bit of background.

Scrabble is the #1 best selling game in the world. Over 100 million sets have been sold worldwide with one to two million sets sold every year in the United States alone. Scrabble can be found in one out of every three households in America. It was developed by an out-of-work architect named Alfred Mosher Butts during the Great Depression.

When Butts first invented the game he called it “Lexico.” Lexico never caught on so he next tried “Criss-Cross Words.” Yep, you guessed it. No one was flocking to buy this new game with this new name either.

Butts went back to the drawing board (no pun intended) and after revamping his rules a bit, he and his partner, James Brunot, renamed the game “Scrabble.” They trademarked that name in 1914.

Well, as shown above, we know how well Scrabble is doing, to this very day.

Keywords! Ah, very important. With some choices, nothing, while the right ones pull in the money hand over fist!

To further emphasis “what’s in a name” (or keyword phrases in your content or title or domain name), the story of Scrabble continues.

In the early 1950s, while on vacation, the president of Macy’s Department store discovered the game. Of course, the next logical step was a huge influx of orders from Macy’s to Hasboro. Stocking the game became a must-do on Macy’s shelves nationwide.

In fact, to this day, television versions of Scrabble exist, and even online versions of the game can be found. In addition, Scrabble clubs and Scrabble competitions form all over the country on a weekly basis.

Oh, and as if that isn’t enough, Facebook users can enjoy the Scrabulous application on their Facebook websites.

So think your choice of keywords isn’t that important? Think again!

What’s in your name? Did you think it through? Are you thinking it through? Best take a lot of time with both your market research and your keyword phrase research.

It could mean the difference between a “Lexico” or “Scrabble” website or blog for yourself.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?? Scott informs me that perhaps the idea of keyword research for this is a tad confusing, and suggests perhaps “branding.” However, I stick by my original association. Without proper keywords one would never develop the proper brand name. They most certainly go hand in hand, but “Scrabble” did not become a “brand” until the keyword was known by many.

What do you think?? Please comment!

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