Search Engine Optimization and Keywords

A crucial part of any marketing campaign is the content of your web site, and the keywords in that content. The right content with the right keywords in the right places can bring you a steady flow of targeted traffic which will convert into steady sales.

Part of selecting the best keywords is about choosing keywords most likely to be used by people interested in what it is your web site is selling. That way the visitors who arrive at your site are much more likely to buy something. If the keyword you use is unrelated to what your web site is selling, you will not get as many visitors and one ones you do get will just be visitors and not buyers. Picking relevant keywords means the visitors arriving at your site are far more likely to take whatever action it is you want them to.

Go to Google and search “Google AdWords Keyword Tool”. Use the Keyword Tool to get keyword ideas and see how many searches your keywords are getting. Start by making a list of around 100 keywords that relate to your website. Narrow down your list and select about 10 keywords that get at least 10,000 searches a month.

When picking keywords, you must take into consideration the response that will be generated. Your job is to find words that fit your niche. You can rank number one for a keyword but if nobody is looking to buy anything based on that keyword it will be a waste of time and money. It's important to find keywords that fit the products you sell on your website. Think like your customers

Select keywords with the idea of targeting people who will be interested in buying products you sell on your website. This will result in a greater probability of visitors to your site being actual interested buyers instead of just visitors.

There must be a relation between the keywords in the content of your site. If the search engine finds it tough to find a relationship between the keywords you use and the content of your site, the search engines will not be happy.

Don't just target the broad competitive keywords, there is much more competition for these keywords so you will have more trouble ranking for them. Try to find long-tail keywords with much less competition and you will start rankings much faster. Long tail keywords are three and four keyword phrases which are specific to what you are selling. Long-tail keywords can often be much more profitable than broad keywords with much more competition.

A search engine friendly design is a important. Plan the framework of your website before you start building it. It should be easy to navigate and contain text links to all your pages within a couple clicks of your front page. Be sure to add a site map to make it easy for the search engines to index your site. This will make every page available in the search engine's search results.

Study the competition in your niche. It is easy to do research about your competition. Do a search for blogs and forums where your target market posts comments and look at the keywords they are using. Look at your competition and see what is working for them.

Create your own unique content. Copying content from your competitors web sites could be the biggest offense as far as search engines are concerned. You need to have unique content. You can write it yourself or find a freelance writer online that can do this at a reasonable cost.

Add new keyword rich content to your site regularly. Google is constantly searching the web for new content. If you update your site often, Google will visit your site more often and rank your pages higher. One of the best ways to do this is to start a blog on your site and post at least 2 times a week. This will get Google to come back on a regular bases.

Stay up to date with new SEO trends. Google's often changes it's algorithms on how it ranks sites. The field of search engine optimization is constantly evolving with new hardware, software and online services. I advise you keep up with new Google trends. This is the only way to keep ahead of your competition.


For more information visit the

Web Marketing Guide.