Choosing the Best Keywords isn’t easy!

We have talked about content and links as being very important and this time we are going to talk about the third leg of the stool, key words. If you really want to get free search engine traffic to your web site (and who doesn’t) then key words are the third key. This is because pages that rank higher on the Search Engine result pages for specific keywords or phrases get more search engine traffic compared to lower ranked pages for the same keyword. The majority of web users when searching for information on the web use a search engine like Google. When they do a search, most click on one of the top 5 results on the first page. As a result, the ultimate goal of any web page owner when doing Search Engine Optimization is to gain one of those coveted top spots, with the number one ranking being the primary objective in order to get more traffic.
The first thing you need to do is Keyword research in order to find out what exactly it is that people are searching for in the area that you are interested in. Then you need to pick the key words that relate the topic on your web site, and that people are really searching for. Try using keyword research services to help you investigate word and phrase variations. Services like Wordtracker, and the Google AdWords suggestion tool or software like Keyword Elite which will generate 1000s Of Keywords In Seconds, are good starting points. There is simply no substitute for doing your keyword research.
What you are looking for in your research is:
*Single word keywords are very difficult to get high rankings for, so I use three and four word phrases most of the time.
*Obviously keywords that are the most appropriate keywords for your pages, and for your business.
*Words that are highly targeted are easier to get good ranking for as they are not so competitive that you will never be able to beat the big boys whose pages are well optimized with good content and a lot of links. Targeted keywords on the other hand generate targeted visitors, that are more likely to be active while on the pages of your website.
*Stay away from generic or very general keywords even though they may have the highest number of searches they are very competitive. They are tougher to rank for and a great portion of the traffic from these words will be irrelevant and typically the least productive.
This Keyword research helps you to identify keywords that are relevant, targeted, and less competitive. After finding out what people are looking for, and what keywords they are using to find that information, you can optimize your pages with these keywords that you have discovered are best for your site and will bring significant traffic to it.
Now that we have our keyword list and we are ready to optimize our pages where do we put those keywords? That is the topic for next time.

“Targeted keywords generate traffic”