Monday, July 30, 2007

Tricks For Finding The Right Keywords

Tricks For Finding The Right Keywords by Jeff Alderson

Coming up with ideas for the best keywords to use on a website can be a difficult process for many to grasp. If a little common sense comes into play and some basic rules of the road are followed, the effort doesn't have to be insurmountable.



Researching keywords prior to creating a lot of content for a website is an absolute must if optimization is desired though. Although it's possible to insert keywords after the fact, it can be a royal pain in the neck that results in stilted copy.



As you go about the process of picking the right keywords, there are several things to consider. The first thing to remember is that different people use search engines in different ways. The key here is to consider the many ways of saying the same thing. How a person searches can be impacted by gender, age, country of origin, profession and so on. What terms come to mind for the exact same product or service can vary greatly depending on the person in question.



When looking at keywords, remember they do need to relate to your individual site. Pulling people in with keywords that are not relevant is dishonest and it also results in "unqualified" hits. If you're selling something or you happen to have ads on your site, you really need to pull in visitors that are interested in your topic. Should you keyword load with irrelevant terms, you'll turn visitors off, could lose sales and might even lose ads.



As you start the process, the first thing to do is pick up a pen and piece of paper. Brainstorm every word and phrase you can conjure that web surfers might use to visit pages that relate to your topic. Ask others for their ideas, too, especially if friends, family or co-workers happen to fall into your target demographics.



With a keyword list ready to go, it's wise to now visit the Internet to refine it. You can use search engine databases to see what words others use to find sites similar to yours. Overture and Google both have keyword tools, and software like Ad Word Analyzer can save you a ton of time on keyword research. All of these tools can assist you in seeing how many similar sites come up on searches when your keywords and phrases are plugged in.



With this done, employ a little common sense to the revised list. Consider your desired audience and think about the terms they would really use to find your site. Keep in mind that conversational language is much more likely than marketing terminology in searches. Think basic, short phrases that sum up what you do or offer. Focus in on these terms.



Even with a well-researched list, it is important to remember optimization is an ongoing process. It is very likely you'll revise your keywords from time to time. Don't fret if it doesn't go right the first time out.



With a tentative list in hand, it's time to create copy that's relevant, keyword rich and actually useful. Steer clear of keyword stuffing and only use as much content as is necessary. Make sure keywords appear in headlines, but don't worry about going overboard with them on every single line. Copy that's clear, concise and relevant tends to pull in more traffic.



Coming up with the right keywords to optimize a site can be a tough undertaking. View it as an ongoing process and don't be afraid to tweak the effort as you go.



Author Jeff Alderson develops newbie-friendly search engine marketing tools. He specializes in boosting traffic and sales. Jeff suggests using Ad Word Analyzer to choose internet keywords for your website.

This article is available as a unique content article with free reprint rights.




Article Source: Particle Articles - Article Directory - Scholarly Articles

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

very interesting, thanks!