Monday, May 01, 2006

Just How Important Keywords Are To Search Engine Placement

Author: Patrick Riley

Know what words your customers will use when searching. You might know what your customers search for. If not, find out. Is it a description of "pants" or "jeans?" One may be searched more often than the other, but why not target both? How about "executive gifts?" Maybe "desk accessories" will broaden your web site marketing strategy.

Ask all kinds of people. Get advice from people in all walks of life including management,
employees, customers, vendors, friends and family on how they would search for effective
search engine positioning keywords. Ask them how they would search for different products
and services. It's really not about what you think they would search for, its about what they
think. Believe me, they can many times be two totally different things.

Once you have successfully harvested a meaningful keyword list, remove any keywords that
are too targeted or not to specific. Also remember that keyword placement is important.
Try to put as many keywords as possible in the beginning paragraphs, and of course the
title line.

The higher the value of the keyword the more competition you will have. Every SEO utilizes
tools similar to the Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool and also know the value of a
keyword. The lower the value of the keyword the less competition we will have.

We don't want to aim too low but we also don't want to aim too high. We need to find a middle
ground. For you that may be a keyword with a value of no less than 1000 and no more than
10,000. It will be up to you to determine what you deem reasonable.

Also, the keywords should appear regularly throughout the opening Web page. It is
especially important that they appear frequently in the opening paragraphs. However, resist the temptation to overuse keywords. The search engines can spot it and will reduce your page rankings. Tools are available to help with optimal keyword density.

However, avoid software that writes the site's pages. Search engines can sniff these out, too.

A good rule of thumb is: Never sacrifice quality of content for keyword placement. This will
affect your page ranking. Most importantly, your site won't appeal to visitors. For a FREE
EBOOK detailing the fastest way to the top of the search engine, visit: http://www.ride-to-the-top.com and http://www.1stepsystem-premier.com

About the Author: PJ Riley has given away many of his FREE E-BOOK detailing the simplicity of making your way to the top of the search engines. See http://www.ride-to-the-top.com He has been reporting on new business opportunities for many years. He's not afraid to speak what's on his mind. He will be the first to tell you if it's a golden opportunity, but has had numerous occasion to report a scam in the making.