Picking the best keywords

One quick way to research some of the best keywords for particular subject matter is to let the machines be the expert and tell you what words to use.

1. In your browser place the link http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.

2. Type a keyword into the search box that you believe people may want to search for what your business offers.

3. In the challenge-response box enter the security word that is shown.

4. Select the Get Keyword Ideas button.

The tool then displays a list of keywords showing how often that term and related terms are being used by people searching Google and its partner sites.

Your choice of keywords or keyword phrases may be excellent or you may discover variations of other great keywords or keyword phrases to use in your Web content.

Place more keywords in the right positions

Search engines need text to index the Web site, and the more text with more relevance, the better.  Web site visitors want key information now, and the placement of the keywords and phrases that are being searched need to be noticed in strategic locations to achieve the most efficient discovery by the search engines and the visitors.

1. Use the most important keywords and keyword phrases near the top of the page, and in the headlines and sub headings.

2. Search engines notice italicized and boldface keywords so use them but not excessively; avoid all capital letters as this is poor writing and doesn't add value to your Web site.

3. Use keywords multiple times within the page and in bulleted lists when applicable; search engines pay particular notice to bullet-listed keywords.

4. Link to other pages within your Web site using some of the keywords. For instance, rather than linking to another page with a phrase like continue, or click here, as in, For more money saving tips, click here, a far greater search engine optimization effect is achieved using a phrase containing keywords, such as For more money saving tips go to the money saving tips page. This tells the search engine that the referenced page is about money saving tips.

5. Place keywords into the <description> tag of the page to attract the search engines.