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Keywords and Keyword Phrases or Keyphrases

This is important to know if you are hoping to gain website visitors from the search engines because keywords and keyword phrases can make you or break you. Without knowing what keywords people will use to search for your products and/or services online, you won’t have a chance of being found in search results.

Of course, you can pay to become one of the sponsored listings on the search engine results pages (SERPs). Even then you must choose the right keywords and key-phrases to bid on. So, how do you determine what keywords and keyword phrases are the best to use?

Keyword Research

Research tools are available from Yahoo Search Marketing, Google AdWords and a software program called Wordtracker; all three provide keyword and key-phrase options and alternatives. Wordtracker compiles its results from various search engines and allows you to see what people are searching for in the organic or non-sponsored listings. In addition, it gives you a sense of the number of websites that are “competing” for your keywords and keyword phrases. This allows you to look for niche keywords with lower competition, improving your chances of being found. Remember, only a handful of websites are found on the first page of the ranking results.

The biggest mistake people make when starting a keyword search is forgetting that others probably don’t think of their website in the same way they do. And, sometimes site owners and potential visitors are thinking the same thing, but just using different words to describe it. To ensure you’re taking all thought patterns into account, I suggest using the Overture and Google AdWords tools first, keeping the results in a spreadsheet or text document.

Then put the whole shebang into Wordtracker and spend some more time finding additional keywords. Remember to think laterally about your product or service and see what Wordtracker can find for you. If you don’t end up with at least 1,000 words in your basket, I would be surprised. Oh, and don’t forget to take a look at your competition to see what keywords they are using. They may have gone through a detailed search process already, which is why they are ranking as high as they are.

Once you are done finding words, proceed through to the step that allows you to choose two search engines and/or directories at a time to find statistics. These statistics will help you choose what keywords and keyword phrases to target on the various pages of your website. The best strategy for achieving high rankings is to keep your pages targeted and focused. Choose 1-3 keywords per page and focus that page around those keywords.

For more information on keywords and keyword research, visit the eMarketing Talk Show Keywords Category. You will find links to talk shows where industry experts have shared their knowledge and provided tips for researching and choosing keywords.

And always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, don't hesitate to ask.

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