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The following article presents the very latest information on keyword optimization. If you have a particular interest in keyword optimization, then this informative article is required reading. We will discuss the key to improving your sites listing in the top Internet search engines.
When a user enters a search term, also known as a ‘keyword,’
into a search engine, the engine runs through the billions
of pages in the database and awards each one a ‘relevancy
score.’ The higher your score, the higher your listing. If
your site doesn’t contain the keyword used by the searcher,
the only score it’s going to get is a big, fat zero. Your
first task then is to make sure you know which keywords are
most relevant for each of your sites.
There are three ways to figure out your keywords:
1. Ask your competitors
This is the cheapest way to find many of the most important
keywords. Simply log on to a search engine (AltaVista is
good, Google is better) and carry out a search for sites
like yours. Open the top site, and once the home page has
downloaded, click on ‘View’ in your browser, and then
‘Source.’ That will reveal all the HTML used to build the
Web page, including all the keywords that have been
specially inserted.
For example, let’s say one of your websites sold nutritional
supplements. You could carry out a search for ‘vitamins’ in
Google. The top site there is called DrugEmporium.com, and
the keywords they list are “The Katz group, Snyders, Drug
Emporium, Drug, Drug Store, pharmacy, stores.”
Some of those keywords will be relevant to your site.
Others, won’t be relevant and there will be lots
of other keywords that aren’t obviously listed—like
‘vitamins’ for example.
2. Ask the pay-per-clicks
Pay-per-click sites actually let you see how popular a
keyword is. They’re not being kind; they’re trying to make
money. The more webmasters bid on those keywords, the higher
the bids are going to rise—and the more money the
pay-per-clicks are going to make. FindWhat, for example, has
a Keyword Center, and Overture a Keyword Suggestion Tool.
Both are very handy, but they also require you to open an
account. That can cost a few bucks, but when you have a lot
of sites covering a lot of different areas, it’s usually
worth the expense.
3. Use a specialized tool
Not too surprisingly, a number of companies have popped up
to supply specific keyword services for a fee. The best of
these is WordTracker.com. They’re not bargain basement, but
you get what you pay for. They’ll give you all the keywords
you need and in my experience, they’re a sound investment.
Googlefight.com is another useful tool to see whether one
keyword is more popular than another. The site compares two
keywords and tells you which is more popular. It’s free and
has a limited use, but it’s fun to play with.
It’s also worth looking at key phrases. It’s quite possible that a user looking to buy flowers online might search for ‘red
roses’ or ‘cheap bouquets’ as well as just ‘flowers.’ Key-phrases are often overlooked by competitors, so you’ve got a pretty good chance of getting a high placement with the right combination.
If your competitors are using certain keywords, it’s because they
know they work. And if you pick up any users using irrelevant keywords, you’re not going to sell them anything. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel here: just try to figure out the most popular keywords and the best key phrases to put on your site.
Of course, there are more ways to do Keyword-Optimization, such as: putting your keywords at the Tittle Tag of your website, putting your keywords on the Meta Tag of your website, and sprinkle your keyword in your web copy. And I believe that someone else has cover that area, so i’m not going to mention it here.
So there’s a few ways you can try to improve the position of your site in a search engine. More important than where you put the keywords is choosing the right keywords. That’s not really a huge challenge as your competitors are likely to
have done the job for you.
Of course, even if you do get everything right, it doesn’t mean you’re going to shoot straight to the top of Google. One of the criteria for relevancy is how long you’ve been
online, so success on the search engines won’t comeovernight. The sooner you start submitting though, the sooner you can start to rise.
Of course, it’s impossible to put everything about keyword optimization into just one article. But you can’t deny that you’ve just added to your understanding about keyword optimization, and that’s time well spent.
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