Keyword Research

Keyword research or the use of search engine optimization, three valuable words used to signify the correct use of good keywords and other methods to help push your website quickly and efficiently to the top of the search engines lists and help to create a position where you can increase the amount of people visiting your site and build a successful business.

The problem is how to use keyword research to find those golden Keywords

One way to is to hunt for what are called, long tail keywords. These are a combination of words linked to the original key word, like a short sentence, that people type into their browser windows to search for a particular product or service.

Google, leads the way however, all the others: Bing, Yahoo, Ask.com, Lycos, are out there doing the same thing. Is SEO difficult? According to the hundreds of firms out there trying to sell their services, it is. It is a specialized subject. That is true, but are all of these firms reputable?

But it is one you can learn to do keyword research yourself, and save a great deal of money into the bargain and do a better job.

How do you begin?

You can start with a Diagnosis of your own Website

You can free keyword search tools available from many companies, or install a snippet of code onto your site and record information about how many people are clicking into your site. You can record how many visitors, location, search engine phrases used and the most popular pages. One company that has this feature already built in to their website and domain hosting is SBi, and you don't have to pay extra for this service.

Recognizing keyword quality?

Google's AdWords Keyword Tool (Beta), tells you how many monthly searches are conducted for a particular word or phrase. AdWords can be compared to a thesaurus and delivers a list of alternatives keywords to sift through and find a lower-demand, with more focused, keyword phrases.

This will give you an odds on chance of climbing up the rankings. Googles new search-keyword tool will also scan your Website and suggest keywords. If you want to know more just click on the video and listen to one of Googles experts explain how it works.

Yahoo! Site Explorer

Yahoo have launched a new look and feel for Site Explorer that provides a more dynamic interface to accommodate future feature roll-outs. The new interface also includes a new Site Summary page to provide statistics for authenticated sites. On top of this, they are increasing the number of rules for Dynamic URL Rewriting that you can enter from 3 to 10.

Yahoo! Site Explorer is a tool that lets you access the information we have about a site's online presence. You can see which sites and subpages are indexed by Yahoo. Search track sites that link into webpage, and view the most popular pages from any site. Use Site Explorer to:

1.Find which sites and subpages are indexed by Yahoo! Search.

2.Find inlinks or pages that link to any site or any page.

3.View the most popular pages from any site.

4.Submit and track feeds for your sites.

You can get even more detailed information and greater ability to manage a site or its URLs when you authenticate the site.

You can:

1.Find what subdomains of the site known to Yahoo!.

2.See other information that Yahoo! detects about your site, such as language.

3.Delete URLs that you don't want indexed by Yahoo!.

What gets their attention? Good, fresh, focused content. Adding a blog is one of the easiest and most straightforward ways to bulk up on content. Over time, your site will build some searchable credibility.

The trick is to be hyper-conscious of your Search Engine Keyword Optimization. For example, if you want web surfers on the prowl for face painting to find your site in search engine results, work the exact phrase face painting into each blog post, and use it on all static pages related to face painting. Use keyword research to find every term and phrase connected to face painting that you wish to rank for.

When you begin writing content, research and plan your search engine optimization, keyword attack. Is LOCALITY important to finding your customers? Then maybe your local area plus what you do, is the phrase you want to home in on.

Relevant Page Titles

When you have your list of keywords, obtained from your keyword research, where else do you use them? The obvious spot is the keyword meta data that is attached to every web page. You have to realise that most search engines ignore keyword meta tags when ranking websites.

Google has initiated a program to combat professional spammers who practiced "keyword stuffing" to achieve higher rankings.

So now it is page titles (the line of text that appears at the top of your web browser) that are believed to be the most important few words in the Search Engine Optimization universe. (The title is also what shows up on Google's search result.) A page title tag field is standard on most blog programs, including TypePad and WordPress; any web programmer should be able to customize one for sites built on Drupal or Joomla, two popular content management systems.

Another place to use keywords obtained from your keyword research is in each page description field. Customize the description for each page of your site, and write them with passion for your subject, as the first 120 characters show up on Google, tucked between the page title and address.

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