Understanding Keywords

What are Keywords?

You've used a search engine. You found this website by entering a keyword phrase into the search box on your favorite search tool. It may have been Google, , LiveSearch or another, but the process was the same.

Those words that you entered to perform your search are called keyword phrases.

It is very important that you choose the proper keyword phrases when preparing the content of your website. These keywords must be strategically placed in the text content of your web pages.
This is how people will find your website when they perform a search on a major engine.
They will find your website because you chose the proper keyword phrases and used them wisely in the construction of your content.

This will be the step where you determine the success or failure of your website.
99.9% of the people that create websites this year will skip this step and their websites will never be seen by anyone!!

That just sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Well read: The Black Hole of the Internet
(Find more on this subject in our Website Tutor )

Read the Experts

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is an ever changing field of expertise.
I'm not an expert in the field, so I will recommend some experts. Read their articles. Dig into their archives. Learn as much from them as you can on the subject of using keywords, before you start cranking out the pages of your website.

Who to read:
Our success started with Ken Evoy and his famous Make Your Site Sell ebook.
We paid $17 for it 6 years ago.
Includes an entire section of 451 pages on Traffic Building
You can download it free!! Download: Make Your Site Sell

Jill Whalen: SEO Articles
Developer Shed: SEO Chat

6 Articles on SEO Chat to help you get started:
Researching:
What Search Engines Love
"This article will give you a beginner's guide to optimizing your site for search engines. It will focus specifically on what the search engines will be looking for when reading and indexing your site. These are things you will definitely want to utilize, or at least consider. So if you are a novice web designer, or just want to refresh some of the basic concepts, come join us."
Choosing and Researching Keywords
"You're ready to start building the website that will make your business a success. You understand how search engines work, at least enough to know that they will send programs called spiders to your site, and that the information these spiders send back to the search engines will help determine in what position your website will appear in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Obviously, you want people who are searching for what you can provide to find your website near the top of those results pages. How do you manage this feat?"
Effective Keyword Choice Strategy and Useful Tools
"Take a look at the SEO tools right here on SEO Chat on the left hand side. There are various tools of interest here to help with SEO optimization. The Adsense calculator is a great way to estimate potential earnings. Even better, if the page impressions and cost per click is already known, a projected earnings forecast can be calculated."
Adding to content:
Integrating Your Keywords into Your Content
"It's silly to think that you would do all of this research and then not properly use the keywords in your web site. So let's make sure that doesn't happen. You can invent many ways to implement and write your content for your web site so that it will do well with both your readers and the search engines. Let me discuss some ideas that I use when writing content; hopefully it will help you when you go to write your web site content."

Do the Research

Be sure you at least understand the concept of how people find websites using keyword phrases.

Whether you use the free tools offered by Keyword Discovery and Wordtracker or subscribe to their services, Do the Research before you start your website.

SEO Secrets?

There are websites out there that advertise, "Find Out the Secrets of SEO!!"
Sign up now for $19.95 or $49.95 a month.
Don't waste your money. I've been there and done that and the only SEO Secret is that you just paid $50 bucks for information that some whitehat somewhere is giving away for free. There are no secrets - just hard work!!
Next Planning Your Website