| Keyword research has now become an essential | | | | quick search for the word "baby" on Google, |
| part of a web building process for just about any | | | | comes up with 1,000,000,000 results. With so |
| type of web site. It is no longer enough to just | | | | many competitors what are your chances of |
| have a fancy looking web site. | | | | ranking in the Top 10? You could focus your |
| In this article, we're going to go through a basic | | | | entire site on just "baby shower", for example. |
| keyword research strategy. If you're new to the | | | | To have a better idea of which keywords to |
| internet and just about to set up your own web | | | | choose, you could use a keyword research tool |
| site, this strategy is for you. | | | | like WordTracker ( WordTracker provides |
| What are keywords? | | | | information on how many times your keyword |
| Keywords are simply words or, more often, | | | | phrase is being searched for in a day, the number |
| phrases that you would like your web pages to | | | | of competitors and something else called KEI |
| be found with, in search engines. If you had a | | | | (Keyword Effectiveness Index). All else being |
| web site about babies, for example, you would | | | | equal, the higher the KEI, the better. |
| want your web pages to appear when someone | | | | WordTracker has a trial account you can |
| searches for "baby names" or "baby furniture" | | | | experiment with but it brings back just 30 results, |
| etc. You wouldn't want your web pages to appear | | | | which is a good start to helping you focus on a |
| in search results for the keywords "fishing rod" or | | | | niche. Typing in "baby shower" in WordTracker |
| "hunting guide" because a person doing that | | | | brings back the following top 5 KEI results for the |
| search will not be interested in your site. | | | | following keywords: |
| Finding keywords | | | | 152.264, baby shower footprint invitation |
| The first step in your keyword research strategy | | | | 73.085, free printable baby shower games |
| is to find keywords that are relevant to your | | | | 61.711, free baby shower games |
| web site theme. A good place to start is to just | | | | 52.127, baby shower games |
| brainstorm of words that you yourself might use | | | | 37.829, free printable baby shower invitations |
| to find your web pages. A big mistake that | | | | According to WordTracker keyword research, |
| newcomers make is to stop at that. You may be | | | | KEI above 15 is a good keyword. |
| quite surprised that the keyword that you think | | | | Using keywords |
| will be used by others may not be used by them | | | | Once you've chosen a set of "good keywords", |
| at all. | | | | you next step in your keyword research strategy |
| Fortunately, there are keyword research tools | | | | is to actually use the keywords. You should start |
| out there that you can use to help you find out | | | | off your site by creating web pages with content |
| what terms are being searched for. One tool you | | | | optimized for the high KEI keywords. How do you |
| could use is Good Keywords, which is a free | | | | do this exactly? |
| keyword generator software that you can use to | | | | - Focus one keyword phrase per web page |
| do a quick keyword research for your terms and | | | | - Use the keyword phrase in your web page Title |
| their demand (i.e. how many times they're been | | | | Tag |
| searched for in a month). You can download a | | | | - Use it in your keywords meta tag |
| free copy of Good Keywords from | | | | - Use it in your description meta tag |
| Typing in the word "baby" in Good Keywords | | | | - Have it appear in the first 250 words of your |
| brings up the following results (first 10 only):baby | | | | content |
| name 1016116baby gift 760898baby r us | | | | - Strive for 5-7% keyword density (5-7 |
| 493144baby 474805baby cds 109643baby name | | | | keywords and/or keyword phrases per 100 |
| meaning 103122baby shower 89866baby boy | | | | words of text). |
| music video 88601personalized baby gift | | | | -Use your keyword phrase in your H1 tag. |
| 87855baby shower game 78860 | | | | -Use keywords and/or keyword phrases in your |
| Choosing keywords | | | | image ALT tags. |
| The second step in your keyword research | | | | - Use it as the text to any outgoing links on the |
| strategy is to choose "good keywords". As you | | | | page. |
| can see, the "baby" theme is quite popular. Should | | | | - Have the keyword appear once at the end of |
| you use all terms as your keywords? You could if | | | | your content. |
| you wanted to. Depending on the number of | | | | There's a lot more to keyword research then I |
| competitors you have (i.e. other webmasters who | | | | have time to explain in this article. But this basic |
| are targeting your chosen keyword), you'd more | | | | keyword research strategy should be enough to |
| likely be better off focusing on a tighter theme. A | | | | get you started in the right direction. |