Finding the Best Keywords for SEO

We all gather hundreds of keywords and keyword phrases in an effort to get the most results possible for our SEO dollar. We are terrified of letting any traffic slip away because we miss out on any keywords. However, if you try to optimize your website for too many keywords, the overall effect SEO power is decreased. Ultimately, the results suffer instead of improve!

You should narrow down your keywords to the most crucial ones to ensure better results. You can always add more later, once you have your main traffic flowing. How do you narrow down your keywords list? All of them look important, so how do you know which keyword phrases people are more likely to use? Do you concentrate on local and geographic search? Do you target a particular gender or age demographic?

First, analyze your approach to keyword analysis. Do you use a keyword generation tool that spits out hundreds of keyword options, or do you brainstorm with your team to come up with keywords, or do you surf the net imagining you are a customer yourself? You are more likely to get better results if you use keyword generation tools sparingly, more as a starting point for brainstorming than an end all of searches. The tools try to create a keyword phrase list based on the preset formula that is fed into the program, and can turn out various keywords in nonsensical phrases.

Best practices dictate choosing one or two main keyword phrases per page, plus up to three more secondary phrases that are associated with the main keywords. More than that will start giving you trouble as the effect for each keyword decreases. When you are short listing keywords, first come up with a broader list by becoming the user yourself. Next, add to the list the keywords which you think the users should be actually using to search your services. Don’t use too many technical terms – substitute laymen’s terms when possible.

If your website is already up and running, have a tool installed so you can see what phrases users are typing that land them at your site. You need to focus on those keywords as they are likely being searched by other users too. This is a good place to start work if you are revamping existing sites.

After coming up with the initial list, add modifiers or qualifiers that will make your keyword phrase more targeted. Many modifiers are adjectives such as cheap, affordable easy; other will be geographic qualifiers such as city, state or region. Geographic qualifiers are much more powerful than adjective qualifiers, especially for local search.

Using the right keywords is crucial to your site’s success.