Choosing Keywords Help, Choosing Search Keywords

How to Effectively Choose Your Web Site`s Keywords If you're serious about trying to land tons of free traffic via search engines then choosing keywords is going to have to be a serious investment for your business. In part one of this two part series, I am going to show you how to go about choosing keywords. In part two, I am going to show you how to use your keywords on your Web site.

Whether you plan to do it yourself or hire a professional, I'm sure you will find that once you are done reading the series you will have a better understanding of how to better target search engines while keeping your visitors happy.

The Importance of Keyword Selection

A common question many people ask is "What keywords should I be targeting for my site?" It is an excellent question to ask because choosing the keywords that you put on your Web site should not be taken lightly. Keyword selection should be considered a major part of your total marketing strategy.

The words that you put on your Web site are eventually going to be indexed by the search engines, unless there is something preventing a spider from crawling your Web site. The textual content on your Web pages is how search engines will classify your Web site and how people will find your Web site when using a search engine.

The most basic idea behind selecting the right keyword is choosing keywords for which people are actually searching. It is important to think like your target audience and not to think like an expert or someone well versed in your profession. Let's say I have a Web site for a ski resort. Now, I would not target the keywords "ski" or "snowboard." These terms are far too generalized and will have a ton of competing sites.

We are targeting people who want to go skiing. If a term is too general then you will have visitors who are looking for anything related to skiing and snowboarding, not visitors specifically looking to go skiing. People who are looking to go skiing are not typing those keywords in the search box. The type of people who are likely to come to your resort will be searching with keywords that look more like these: "ski resorts," "discount ski vacations" or even select localized terms like "Colorado ski resorts."

You also would not optimize a Web page for a single keyword like "doctor." With all the specialized areas in the medical industry you want to target people searching for specific doctors or specific health problems.

You can apply this idea to any business if you derive your keyword list from the various products or services you offer. If you sell a specific line of a product, or sell a particular manufacturer's product you may find that people are searching for those terms more than generalized terms. Some specific examples of choosing keywords from a specific line or manufacturer are "Dell laptop computers" or "Harry Winston jewelry."