Reality Check: A Straightforward Guide to Keywords and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Web site owners need to have realistic expectations when it comes to the world of keyword selection.

It's essential to understand your audience, as well as to aim appropriately at powerful, concise keywords that are not vague or generic-those broad, expansive keywords that rarely attract the audience you are seeking--and lead to disappointing rankings and wasteful expenditures of cash resources.

If you want a healthy return on investment (ROI) with search engine optimization (SEO), your success ? or failure ? hinges on the keywords you select when combined with other factors like link popularity and web site design.

If your web site has content and design barriers, lacks saturation (a term used to describe how well a site is indexed by search engines) and isn't found on many other relevant web sites, you're odds of ranking well are pretty low.

Be careful with keyword research so that you don't miss excellent opportunities or aim so broadly that you target phrases that will never rank well. Get your act together. Here are 5 tips to guide you along the way in your research. They may help you make good choices, achieve high rankings and bring more traffic (and leads) to your web site.

1. Know your audience and think through your business goals.
Many businesses simply pick keywords out of thin air. They don't talk to customers or hot prospects in order to determine what might be a useful set of keywords. Your keywords need to match your business strategy. What are your main products? Where are sales lagging? Are there products or services that do well and could soar with SEO? Which products have the highest margins? You should have scores of other questions that make sense for your business. The information should be readily available. If it's not, you're way behind in the SEO process.

2. Watch the broad search terms.
Companies make a mistake in this area more than any other place. The keyword landscape is more inviting than a one-hour toy store shopping spree for a child. The excitement forces people to ignore reality. Who can blame them? Wouldn't it be great to be #1 on Google for "food," "cars," "software"? Yes, single words can help drive sales. But they're difficult to achieve. Link popularity, web site content, site structure and other considerations will impact rankings.

3. Learn how to form search terms.
You can start with "automobile" all you want, but build on your core phrase by adding on other words like "suppliers," "products," "services," "companies," "firms."

4. Analyze log files.
Often overlooked and easily underplayed, web site log files reveal much about the way people search. You can generate many keyword and search phrase ideas just by examining the data with an intuitive sense.

5. Know your link popularity.
First you need to know your competitors ? compare their link popularity to yours. How far do you need to go to catch up? Study who else links to their site. Would those web sites be willing to link to your site? Would you be required to do a link exchange with them? Use a Link Popularity Check (www.checkyourlinkpopularity.com) service to ascertain how your site is faring with link popularity.

Get additional keyword tips through our free keyword development report. Our FREE guide, "Reality Check: A Straightforward Guide to Keywords and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)," helps business owners navigate the often misunderstood world of keyword selection, including how to pick them right words and mistakes to avoid.

Get your copy today of our SEO white paper here: http://www.fathomseo.com/forms/keyword_form.a sp.

Michael Murray is vice president of Fathom SEO, a Cleveland, Ohio-based search engine optimization firm. The SEO firm is a member of Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) and SEO Consultants. He also authored the white paper, "Search Engine Marketing: Get in the Game" and the manufacturing SEO study "U.S. Manufacturers Resist Natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Online Sales Leads." michael@fathomseo.com

---

Would You Let A Dog Or A Butler Market Your Website?

The latest news to hit the Internet's 'water cooler' is... Read More

SEOs Relationship With Website Architecture

SEO's Relationship With Website ArchitectureSearch engine optimization for today's search... Read More

Google has an Achilles Heal - Will Their Competitors Notice?

Even though Google Revenues continue to soar, the hidden problem... Read More

Abandoned by Google! Googlebot, Wherefore Art Thou Googlebot?

As a search engine optimization specialist I often optimize existing... Read More

Top 2 Ways To Get Higher Rankings in Major Search Engines

Top 10 search engine rankings. Everybody wants it but a... Read More

Pay-per-click ? the Ultimate Tool to Boost Affiliate Sales

The old ways are not always the best ways.The traditional... Read More

Search Engine Robots - How They Work, What They Do (Part II)

If your site isn't found in the search engines, it... Read More

Surviving Googles Aging Delay

Google has always been the search industry's innovator and that's... Read More

Press Releases Can Increase Search Engine Positioning

When you write a press release, what is your ultimate... Read More

Optimum SEO Keyword Density ? A Real-Life Case Study

So you've built your website, you know what keywords you... Read More

Google Website and Web Page Indexing for Dummies

You may have heard how important it is to have... Read More

Search Engine Optimisation: The Soon to be Impossible Dream!

There are today search engine and internet marketing services, in... Read More

Search Engine Metrics: Organic Search vs. Paid Placement

Let me preface this report by citing advertisers in 2004... Read More

Internet Directory Submission Tips

Internet Directories and their ImportanceThere are two very pertinent reason... Read More

Google Search Algorithm Patent Application Creates Spring Buzz!

Google applied for a patent on their ranking algorithm as... Read More

Table Structures For Top Search Engine Positioning

So you have a beautiful website that you paid a... Read More

New Site and Sandbox: How to Get Rid of It

You have put lot of sweat in making your site.... Read More

Googles PR System Explained

The complexities of Google's PR (Page Ranking) System have grown... Read More

How Search Engines Connect Sellers and Buyers

Maggie knows how to find what she wants. She lets... Read More

Linking for Traffic not Positioning!

With more and more experts and search engine enthusiastsclaiming the... Read More

Search Engine Optimization With Sitemaps

I just wanted to share a little Search Engine Optimization... Read More

?Web Content Management System fr Window?: Search Engine Typos

Oops! I meant "web content management system for windows." Do... Read More

What Is Waiting for Us? Tomorrows SEO Industry

Today, SEO is swiftly approaching saturation point. More and more... Read More

The Google Phenomenon: Greatest Hits Collection

As my readers know, I've been one of Google's harshest... Read More

The Google Sitemap For Idiots

I don't mind admitting that every time some new fangled... Read More

Keyword Targeting Strategy In Your Site

Once the keywords have been decided for the site one... Read More

How to Make a Title Tag that Search Engines Will Love

Making the following changes to your title tag can help... Read More

How to Verify and Monitor Your Search Engine Listing on Google?

Being listed in search engines and ranked high on searches... Read More

The Two Most Important Things You Must Do For Google Top Ranking

Attaining a top ranking in Goggle or any other major... Read More

Now More Than Ever...You Need To Optimize Your Site for Search Engines

As the economy begins to recover in certain parts of... Read More

Page Rank Purgatory - Simple Things You can Do to Keep Your Web Site Out of Search Engine Hell!

Are Meta Tags Really Dead?Right in their Guidelines Yahoo Tells... Read More

The Sandbox Effect

What once many people thought they had a penalty, is... Read More

Search Engine Optimization - Enhancing Web Site Visibility

I've had several prospects and clients say to me "I... Read More