SEO Tips and Tricks - Part 1

SEO or Search Engine Optimization has become a necessity for website owners. First came the flood of new web sites as the Internet initially exploded. Second comes the task of getting these new web sites properly positioned on search engines, and out ranking competitor's web sites.

Many companies launched a web site because it was the thing to do, and felt that if they didn't, they'd somehow 'miss the boat'. Without doubt, it is now proven that creating a website has been the correct move, as many people now use the Internet exclusively for searching for products and services.

Now these companies must do battle with the competition, as most businesses have a web presence. Having a web site is no longer good enough. With so many companies competing, getting a web site to the top of the search engine's search results has become priority number one.

There are many aspects to SEO that can be discussed, which can improve a web site's search engine positioning. In this article I will cover the topic of keywords.

Choosing the right keywords to represent a web site is an important and informative research task. In the process of researching keywords for your web site you will also learn a lot about your industry and competitors, which is very valuable in Internet marketing.

Keywords are one the main factors that come into play in the algorithms used by major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft's new Bing. If a web searcher is looking for real estate tips and types ‘buying real estate tips' into a search engine, it will search within its database for web sites that contain that phrase and those individual words in the web site's title, description and copy.

If you own a web site and are an expert in your field, you know what your potential clients or customers are searching for. Specifically, you know many of the words and phrases your customers would use to describe your products and services.

Write a list of the phrases that describe your products and services. If you have a home decorating business you may think of words like ‘interior design' and ‘furnishings'. Sort your list so that the most common phrases are on the top.

Next you will want to cross reference your list of keywords with other pre generated lists. This will bring to mind other keywords that you may not have thought of. For this task I recommend Google AdWords Keyword Tool, found at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.

Merge your list with the 3rd party lists. Now that you have a clear picture of which keywords web searches will likely type into their search engine to find your business, you need to be sure your web site contains these important keywords.

With your keywords in hand you are ready for part two.

Stay tuned for our next article - SEO Tips and Tricks - Part 2.