Thursday, January 22, 2009

Keyword Research and SEO

By Julie Johnson

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) refers to a series of techniques by which websites are deliberately promoted through tactics designed to gain the attention of search engines, thus boosting the sites to the top of the search engine lists. Small organizations rely on an inhouse webmaster or often an outside 'website guy' to maintain their site, but larger companies may employ entire departments to work specifically on web marketing and SEO. Most new webmasters and web developers recognize the importance of using SEO but many don't know how to start the process.

One good place to start in SEO is called keyword research. In fact, it may be the most important place to start when considering a comprehensive SEO development plan. Keyword research is harmonious with web page content. The content must be written so that it includes the keywords which you have decided are important to your site's identity.

Internet articles are one of the many different external places where you will be using your set of preferred keywords. In them, you will want to repeat the keywords several times, while avoiding using them excessively. The point is to get the words out there and noticed by the search engines, while still maintaining the integrity of the article.

One way to maximize the effect of keywords is to use synonyms, because they work very well. You can also change the capitalization of some words because the engines treat them differently. Some SEO pro's acknowledge that many misspell words when using search terms, and therefore they deliberately use misspelled words as keywords.

The challenge of determining what keywords to choose is up to you. If you think about it, you likely know best what terms people will use if they are searching for your website. There are some search engine sites which will provide you with lists, but the answer ultimately remains with you. Test some out and if they don't perform well, then tweak the list and keep tweaking until you get the results you want. - 16651

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