Keyword Research and Keyword Selection are the First Steps in Successful Website Marketing

Keyword research, keyword selection and keyword management
are so much more than simply writing a list of what you think are the best keywords and keyword phrases for your website, and it's the first and single most important step in organic website marketing.

Effective keyword research and keyword management
is literally an art and science in the modern world of Professional Website Marketing and Search Engine Optimization.

The success or failure of literally every step of your website marketing plan is dependent on your keyword research, and your ability to select the best keywords and keyword phrases to optimize for.

There are a number of facets to successful Keyword Research, Keyword Phrase Selection and Keyword Management:

- Keyword identification and selection to determine the best set of keywords and keyword phrases used by your target audience.
- Keyword identification and selection always includes defining the target audience.
- Keyword and keyword phrase identification within the context of the products and services being offered (most Internet users query with two or three-word phrases).
- Keyword and keyword phrase inclusion in page titles, header text, domain name and/or URL, and the appropriate HTML tags.
- Appropriate use of keyword rich meta tags and attributes written uniquly for each page of your website.
- Use of alternative text in your graphic images to clearly describe any and all graphic images, using the best keywords and keyword phrases for that particular page. In terms of optimization, images are virtually invisible to search engine spiders.

Keyword Research and Keyword Phrase Identification and Selection
At Webfoot Creative we believe it is time well spent, researching and analyzing the specific target audience in the determination of the best keywords and keyword phrases to target. The best keywords and keyword phrases for any product or service, at least from a search engine marketing point of view, are the keywords and keyword phrases used by that target audience when employing any major search engine to locate the specific product or service you provide.

Keyword identification and selection is so critical it cannot be emphasized enough. Without taking the time for intelligent, skilled keyword and keyword phrase selection, much of your subsequent search engine marketing efforts could be in vain.

For more information read our tutorial on Effective Research Based Keyword Selection.

Competitive Analysis and Stategy in Effective Keyword Selection
Intelligent and effective keyword research and keyword phrase identification and selection also includes 'competitive analysis and strategy' in order to determine the keywords and keyword phrases being used by your target market.

The most cost effective keywords and keyword phrases to target, are those keywords and keyword phrases that generate high volumes of carefully targeted traffic your competition has overlooked.

By having experience in keyword research and keyword phrase idnetification and selection, you get the edge over your competition. It's these more challenging aspects of keyword research and keyword phrase idnetification and selection that can generate the quality, high converting traffic you want, and provide exceptional conversion and ROI (return on investment).

Query Language Keyword Research, Keyword Identification and Keyword Phrase Selection
Go to Query Language and Searcher Preferences for more information on what is arguably the most important first step in any successful search engine optimization and online marketing strategy. The only way to target your prime audience (market) effectively, is with successful keyword research and keyword phrase selection.

You'll Learn:

How qualified prospects use keywords and keyword phrases to search our your product and services.
How qualified prospects ask questions when performing a query for your product and services.
What the intent of your qualified prospect's query really is when searching for your product and services.
Choose your keywords and keyword phrases carefully and succeed. Do the appropriate research and learn as do. Take the time to get it right the first time.

Keywords and Keyword Phrase Inclusion
The inclusion of your assigned keywords and keyword phrases within the content of the page means communicating to the search engine spiders exactly what your page is all about. If you want someone looking for information on 'Search Engine Marketing' to be able to access a specific page on your website, you must be certain to include the keyword term 'Search Engine Marketing' a number of times within the page's content.

Keyword and Keyword Phrase Proximity
Although skilled placement of relevant keywords and keyword phrases throughout your page develops a 'theme' for the search engine spiders to sink their teeth into, some search engines will put more emphasis on content near the top of the page. That is why it's so important to make sure the content near the top of the page contains intensely relevant information and includes a scattering of the most important keywords and keyword phrases for that particular page.

Keyword and Keyword Phrase Inclusion and Planning
Keyword and keyword phrase inclusion in page titles, headers, domain name and/or URL, and the appropriate HTML tags is another important aspect of keyword management and is an effective search engine marketing strategy. You need to know and understand how the search engines weigh keyword inclusion. For example, search engines will weigh data in your Page Title Tag more heavily than elsewhere on your page.

You should do keyword planning on both the search engines and directories in order to determine the best set of keywords and keyword phrases your target audience is using, and always be sure to look to related searches for additional keyword ideas.

Be sure your title is short and contains keywords and keyword terms relevant to that particular web page. Always make sure your keywords are included in the title of the page (<title>your keyword here</title>), in headlines (<h1>your keyword here</h1>) in bold (<b>keyword here</b>) and in italic (<i>keyword here</i>) text, as well as in your domain name and/or URL whenever possible.

Keyword Management and Meta Tags
Meta Tags aren't nearly as important as they used to be, but you still should be including them. Meta-tag description and Meta-tag keywords should be included on every page that you want indexed by the search engines. If you have a page you don't want indexed, use the robots exclusion tag.

The use of description (<META NAME="description" CONTENT="your keyword here">) and keywords (<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="your keyword here">) Meta Tags is a correct and effective search engine marketing tactic to use. In order to be effective, they need to be unique for each page on your website, with each tag describing the content and reflecting the keywords of that specific page.

Keyword Phrase Management and Alt Tags
The most common mistake made by many webmasters is the inclusion of content invisible to the search engine spiders. When it comes to frames, images, dynamic content, and things like flash, search engine spiders are crawling in the dark (Note: Google now has begun to index text found within flash files).

That's why it is so important that your keyword management include alternative text in your graphic images, clearly describing the graphic image using your specific keywords and keyword phrases for that page. Never use alternative text in an image that isn't keyword loaded and relevant to the web page. Even if the image itself does not include keyword text within the image, the appropriate use of Alt Tags provides an addition helping of spider food for the search engine spiders to feed on.

Intelligent Keyword Research, Identification and Selection
Intelligent keyword research, keyword phrase identification and selection, and keywork management makes perfect sense. Yet so often it's simply taken for granted.

Keyword research, keyword identification and keyword selection are the first and most important steps when writing content and designing pages for your website. Why unknowingly squander your efforts and end up on page eighteen of your targeted keyword search results when you can be on page one.

Read the search engine optimization and website marketing articles, talk to those website owners that get the results you're looking for. Take the time to educate yourself about keyword research, selection and management, and all the other aspects of good search engine marketing.

Should it be deemed necessary, contact Webfoot Creative for a website specific quotation.