1. Optimize for keyword phrases rather than single keywords. Not only is it difficult to rank well for single keywords, it’s also ineffective. People rarely search for single keywords. And when they do they usually become overwhelmed by the number of results and narrow their search. The more profitable approach is to find keyword phrases that include two or more words and are very specific. For example, if you sell “sofas” you will get more targeted traffic from optimizing for “leather sofas” and even more from “black leather sofas”. You’ll be more likely to rank well for “black leather sofas” and chances are that someone who has entered such a specific search term knows what they want and is likely to be a serious buyer.

2. Look for words to add to your keywords to make them more specific. The more relevant your keywords, the better. If you are using keywords that are generic and common, the search engines will be unable to give your site appropriate consideration. Whenever possible, try to clarify your keywords with additional words in order to make your site stand out to the search engines. For example, if you sell widgets maybe it makes sense to create pages optimized for “blue widgets”, “red widgets” and “green widgets”.

3. Work on ranking for longer keyword phrases that contain shorter phrases. Using a multi word phrase is much more effective than using single keywords, because when you use several words, the search engines will look at each individual word and each possible combination of words. For example, when you use the phrase “website copywriting techniques”, the search engines will look at each word and your page will be considered for “website copywriting” and “copywriting techniques” in addition to the full keyword phrase “website copywriting techniques”.

4. Look for keyword phrases without a lot of competition. The best keywords to optimize for are those that have a reasonable number of searches without a lot of competition. Finding these keywords can be a challenge, but luckily there are a few tools available to help you. A great way to research using Google is with “allinanchor” and “allintitle”. For example, if you wanted to know the number of sites that have anchor text pointing to them containing the keywords “baby gift baskets”, you could enter in Google “allinanchor:baby gifts baskets” (without the quotes). If you wanted to know how many used “baby gift baskets in the title” search for “allintitle:baby gift baskets” (without the quotes). This gives you an idea of how many sites are optimizing for this particular keyword phrase. Another option is to subscribe to a service such as http://www.wordtracker.com, which helps you identify good keywords and gives you approximations on the amount of competition.

5. Look in your log files for potential keywords. A great source of keywords is your site’s log files. You’ll find keywords that people have used to find your site. You may be surprised what some of them are! These are good terms to improve your optimization for.

6. Find out what keywords your competitors are optimizing for. Find out what keywords your competitors are using on their pages with the Keyword Density Checker (http://www.webconfs.com/keyword-density-checker.php). It will tell you what keywords they consider most important and could tip you off to some good ones that you hadn’t thought of.

7. Use keywords people are actually searching for. It’s easy to rank well for keywords that no one is searching for. But how much traffic do you think that will bring? Be sure to do your research to find terms that potential customers are actually searching for. The best way to do this is to use a tool such as Good Keywords (http://www.goodkeywords.com), Keyword Discovery (http://www.keyworddiscovery.com) or WordTracker (http://www.wordtracker.com).

8. Use no more than 2-3 keyword phrases per page. It’s nearly impossible to successfully optimize one web page for more than 2-3 keyword phrases. Instead, focus each page on a narrowly defined set of related keywords. This will make them more useful to your visitors and more easily understood by the search engines. Any more and it looks like you are simply stuffing your pages with keywords – a practice which the search engines may ban you for.

9. Don’t limit the number of keyword phrases you optimize for. The more keyword phrases you use on your site, the more likely you will be to rank well for many different terms. Diversifying this way will ensure that your site will not see a dramatic decrease in traffic if your rankings fluctuate. However, be sure to keep it to a maximum of 2-3 keyword phrases per page or else you risk looking irrelevant to both the search engines and your visitors.

10. Be sure to use keywords with alternate spellings. This technique is known as keyword variation, and is particularly important for sites that have an international presence. This is not the same as misspelling, which is frowned upon. Instead, it may mean interchanging the keyword catalog for catalogue, or web site for website. By having these alternate spellings you’ll expand the keywords used on your site and increase the number of phrases you rank well for.

11. Understand that there is a duplicate content filter, not a penalty. There is a lot of talk about Google’s fabled duplicate content penalty. But most SEO experts agree that if anything exists it is a filter, not a penalty. So you will not be banned if you use content that is also published on other sites, but rather your site may not show in the search engine rankings pages for the page that contains the duplicated content. To ensure that you have enough pages that the search engines view as original, make sure you publish your own content that is unique to your site.

12. Use your keyword phrases naturally throughout the page. Chances are you’ve read a page that was stuffed with keywords to the point of not making sense to human readers. A good rule of thumb when creating a page is to write it so that it makes sense to your visitors. Don’t even think about the search engines and simply insert your keywords when and how it makes sense. If you’re really good at writing, people won’t even know what keyword phrases you’re optimizing for!

13. Learn how to interpret competitive research. Have you researched your competition but you’re not sure whether your results show a good keyword to optimize for or not? A good rule of thumb is that if there are less than 1,000 sites actively optimizing for a specific keyword phrase, you should be able to rank for it with some good on-page SEO. Of course you may start out at number 512, but you can always tweak your page to improve that ranking. If there are more than 1,000 sites actively working on optimizing for that keyword phrase it will take time, patience and probably a lot of back links to rank well. Get started with the easier keywords and as your site gains popularity you can add the more competitive terms.

14. Don’t link to “bad neighborhoods”. Links farms can be spotted from a mile away. They are sites that exist solely as a place where webmasters can put up links in an attempt to inflate the number of inbound links to their site. Whatever you do, NEVER post a link on your site to any sites that are considered link farms. And even if a site looks good when you link to it, be sure to check your link partners periodically to ensure that you’re not inadvertently linking to a site that is considered bad.

15. Don’t get too many links too fast. Thinking they could trick the search engines, some services popped up that offered hundreds or even thousands of links to members. But the search engines are not stupid. They look at sites that suddenly get hundreds of links at once as unnatural. A natural linking campaign would include a trickle of links – some reciprocal and some one way – all with different link text. So don’t waste your time or money on these services. Instead focus on getting good quality links through reciprocal link exchanges, publishing articles, submitting to directories and encouraging other webmasters who enjoy your content to tell their visitors about your site.

16. Find phrases that are bringing in a little traffic, but for which you aren’t ranking very well. Look through your site logs and find words that you’re getting a little traffic for, but that you’re not ranked in the top 20 results for. If the keyword phrase is important enough that people will look past the first or second page of results, then it presents a real opportunity. And if you’ve already made some progress ranking well for the term you should be able to get into the top 10 with some on-page optimization and appropriate links.

Keyword creation is an important part of your business. If not THE most important part. If you don’t know how your potential customers find you or which words to use to ensure they find you then your business will suffer.

One of the easiest tools to use for keyword creation is <a href=”http://dianecorri.bryxen4.hop.clickbank.net/” target=”_top”>Brad Callen’s Keyword Elite</a>