Search Engine Optimization

What is SEO?

To benefit from SEO, you first need to understand what it means. There are several aspects of SEO that you need to understand before you begin to use it.

First, you need to know what SEO stands for. The phrase is Search Engine Optimization. The full name gives you a hint as to what the acronym is referring to. Basically, search engine optimization is a method of increasing the rankings of your site. Obviously you want your site to rank as high as possible in search engines for the keywords associate with your site.

Why SEO?

If you’re wondering why it’s important to do SEO in the first place, the easy answer is to go to Google and do a search for any key phrase associated with what you are selling or promoting through your web site. Chances are you’re going to come up with dozens of pages of results. You’re going to be competing with all of those other sites for your ranking.

Does it matter where you rank? Absolutely. Think about your own search habits. If you’re looking for something particular, you probably don’t go past the first or second page of results to find what you want. That means the pages which rank the highest are also going to be the ones which generate the most traffic. More traffic means an exposure to more potential customers. The more potential customers you have visiting your site, the higher your revenue is likely to be. Basically, if you use SEO effectively then you are likely to have greater success with your web site. It’s that simple.

Choosing Keyword Phrases

Any SEO activities must begin with you selecting specific keyword phrases with which to work. These phrases are important because they will be at the heart of your content. More importantly, these are the words you predict people will enter into search engines in order to find the types of products or services you offer. The good news is you don’t have to be psychic to choose these keywords. You’ll find several free tools on the Internet and many Internet marketing products come with keyword finding tools.

Think of a phrase you might use if you were a potential customer for your site. Go to the tool and enter the phrase. Let’s say you sell an ebook on dog training so you naturally choose the phrase “dog training” to enter into the keyword tool. Usually, the tool will give you the search engine volume for the phrase you’ve entered.

That lets you know how frequently people are using the term in their searches. For “dog training,” you’ll probably good average to high volume results. That means it’s a good possibility but most keyword tools also show you how many of your competitors are also using that keyword for their optimization. If that number is very high, your chance of ranking well using that keyword phrase with your SEO is going to be reduced.

The good news is that the keyword tool should also show you a list of alternative keywords that you could use in addition to or instead of the one you initially entered. For example, “best dog training” may still have good search volume but it may not be used by as many competitors. If you optimize for that word, then you stand a better chance of achieving a solid ranking thanks to your Search Engine Optimization. You might also choose a phrase like “pet obedience school” which has almost no use by your competition but does have low search volume. That means some people are searching for the phrase but not many sites have utilized the term. It could be a good bet for decent rankings as well.

You should choose more than one keyword for your efforts. Remember the more words you optimize for, the more you increase your chances of scoring high in the rankings for at least one of the terms. Plus, showing up in search engine results for multiple terms means you’ll have even greater exposure to potential customers and leads.

You can use the following keyword reseach from Google. It is absolutely FREE and this will give you a list of over 200 keywords related to the keyword you just typed in.