SEO And Keyword Research(secret keyword)

SEO or search engine optimization of a website must start with a proper keyword research. Keyword here refers to the words or phrases that a web searcher types into Google or any other search engine box. What has to be researched here? Well keyword research is defined as the act of determining those keywords/phrases by which people search for a topic of interest on the Internet. SEO professionals have to thus develop the art of choosing the apt keyword that will be used by the potential customer and then optimize the website/ webpage for such a search. When a particular keyword is used to search our website, it must be ranked high on the SERP (search engine results page).

Keyword research is a technique that one can master by experience. There are many free and paid keyword research tools available online that can be used. Here are some important points during keyword research that must be kept in mind:

• Get familiar with the target audience
• Select keywords that have high search volume
• Familiarize with the specific industry terms
• General terms are more competitive
• Low volume but very specific keyword can get quality traffic
• Reach a balance with regards to volume and quality
• Better to focus on the specific long tail keyword (those with more than three words)

There are many types of keyword research tools like keyword suggestion tools, keyword valuation tool, keyword density analysis tool, keyword editing tools, keyword modifiers etc. These tools can help one to choose the right keyword and then to decide on which to target and finalize depending on the competition.

The author of this article is Ricci Mathew of Outsource Strategies International (OSI), a US based company that offers services in Search Engine Optimization, SEM, and PPC advertising for clients across the US.

Profit From Secret Keyword Data Served Up by AOL Gaffe(secretkeyword)

Internet marketing scores a secret intelligence coup. In late July AOL mistakenly released information about 20 million keyword searches made by its subscribers on the AOL network. More specifically the data gave us an inside look at the search patterns of around 658,000 AOL users over a three-month period. These searches represented 1/3 of 1% of all keyword searches on AOL during that period. Before you get put off by the supposedly small sample size you should be aware that most major media polls are done with samples of 1,000 subjects.

The brouhaha over the release concerned privacy issues - some searches were for user names. At least one search term was for "how to murder my wife" along with the usual suspects on porn and party drugs. The data confirms what we all seemed to know anyway - that people will use the internet to search for information on absolutely anything and everything under the sun.

One way to look at the intel from the AOL gaffe is with the assurance that the search engines provide almost unlimited potential for internet marketing. If you can think of it, whatever it may be, somebody will be searching for it. Of course that does not mean that every niche is equally profitable or even that you can make any money from every niche, but it should provide enough incentive for internet marketers to get and stay creative.

Perhaps more revealing than what AOL users were searching for was how they searched for it. Almost 92% of these sample searches began and ended on the first organic search page served up by AOL. 92% of anything is a huge proportion. About 4 1/2% ended their search on the second page, and 2 1/4% ended their search on the third page.

What are some of the implications in terms of numbers? Say you are targeting a keyword that gets 10,000 hits a month, not exactly an obscure niche. 9,200 of those searches will not get beyond the first organic search page. 450 of those searches will not get beyond the second page, and 225 will not get beyond the third page.

For internet marketers the message should be clear. If you are writing web pages on popular topics and optimizing them for the most popular keywords - you may be wasting your time, your money, and your psychic energy. Only a small percentage of searchers are going to see them. Maybe that is OK with you so long as you understand that if you are on the third search page you are competing for 225 clicks and not 10,000. If you are on the fourth search page or lower you are competing for 100 clicks and probably less.

The other valuable piece of secret intel we get from AOL is that almost 50% of all clicks on their organic search pages went to the top search position. About 13% went to the second search position, and about 9% went to the third search position. The remaining clicks were distributed more or less equally on search positions across the rest of the page.

If we use our 10,000 clicks per month example, and you are in the fourth or lower position on the the third page, you are competing for 50 or 60 clicks per month. That does not mean you are getting 50 or 60 clicks per month - you are only competing for them against five or more other competitors.

Do these statistics also apply to Google and Yahoo? We do not know. For you to believe otherwise, however, you have to conclude that AOL users are different in some meaningful way than Google and Yahoo users.

This is a uniquely valuable look inside the search engines. You may want to adjust your internet marketing strategy accordingly.

(c) 2006 by Peter Boston. Peter is an attorney, writer, and the editor of keywordsniche.com a copywriting, internet marketing and search engine optimization resource site.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Amaral

Keyword Research Tips - Word Tracker Versus Yahoo Keyword Suggestion Tool (secretkeyword)

In order to find profitable niche markets, use search engine optimization, and set up pay per click advertising campaigns you need to search for popular keywords and find out statistics using keyword research tools.

Because the Yahoo Keyword Suggestion Tool is free most people decide to use it for their keyword research but its not as accurate as Word Tracker.

This is because many rank checkers and bid management tools search Yahoo to find their results and this causes the numbers to be artificially inflated, especially for popular keywords, which can give the impression that some keywords are more popular than they actually are.

It also does not separate plural and singular versions of keywords so you will need to manually add plural versions because they are used separately and give different results when you search for them using most search engines.

If you want accurate results and detailed statistics you should consider using a more advanced keyword research tool called Word Tracker which has many essential features which will save you a lot of time and effort.

The most useful feature will provide you with a list of similar keywords that bear any relation to your search query. These keywords are worth targeting and many will turn out to be very profitable.

There is also a competition search that will help you find keywords with less competition which are easier to achieve high rankings for, allowing you to gain more traffic for less work.

Word Tracker is an invaluable tool for your search engine optimization plan and pay per click advertising campaign and it will make your research a lot easier while giving you an advantage over everyone who uses the Yahoo Keyword Suggestion Tool.

There is actually a free keyword research tool provided by Digital Point that will search both Word Tracker and Yahoo Keyword Suggestion Tool together and show the results side by side so that you can clearly see the difference between the two.

Digital Point Keyword Suggestion Tool: http://www.marketingoasis.com/direct/digitalpoint/

This article was written by Simon Akers who is the editor of the Marketing Oasis newsletter, a free internet marketing ezine packed with tips to help you succeed and increase your profits: http://www.MarketingOasis.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simon_Akers