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The Key to Finding Good Keywords
By Merle http://MCPromotionsPress.com

If you know anything about optimizing your website for the 
search engines, you know how important it is to choose the 
right keywords. If you fail to pick the words that you want 
your site to be found under, you risk untargeted traffic -- 
or at worst, no traffic at all.

So what's the trick to selecting the right keywords? First, 
don't use single words; they are way too broad and the 
competition for them is fierce. Instead, you want to use two 
or three words strung together, also known as "keyphrases." 
Studies have shown that most people type in 2- or 3-word 
combinations when conducting searches; not single words.

Coming up with a list of the most targeted keyphrases for 
your website is not really that hard. It involves a bit of 
brainstorming and utilizing the right tools. One of the best 
methods is to think like your site's visitors, and write down 
words and phrases that you think they would use when searching 
for a site such as yours. Be creative.

Another great resource to use is a good "old fashioned" 
Dictionary and/or a Thesaurus to come up with related or 
alternate words. If you don't have a hard copy, use the online 
versions located at:

http://thesaurus.reference.com/
http://dictionary.reference.com/

If you find yourself falling short of ideas, look up your 
competitors online and do a view source on their pages. I'm 
not telling you to copy what they have; but to study what they 
are using, as you might see some words or phrases that you 
hadn't thought of, which you can add to your collection. 
Remember, stay away from using Trademarks. You don't want any 
trouble from a high priced Attorney down the road.

If you're trying to target a certain geographic location, make 
sure to include your city and state in your key-phrase list. 
This is especially important right now, as many of the search 
engines have branched out into offering "local search" and you 
want your site to be found when these types of searches are 
conducted.

Now that you've got a good solid foundation, I'm going to 
introduce you to some other online tools that you should find 
helpful in your quest for the right keywords. Some of these 
resources are free.

1) WordTracker: http://WordTracker.com

This is the "Big Daddy" of keywords services and used by most 
Search Engine Optimization companies online today. The results 
are pulled from several meta search engines. Use the free trial 
to take her for a "test spin." If you need more power, you'll 
want to purchase a subscription. You can register for as little 
as one day for $7.80, one week for $26.00, or even a month, 
which runs only $52.00. You decide how much time you really need 
to access this powerful database.

2) Good Keywords: http://www.goodkeywords.com/

Free software to download that will help you find the perfect 
set of keywords for your site. Windows based only.

3) Keyword Suggestion Tool
http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/

This online tool will show you the results of your keyword 
search from both Overture and Wordtracker. Find out how often 
a phrase is searched for and get suggestions for alternate words 
as well. Free.

4) Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

This free online tool is offered up by Overture. Type in your 
word or phrase and find out how many times that particular word 
was searched for last month, and related searches that include 
your term.

5) Google AdWords Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/main?cmd=KeywordSandbox

This online tool is courtesy of Google AdWords. Type in your 
phrase and you'll be shown a list of other possibilities. A 
slightly modified version of this tool is available at
http://www.masteringadwords.com/resources/google_tool.asp

6) Espotting Keyword Generator
http://www.espotting.com/popups/keywordgenbox.asp

Not to be left out, Espotting also offers their own online 
research tool which will also shows you how many times that 
phrase has been searched for in the previous month.

If you're interested in creating "niche sites" and want to see 
the words people are searching for check out these:

Lycos 50 Daily Report: http://50.lycos.com/
Kanoodle: http://kanoodle.com/spy/
MetaCrawler: http://www.metacrawler.com/info.metac/searchspy

For a full page of keyword selection tools:
http://tinyurl.com/3ovca

If you don't have time to do your own research for keywords, 
this is an excellent service that will do the hard work for 
you: http://www.SeoResearchLabs.com/

Remember, when selecting keywords or keyphrases for your website 
you want to make very sure you're choosing the right ones, or it 
could spell total disaster when it comes to the search engines. 
Also, each page of your site should be optimized for two or at 
the most three key phrases, but that's a topic for another 
article.

Finding the right keywords isn't brain surgery. It just takes a 
little time and ingenuity and the ability to put yourself in 
your customer's shoes.

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Merle operates http://www.EzineAdAuction.com "Where some of the 
BEST Deals in Ezine Advertising are Made". Buy & Sell Ezine Ads 
in a live auction setting! Publishers sell off your excess 
inventory and Buyers pick up some Fantastic bargains. Free 
E-book on how to write "glowing" ezine ads.....Download Now at
http://www.ezineadauction.com/ebooks/greatezineads.pdf 
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