Although the topic of keyword strategy and selection may appear to have been beaten to death already, it remains critical to the success of your website. Choosing the best keywords is only "Phase One" of the process. You must also make the most of the keywords you have.
Traffic to my log furniture site has doubled and nearly tripled in the past month and a half. Much of the credit for that success lies directly with better keyword selection and management. When I realized there was a problem with my keywords, I read every article I could find on the topic and made a number of changes to my website. And voila! Increased traffic (and sales) are the proof of the pudding for me.
Following is an overview of keyword-related steps that can send traffic to your site spiraling steadily upward:
1. Set Your Sights on Attainable Keywords
If my log furniture site was competing for the word "furniture", I would be competing with the "big boys". While I hope to compete with major furniture sites someday, there is plenty of payoff to be found in niche marketing.
Overture includes a keyword suggestion tool that gives a good indication of just how competitive a keyword is. Using this tool and a general rule-of-thumb, you can target keywords that are attainable.
The number "5000" next to a keyword in Overture's search term suggestion tool means that 5000 visitors on Overture powered searches look for that term each month. Because the most popular terms are more difficult to achieve top ranking for, my website is targeting keywords in the 1000-10,000 range at the moment.
For example, the term "log bed" is searched for 4673 times per month on Overture-powered sites, while the term "log furniture" is searched for 16,909 times. My site has been hovering between the #1 and #7 spots on Google for "log bed" for the past month, but "log furniture" has been a harder nut to crack. As of this writing I am number #18 for "log furniture", which is not where we want to be but a whole lot better than where we used to be.
2. Choose the Best Keywords for Targeted Traffic
As I mentioned in an earlier article, my site was originally (and accidentally) optimized so that more people searching for "log cabin" were finding the site than those who were looking for "log furniture" or "log beds". We re-optimized the site in December for log beds, log furniture and Amish log furniture. After an initial drop in traffic, we have double or triple the visitors we had before-not to mention a much better conversion rate.
What search terms are the most likely buyers of your product using to scour the web? This is the million dollar question. A tool included in the live help service known as Liveperson has been helpful to us in figuring this out, as it allows us to see what search terms people are using to find us.
You may be surprised at the terms people are using to find your site. Information is power. If you find an invaluable search term that your site should be optimized for, or one that is most likely to produce a buyer, the fees you pay for a visitor tracking service such as the one included in Liveperson will be well worth the money.
3. Optimize Keywords Within Your Website
Once you have evaluated the best keywords for your website, your site must be optimized for those terms. We tried for a 5% keyword density on our website, bold-faced some of the keywords, and set them as links whenever we could.
You'll also need to revisit your title, meta and alt tags to make sure they highlight your keywords. Many SEO experts believe that the first few sentences of the text on a page should include your top keywords. These might seem like very simple steps to take, but the payoff can make the difference between being on the first page-or second-for your desired terms.
4. Reap Good Results with Resource Boxes
This fourth step is about links as much as keywords. Our log furniture site would not be receiving the traffic it is without a link trading and article submission campaign. We give our link partners the top terms that we want to achieve ranking for. As a result, links pointing back to our site have our top terms either right by or in the links. Take it from the voice of experience-this matters. You'll also want your top terms in the resource boxes for any articles you post on the Internet.
5. Rotate Your Keywords When You Reach the Top
When you reach top status for a given keyword, go after another by changing the link or article resource text for your new set of coveted terms. That's what we plan to do for Log Cabin Rustics. Once we solidify our standing for "log beds" and get to the top for "log furniture" on Google, we plan to focus on "rustic furniture"-a term with 17760 Overture-powered searches per month.
Only Part of the Story
We do not mean to imply that keyword selection and management is the only thing you should do to promote your site. A solid link strategy, article publicity campaign, and overall site optimization are also important factors in any successful SEO strategy.
But the importance of choosing the right terms and optimizing for them should not be underestimated. You might also want to check out Marketleap's free keyword verification tool, which reports where your website is placing on the different search engines for your keywords of choice.
Copyright 2005 Log Cabin Rustics
Cari Haus has been successfully selling rustic log furniture and beds on the Internet since the late 1990's. Copyright 2005 by Cari Haus, website http://www.logcabinrustics.com/
Permission is granted to reprint this article, either online or in written publications, as long as the copyright information, this paragraph, and a link address or a link to the Log Cabin Rustics website is attached at the end of the article.
Flossmoor limo rentals .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareWhen building websites there are two main options: large content... Read More
I have an ingenious concept in store for you!I am... Read More
The importance of link popularity is widely known and many... Read More
The future of online business rest in one word: traffic.... Read More
A funny thing happened to me three months ago. I... Read More
Quality traffic, website promotion and product and service advertisement is... Read More
There are many tactics you can use to increase traffic... Read More
Many websites have great ideas, excellent content, brilliant deals and... Read More
We all know that the secret to success on the... Read More
You get a flash of inspiration and an interesting topic... Read More
Once again I used my wacky test marketing strategy to... Read More
A reciprocal link is when a web site links to... Read More
You have to search a lot to find what is... Read More
If you could get high quality traffic that would grow... Read More
Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this topic outlined some... Read More
Do you have your own site? Do you have any... Read More
I am not a web designer or search engine optimizer,... Read More
>When many of my clients first come to me for... Read More
The ProblemNo matter how good your product or service is,... Read More
Want to Make Free Money on the Internet?One of the... Read More
Do you want to generate more orders at your website?Here... Read More
There is one golden rule, which is inherent in this... Read More
The blog explosion created a great opportunity for savvy marketers--they... Read More
Track all sources of traffic generation.John Reese stresses the need... Read More
Nowadays there are just too many people trying to give... Read More
Medinah cheap limo ..So, you have a great product or service, yet your... Read More
One thing you can never have too much of online... Read More
Sometimes you need a kick start to get of the... Read More
I am not a web designer or search engine optimizer,... Read More
Does anyone really enjoy the tedium of spending hours upon... Read More
The number one problem new website owners have is, "How... Read More
There's nothing new about using joint ventures to get traffic... Read More
So, you've spent hundreds of thousands on a state-of-the-art website.... Read More
Just to recap - Parts 1 and 2 of this... Read More
If you sell products or services, chances are you have... Read More
Do you want to generate more orders at your website?Here... Read More
There are no hidden secrets on how to rank high... Read More
How to increase your website traffic with zero cost'. It's... Read More
There are many ways to promote your website for free... Read More
While most webmasters agree that reciprocal linking is a very... Read More
Every webmaster knows the importance of incoming links to a... Read More
If you want to get something from others, the fastest... Read More
There is one golden rule, which is inherent in this... Read More
Just imagine ... your website having high PageRank and a... Read More
Digital Economy : What Is e-Marketing : Internet Search Engines... Read More
Nowadays, we have created numerous methods so as to bring... Read More
If your new to the internet marketing world, you might... Read More
This is the first article of a three-part series. I... Read More
Most people have the notion that generating traffic is a... Read More
Reciprocal linking is an effective, free way to get more... Read More
Traffic Building |