Choosing Keywords

The goal of choosing keywords is to build a table of keywords that can bring targeted traffic to your website and are often searched for, but still not so competitive as to make a top ranking next to impossible.

Start with the website concept that excites you the most and create your original list of keywords. Write down all the words and phrases that you think are related to this concept and can be used by people when they search for your website.

When choosing keywords, don't limit yourself to single words. Statistical research has shown that most people search using multiple-word keywords composed of two, or even three, words in order to get more targeted results.

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Try to look at the website from the visitor end. Who are they? What are they trying to do? What other stuff do they look for? Figure out what problem your target market is trying to solve when they do a search. Your website should solve that problem.

What other keywords would they look for? Add them to your original list. You can add a whole new major direction, and income stream, to your website simply by thinking about your target's other needs.

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Open any text editor or spreadsheet program and create three columns...

• Keyword.
• Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI) - a rank based on how popular the keyword is, and how much competition it has.
• Info - the kinds of Top websites found by Google.

How to get the right keywords

There's a remarkable online tool that will assist you in choosing keywords and estimating their popularity on the Internet.

Go to WordTracker and start the free trial. Then go to the Keyword Universe. WordTracker will guide you through 4 steps:

Step 1. Type in your first keyword, and click on the "Proceed »" button. WordTracker will display a list of keywords related to the word that you've typed in.

Step 2. Click on the first word which is applicable for your website concept and WordTracker will show a list of keywords which contain the word you had clicked on and the number of times they have been used by searchers (the figure present in the Count column).

Add related keywords to your basket by clicking on them, then click on the second related word in the first window. Again add related keywords to your basket. Repeat this process for each of the related words, then click the link to move to Step 3.

Step 3. Your chosen keywords appear on the screen. They are organized in descending order with the most popular first. Go to Step 4.

Step 4. Select a search engine on which you want to do the competition search and click "Proceed »". You'll see keywords from your basket along with their attributes, the most important of which is the KEI Analysis. The amount of competition is determined by searching for each phrase on the selected engine and finding out how many sites come up in the results.

Write down the most profitable keywords (KEI > 10) along with their attributes, click the link at the bottom of the page to try again, clear the basket and type in your next keyword. You may repeat it as many times as you need to analyze all related keywords.

Note:

• WordTracker assigns high KEI to words with low Count and very low (or zero) Competing. Don't target these keywords. What good would it do for you to rank high for these words if no one ever searches for them? Select words with high Count (not less than 100).

Choosing the most profitable keywords

Now it's time to pick the keywords with the best profitability. These will be ones with high KEI. A low score means that either not many people search for this phrase, or that there's too much competition for it. Eliminate any words with low KEI, especially if they're not searched upon very often (i.e., Count is low).

Add the most profitable keywords along with their KEI to your table. You can return to Step 1 and repeat the process of choosing keywords and adding them to your table for each word or phrase from your original list.

Your competitors

Go to Google and search for the first keyword from your table using exact match search (surround phrases in quotation marks). Read the listings for the Top 10 or 20 websites, perhaps visit them and make brief notes in the third column of the table for the kinds of sites.

Repeat this process for each of the keywords present in your table.

As you review the Top sites, you may get some great ideas for content on your own website. You may add new relevant words and phrases to your original list of keywords or, perhaps, you may even discover a concept that is so strong that you decide to adjust your first concept, or even replace it with this new one!

The best website concept

If you have several website concepts to choose from, build the tables of the most profitable keywords related to other concepts from your list and select the best concept. Here are the factors to consider before finalizing your idea...

• Your knowledge and passion - you'll be much more effective if you stick to what you really know and love.
• The amount of content - for maximum success you should have 40-70 different highly profitable keywords (i.e., with high KEI). You should be able to create 40-70 keyword-focused content pages which deliver high-value information and rank well with the Search Engines.
• Broad or narrow concept - it will be harder to rank well for a broad concept with several sub-themes than if you dedicated a single website to a sub-theme. If the amount of time you are prepared to spend is a limiting factor, choose more narrow concept.
• Profitability - review your INFO data. Has the niche high profit potential? Are there many possible partners on the Internet for building decent income through affiliate programs or advertising?

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Here's the comprehensive resource that describes the process of finding keywords and choosing the best website concept in more detail - Ken Evoy's Affiliate Masters course (new 2006 edition). It's probably the best single resource on building a successful website... at any price... and it's free! There's no charge - you're not even asked for your email address.

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Remember, your success is in diversity, in finding a wide variety of keywords, choosing the most profitable of them, and then building keyword-focused content pages that deliver high-value information and attract targeted visitors.

Keeping all this in mind, select the best website concept and go to the next step... Analyzing Competitors.

• Overview
• Site Content:
• Optimal Niche
• Choosing Keywords
• Analyzing Competitors
• Site Structure
• Search Engine Optimization
• Web Design
• HTML Codes
• Web Graphics
• Domain Names
• Web Hosting
• Online Website Builders