Search Engine Optimization — Keyword Selection

Well as long as we’re talking about doing business online, let’s talk a little about my favorite subject (okay one of my favorite subjects) SEO!. I have spent many an hour learning and discovering the ways search engine works. So I’m going to share some of my thoughts with you on choosing keywords to help drive natural traffic to your website or blog.

Most Internet users rely on search engines like Google™, Yahoo!®, MSN/BING®, AOL® Search, etc. when searching for content on the Internet. This means that if you want to claim your share of the booming Internet market, you must ensure that the search engines are directing visitors to your site. In other words, you need to “search-engine optimize” your all the pages of your site. The search engine optimization process begins with choosing the keywords for your site.

Researching Your Keywords

Keywords are words and phrases that describe the content of a Web page. The keywords must match the search terms Internet users are typing into search engines when looking for the type of content offered by your site or blog. The proper keywords for your site should reflect the products and services you are selling and your particular niche market. 

So how do you determine the right keywords for your site? The first thing you need to do is to put yourself in the Internet users’ place and imagine which search terms they would be using when looking for a deal on the products you are offering. Those words/phrases are dependent on your product selection and don’t forget keywords specific for your niche market.

In order to perform a search for keywords just pop over to http://www.keywords.Google.com and type in the main words you’re thinking of using. It will come back with a list of the most “searched” terms for that specific keyword or words. If you’d like some help with using this tool or deciphering how to utilize the data seen there, I’d recommend signing up for this my free brief tutorial.

Another good place to start your keyword research is to take a look at your competition.  Simply look at the site of your main competitors and take a closer look at the keywords used in “Title tags“, “Meta tags“, “page copy“, etc.  To learn who your main competitors are, simply go to one of the top search engines and type in the keywords you are considering for your site. The top results returned by the search engine will reveal the nature of your competition.

Now in order to find out what their “tags” are; simple right click anywhere on the site and select “View Source”  or it may say just “Source” (depending on your browser) from the menu box that should open up next to your cursor. Once selected a larger viewing pane will open and you’ll see all this glorious “code”. Never mind the code, unless you read code, but what you are looking for (generally located on between lines 5-30) is the “Meta Tag = Keywords” or “Meta Name = Keywords”. This is where you can find out what keywords your competition has on each of their pages.

There are other ways of locating the “meta source” code but this method works on all browsers.

This should help you get started with your keyword optimization for the new year. Check your own site or blog against your competitions and see how you can “spice it up” a little.

Until next time, here’s to your business growth in 2012

Dr. Ande
Author of, 65 Tips for Affiliate Marketing Success
Host of, Dr. Ande’s Marketing Radio & Biz Talk with Dr. Ande

Here’s Why Paying for Your Traffic Is a Smart Move

There are so many success stories you will hear about businesses making it good in the internet. The troubling thing is, there are maybe a tenfold or even a hundredfold of stories contradictory to theirs. Many have unsuccessfully launched a business enterprise that is internet based but only a handful shall succeed.

Is this through luck? That is even more remote. It takes good business sense and a lot of help and team effort. Most importantly, it is the eagerness to succeed and the determination to learn and the willingness to invest in a lot of hard work and some money.

The Very Basic

Like Neo, traffic is “The One”. Without traffic, all your effort would just go to waste. Every business needs customers, without them you wouldn’t have anyone to sell your products to. In the internet world traffic is the walk in customer. The more traffic you have the more people would be able to sell your products to.

But like any business that’s in every corner building or in the mall, not everyone that goes in will buy, but the greater of number that do come in to browse your merchandise, the greater number of people that will buy your products. It is a simple and known fact.

But, how do you get traffic, traffic large enough that could make a small percentage of eventual buyers enough to make a good profit. Many big companies generate traffic of tens of thousands a day and a measly ten to fifteen percent actually buys, but that small percentage is enough to provide them with good business.

Many of these success stories get their traffic from paying others. Yes that’s right; you have to spend money to make money. Advertising is the key. The more people that knows that your site exists; the more people would of course go to your site, that’s common sense.

While there are many ways that can get you advertising for free, this do not generate the same high volume as those methods that are getting paid. These paid advertisements include advertising schemes by Google and Yahoo.

The Value of Searches

The search and will be the easiest and fastest medium in finding what a person needs in the internet. Search engines have been very popular because they provide a vital service to many people. They are free and easy to use. With this popularity, they get many visitors and clicks that they are the most common sites that people go to. It is easy to understand why so many companies would pay to advertise with these search engines.

Search engines provide information to the millions of users that they have each day. They provide links to many sites that a user may be looking for. If your sites link pop up in the high ranks of the search results page, you get a great chance that they will go to your site. While search engine optimization is a cheaper and low cost way to get your site a high rank, paying for advertisements will ensure that you will be on the top ranks.

When you pay for your advertisements, it is like paying for your traffic. This may sound like not such a good idea, but the payoffs would tell a different story. When you pay for your traffic, you are guaranteed of a consistent traffic flow to your site. You will never go with an empty sales day.

Paying for your Traffic

Usually, you will be charged with the number of hits a link gets when your ads is clicked, this is called pay per click. For some search engines, you will be charged with the number of times your ad shows up when a certain keyword or keyword phrase is searched. It is imperative that you have good keyword content in your ad. There are many tools that aid you in using the right keyword for the right moment.

All the money you spend in paying for your traffic will not be for naught. You will get an impressive boost in traffic which will also result to a great boost in your sales figures. Paying for your traffic would be a really good idea and you will get all the benefits it has to offer.

Happy Holidays,
Dr. Ande
Host of, KIVA Biz Talk Radio & the Business Talk with Dr. Ande broadcast
Dr. Ande Online
Dr. Ande Radio

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