Why You Must Understand the Power of Keywords

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Understanding the power of keywords in the search engine game is critical. These are the words your customers are searching for, so these are the words the spiders are crawling your site to find. Basically, everything dealing with SEO starts with keywords and expands from there.

Despite the fact that keywords are one of the most heralded concepts in the Internet marketing game, many make the mistake of not really understanding exactly what they are or what they represent. In short, keywords are the keys to your optimization efforts. More than that, they provide clues for you. They are your market's way of saying, "Hey, this is what I'm interested in. I'm looking for a website with this information on it." Since your audience types keywords into the search engine search box, you should build your business by finding out what these words are and then create a website around that concept.

Keywords are more than words. They are the thoughts of your audience. They represent wants, needs and desires. When you use the right keywords on your web pages, you're speaking the emotional language of your target audience. Learn to speak this language well and the search engines will reward you with a high rank. With that in mind, picture your ideal prospect sitting in front of the Google home page with the cursor blinking in the search box. What would he type? What word or phrase would he enter to find what he's looking for?

For example, a person with itchy patches of red might type "treatment for poison ivy" if he wants to find an immediate way to make it stop itching. A person with a garden might type in "gardening tips." A person wanting to improve her health might type "healthy recipes."

What is your prospect thinking about? What are his problems? What are his frustrations? What is he curious about? What does he need a solution for? And what words would he use to summarize his problems, frustrations and curiosities? Think like your prospect and make a list of all the words and phrases he would enter into that blank search box. Those are your keywords.

Before you do anything else, though, look at your words. Are any of them commonly misspelled? Just because your prospect types the wrong spelling of the word into the search engine box doesn't mean he won't see results from his search. The results he sees could be your site at the top of the list.

Also, consider variations of all the words and phrases you come up with. Write them down. You can use tools like Good Keywords or Google to help you create a list. Then target specific phrases, optimize your pages and track your results.

About the Author

Glen Hopkins is a Best-Selling Author, Information Marketer, Speaker and Consultant. Glen specializes in teaching struggling entrepreneurs how to turn their small Online businesses into thriving money machines using specific systems that will allow you to work less and earn more. Get his List Building Report and Web Traffic CD (valued at $97) for FREE at: http://glenhopkins.name/>http://GlenHopkins.name  

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