Thursday, September 25, 2008

Proper Planning for Internet Search Engine Optimization

By Kenneth E. Knorr


When Starting an SEO campaign it's often very tempting to just start tuning meta tags, changing title tags and modifying content. However you need to come up with an intelligent SEO strategy FIRST. By identifying the target audience and the ways to reach them ahead of the implementation you will be much more likely to reach your goals. Much like a conventional advertising campaign involves careful planning and research of the target audience, Internet Search Engine Optimization efforts are not successful without careful and correct selection of primary keyword phrases and search terms.

Plan Ahead - Reach Your Goals

Many people fail because they fail to plan. If in the wrong direction at the beginning targeting keywords that have no search volume, your efforts may result in top placements but worthless rankings for under-searched phrases. The best method for ensuring success of your Internet Search Engine Optimization campaign is by performing the initial keyword research. Skip this step and you will have wasted your time.

When starting a company, owners typically take the time to test their market and do some research to determine demand. Why should your efforts with SEO be any different. You need to carefully consider all possible search phrases that are likely to be used by your potential clients. Further you should look at your competition to learn what key words they rank for. The next part is important, Compile a SHORT list of search terms related to your products and services that would represent your company best.

I've got my short list of key phrases now what?

Once you've compiled your initial list of keywords you can start expanding it. At this stage you need to find out which of the keywords you have identified are most often used by the searchers. There are a number of useful tools such as Overture Search Suggestion Tool and Google AdWords Keyword Tool that you can employ for this purpose. All you've got to do is just type your search terms into the suggestion box and you will have them rated according to their popularity with the number of searches per month.

What is the competition level?

The next phase of your Internet (SEO)Search Engine Optimization campaign you should make deep analysis of the level of competition for your keywords to accurately determine just how difficult (or simple) it may be to win top positions for your desired key phrases. While it can be much simpler to go after only the most popular search phrases, your initial success with the hyper-competitive search phrases may be limited. Therefore you should set reasonable and incremental goals. The competitiveness for the most searched key phrases can be exceptionally difficult especially for a start up site. Targeting the top searched phrases may be unrealistic. SEO Management Competitive intelligence reports from professional SEO firms can often reduce the guess work from this type of research and increase your rate of success.

After you've investigate, and thoroughly researched your potential keywords, it will be much simpler to reduce the list to the core search phrases that your SEO Campaign will target. A successful Internet Search Engine Optimization campaign should always begin with research not just optimization. Bear in mind that you shouldn't attempt to target every phrase on the home page of your website. While the main page has the biggest potential of winning top positions it should be used for the most competitive phrases. Select no more than 5 - 6 of your most important search phrases for use on the home page.

Good Plan - Now Execute

If you thoroughly prepare for Internet Search Engine Optimization this investment is sure to pay off saving you a lot of time and money afterwards.

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