This topic is so important that I am writing this entire arcticle for the subject. This is a easy to understand, basic concept around keywords. Well, I have to be honest. Ive mislead you. Its not keywords. The art of keywods is actually to use key phrases.
What do you mean, key phrases Lets say that you have a website about computers. So what is your keyword Obviously computers, right Heres a small exercise for you to do. Go to Google. Once there, type in the word computers. Ok, from the results, do you see how many websites were returned with the word computers 448,000,000!!!! Ouch!! What are the chances of you getting the the first page. Forget the first page, what are the chances of you making the millionth page See my point
Alright, now put in the key phrase, my super computers. See the results. 40,000,000. Ahhhh. Now I ask the same previous question. What are the chances of you getting to the first page. What about the 2nd or 3rd Much better chances. See when you use key phrases versus keywords, you better your odds of winning in the search engines. Why battle against all that competition
Doesnt mean you do not have to, but I recommend that you mix it up. I would go after some main key phrases and maybe one or two target keywords. I gurantee that you will hit the top 10 (if done correctly) for your key phrases faster than the keywords.
Here are some tools that can help you better target your key phrases to know how the competition is. Ive used these personally and they work well. Some are free services, others you have to pay. The best one that I prefer is Nichebot, but I will list the others for you to choose which will work best for you.
1. Wordtracker- Pay service
2. Overture- Free
3. Nichebot- Free
Use the tools to check the competitiveness of the keyword you want to target. Try to focus on ones that are searched a decent amount of time with the least competition as possible. Dont worry if your keyword doesnt have a extreme amount of searches. A number 10 position with a somewhat competitive keyword can generate a few hundred hits a day on one of the Top 3 search engines.
Once you have your target keywords (phrases), spread them throughout your website. These are the keywords that you will use to top of the SEs. Insert them in a user readable Title andMeta Description. Bold and italicize them once or twice in the body. Fully optimize your site for those target keywords. Dont forget to use them in your anchor text for backlinks. Not sure what I am talking about Read my other article on seo SEO Basics for the Dummy to learn more around search engine optimization.
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Want more on keywords and seo optimization, you can download a free ebook at website. Just click on the Free SEO book on the top right. Its available for download with no strings or obligations.
Whether you use Google, Yahoo, MSN or Dogpile, searching the web can be both rewarding and frustrating. If you dont have a few tips under your belt, you can waste needless time sorting and sifting through results which are all over the board. Everyone knows that you type words into your search engine and it returns pages upon pages of information about websites containing answers you might be seeking. Unfortunately, if you just type a few words into the search bar, youre going to receive a jumble of both relevant and irrelevant results.
So how do you pare down your Googles Lets take a look at two of the biggest search engines: Google. Now, Im a Google nut, but I have also used Yahoo from time to time.
Lets start with the basics on Google. You type in a couple words and viola, pages return with information. You start sifting through.
Tip #1: Get exact results by adding quotation marks around your search term
Most people know that if you type in more than one word, for instance, a name, search engines will return every result that contains those two words. I searched first on my name, Judith Brandy. Google brought back every website that had the words, Judith and Brandy in its title or description. It included a liquor site, people who were names Brandy with a different first name and assorted other junk that was irrelavant to my search. I was Googling myself to see where my articles had been placed. So, Brandy DVDs and Videos at Search Extreme, would not help me. Surprisingly, I popped up at the top as an ExpertAuthor on an article site and found out that a couple of my articles had been picked up on some other websites already. This was nice know, but as I scrolled down, I found relevance disappearing before I reached the bottom of page one. So I added the quotations, and viola, a much more narrow, relevant search result was returned. So the addition of quotations was a real plus.
Tip #2: Narrow the results you receive by adding a space followed by a minus signed followed by the words you want to exclude.
For example, say you want to search on Battletar Galactica, but you dont want to get every website and blog out there. You dont want to get the original Battlestar Galactica television show from 25 years ago. You want the new, reimaged Battlestar on television now. So you type into the search box space (thats not the word, by the way. You hit the space bar once) and then type a minus - sign plus the term you want to exclude like Ive done below:Search term: Battlestar Galactica -originalThis takes out any website that covers the 1978 original television show, Battlestar Galactica.
Tip #3: Get up-to-date stock quotes without going past the search page.
This is an easy one. Simply type in a stock symbol and it will return the company name, latest price and price chart at the top of the page, plus all relevent websites connected to it below. So I typed in GOOGLE STOCK SYMBOL to get back GOOG, then I typed GOOG into the box and it returned a chart, the open-high-low as well as other website where it can be further researched. Needless to say, Google is doing quite well.
Tip #4: Type in certain questions about people and places and get answers.
Are you interested in the population of Tokyo, Japan Or New York City Would you like to know where Edward James Olmos or Joe Flanigan were born Would you like to know what is rabbit proof fence These are the kinds of questions you can ask Google.
Simply type the following:
population of Tokyo, Japan with no quotes and Google returns Japan Population: 127,417,244
population of New York City with no quotes and Google returns New York City Population: 8 Million
birthplace of Edward James Olmos and Google returns Edward James Olmos Place of Birth: East Los Angeles, California, USA
birthplace of Joe Flanigan and Google returns Joe Flanigan Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, USA
who is Joe Flanigan you wonder Well, type it in and youll get an answer. Joe Flanigan ... has long-running guest roles on numerous television series, including Profiler, First Monday, ... and a link to where you can find out more.
Try the last one yourself. Type in what is rabbit proof fence and Google returns . . .
Tip #5: Find out where an area code or zip code is located quickly and easily.
Ask Google. Type - area code 610 and Google will return this answer - Area Code Look Up and ReferenceListing of the majority of Area Codes throughout the US and the world. ... 610, PA, SE Pennsylvania: Allentown, Reading, 484, 835 ... - no muss, no fuss, just the facts at lightspeed. Tip #6: Get the weather of any place in the worldType weather plus a location and Google will return the current weather plus, for places in the United States, four days worth of weather and a few graphic representations in 0.09 seconds. Much faster and easier than surfing over to the weather channel and looking it up. You dont need the quotation marks, by the way.
Tip #6: Google is a calculator
Type in 25 x 25 and Google will calculate and deliver you the result of 625. Instant calculations online. Divide = / and Multiply = *. Plus and minus are + and -.
Tip #7: Get the local time any place on Earth.
What time is it in Venice, Italy Now you could surf on over to the World Time Clock, scroll through and find the country, find Italy, find the city of Venice, but why waste time Simply type in what time is it in Venice, Italy and Google will return the correct answer, plus a link to where you can get more information all in 0.26 seconds.
Tip #8: Going to a foreign country Do current monetary conversions.
Simply key the following into the search box - 23000 yen in US dollars - and Google will return a quick conversion: 23 000 Japanese yen = 196.68197 U.S. dollars. If youre headed to Asia, this is invaluable and easy.
Tip #9: Check on flights and airports.
Do you want to find out if a flight is delayed or if an airport is having weather problems Heres an easy way to find out before you start surfing and calling. Type in the airport number for instance PHL Airport and search. The first link that pops up will take you to the AIRPORT STATUS INFORMATION which is provided by the FAAs Air Traffic Control System Command Center. The status information provided on this site indicates general airport conditions... It also provides a link to a Glossary of Air Traffic Management Terms if you need clarification.
Check on the flight is just as simple. Type the following United 134 as an example and Google will return Track status of United Airlines flight 134 with links to Travelocity, Track status on Travelocity - Expedia - fboweb.com.
Tip #10: Google tracks Fedex, UPS and USPS packages
If you have a tracking number type it in and Google will return the latest information on your package:
- UPS tracking numbers example search: 1Z9999W99999999999
- FedEx tracking numbers example search: 999999999999
- USPS tracking numbers example search: 9999 9999 9999 9999 9999 99
Google also has a spell checking option which automatically looks at your query and checks to see if everything is spelled right. Did you ever sort of know how to spell a famous persons name Googles spellchecking is based on the number occurrences of all words on the Internet, so it is able to suggest common spellings for proper nouns (names and places) that might not appear in a standard spell check program or dictionary. You can also use it as a spell checker in a way.
Word Speller: If you type in a word that you kind of know how spell, Google will return Did you mean: spell aardvark Its not a dictionary, but it is a quick way to get words you already have an idea how its spelled.
Google has a wealth of other features which I havent even touched on yet. I encourage you to click on the IM FEELING LUCKY which give you results, check out the Advanced Search which gives you many more choices and links, Language Tools which has a small translater with a good number of languages and an option to add yours. Theres even a language called Bork, bork, bork! Go find out what it is. Its all quite interesting and will greatly expand your Google mindset. There is a lot more you can do with Google than the tips Ive outlined. Check out my website link to their features page for a complete look at Google features. And even though they have a lot of features listed, I keep finding other ways to use Google. I think of this search engine as a creative entity constantly growing.
About the author:
Judith Brandy is a writer, breast cancer survivor and science fiction fan with a slightly skewed, amused perspective of the world. Read some of her other articles at: