Search Engine Optimization - Where to Place Your Keywords To Maximize Keyword Optimization

Keyword research and keyword optimization is one of the most important strategies to ensure top search engine ranking. Don't let your keyword research efforts go to waste by not knowing where to place your keywords. In a previous article I addressed 'HOW' to place your keywords for the best keyword optimization. Now I will address specifically 'WHERE' to place keywords and phrases to ensure the best overall keyword optimization and search engine optimization.

If you have not read my earlier article 'Search Engine Optimization:Good Keyword Optimization Is Knowing "How" To Place Your Keywords'. Let me just briefly reiterate what I covered in that article to ensure things flow smoothly. I discussed the need to know 'how' to integrate keywords into content in a constructive manner by using a few proven strategies. If you did not get a chance to read this article it might be a good idea to go back and read it first, if need be, to ensure you see the overall 'big picture' of true keyword optimization. The previous article covered:

• How search engines index entire pages and how much content should be contained within a page.


• Keyword prominence: finding the best place to place keywords.


• Keyword proximity: how close together keywords are placed within a sentence.


• Keyword density: measures the weight of keywords in the content.


• Keyword frequency: the repetition of the keywords indicated.

Not only knowing 'how' to place your keywords throughout your content but 'where' to specifically place keywords can ensure maximum keyword optimization as well as overall search engine optimization. It is not difficult to achieve top search engine optimization if you just follow a couple of tested and proven strategies and don't try to reinvent the wheel.

This is 'where' to place your keywords in your content to achieve maximum overall keyword optimization:

The first strategy to ensure good keyword optimization: is to include the most important keywords or keyword phrases in 'Title Tags'. Use your most relevant keywords and make your title interesting enough where the readers will want to click on it. I see so many repeated titles for a specific topic, when you are competing with millions of titles in the same catagory you need to stand out, grab the readers attention. If you don't capture their attention in the title, you may not at all.

The second way to ensure good keyword optimization: is to use descriptive 'Meta Tags', this is what is most often used when the search engine displays your site in the search results. Again, just like in the title, it is extremely important to create an inviting description as it is a title, these are the first things your reader will see before they click.

The third way to ensure good keyword optimization: is to make good use of the 'Keyword Meta Tags'. The keyword meta tags will include the keywords and keyword phrases of your content. List the primary keywords or keyword phrases first and separate with commas, followed by the remainder of the keywords you will be using throughout your content. This is what enables search engines to find you.

The fourth way to ensure good keyword optimization is: to make use of 'Heading Tags' they hold separate topics between paragraphs. H1 is used for large bold, and H6 is for very small bold. The 'Heading Tags' should include your most important keywords.

The fifth way to ensure good keyword optimization: is to utilize the 'Alt Tag'. This tag will add text in place of an image. Some readers will turn the graphics off when reading some content to ensure faster loading. These 'Alt Tags' should include the description of the link destination and should include your keywords.

The fifth and final strategy that will ensure good keyword optimization: are 'Hypertext Links'. Make sure to include your keywords or keyword phrases in your link.

It is critical for good keyword optimization as well as overall search engine optimization to know 'where' and 'how' to place your keywords. Using these tactics will improve your overall search engine ranking. Stick with tested and proven strategies to ensure the best keyword and overall search engine optimization.

Keyword Research - How to Create a Highly Effective Keyword List

Part 1

Recently I was asked to optimize a site selling Spanish T-Shirts to attract lots of traffic from the search engines. Without traffic your site won't make any sales. Of the other hand getting lots of traffic does not guarantee sales if your web copy is lousy. There are many factors that should be considered when you optimize your web site. For my example site to optimize I chose Wild Lily Designs, a site that specializes in selling Spanish Shirts.

Here are the steps I took to optimize the site:

1. Create a keyword list

Write down all the keywords related to the topic of your site. Try to also include keyword phrases. ie T-Shirts, Spanish Shirts, Spanish Apparel, Spanish Clothing.

There are probably millions of web sites selling T-Shirts; therefore you need to narrow your focus. This is why Spanish Shirts or Spanish T-Shirts would a better niche because it wouldn't be as competitive. If your niche is too competitive you will have a difficult time getting high rankings. Ideally you want your site to appear on the first page for one of the major search engines...Google, MSN or Yahoo.

2. Find related keywords

These are words that are similar to the main keyword list you created above. You may be able to incorporate them into the content of your site as it grows. Keywords that have a very narrow focus ie Spanish T-Shirts, may not be a popular search term. If I broaden my search to include "Spanish" or "T-Shirt" I will find hundreds of words that relate to these topics.

Use a theosaurus dictionary or thesaurus.com to find similar words besides your main keywords. Another great free tool to brainstorm related keywords is the Google AdWords Keyword Tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal).

Here is the list of similar keywords generated when I inserted "spanish shirts" in the Google AdWords Keyword Tool:

madrid shirts language tee shirts spain shirt spanish shirt shirts in spanish spanish shirts spanish t shirts real madrid shirt spanish english dictionary spanish apparel sign language shirt language shirts madrid t shirts shirt in spanish hispanic t shirt spain t shirt language apparel hispanic shirts sign language t shirt madrid t shirt real madrid t shirts language t shirts sign language shirts language shirt shirts spanish sign language t shirts spanish t shirt real madrid merchandise i love shirts hispanic t shirts long sleeve shirts spain t shirts t shirts in spanish madrid shirt

From this list you get both the singular and plural forms of the keywords. You may also want to include madrid shirts, madrid t-shirt, spanish shirts.

To find out how often people are searching on these keywords you need to use keyword tools. I use a combination of both free and paid tools.

Part 2 of this article will discuss how I used Wordtracker, one of the most effective keyword tools on the Net, to decide if I should use spanish shirts as the main keyword phrase for Wild Lily Designs (http://www.wildlilydesigns.com) the example site I am optimizing.