Introduction

The identification of a websites proper key phrases is a crucial step in search engine marketing. Key phrases are the string of words individuals type into the search bar on any given search engine, in hopes of finding what they are looking for online. Knowing which ones are the best for your site will get you the much needed traffic, and more importantly, the sale.

Competition

You need to decide which key phrases you want to build your website around, and how much competition there is for each phrase. This can be done by simply typing in the phrase into a search engine and, checking the number of results in the upper right corner of your browser. Usually, this number is in the millions. When first starting into search engine marketing, you want to choose phrases that don't have an overwhelming amount of competition. Try to stay in the area of no more than a few million competing websites, and try for phrases with much lower numbers as well. A few million may sound like alot, but considering the billions of pages online today, this number is modest.

Generally, you will want to choose three word phrases such as "chocolate cake recipe". These tend narrow down the field some, and target your product to the searcher, which is extremely important.

Traffic

When identifying key phrases, you want to try to choose those that have atleast a few thousand searches a month. Finding the amount of searches for a phrase is very simple. You can either use Wordtracker for a small fee, or use Overture's search term suggestion tool, for free.

Wordtracker: www.wordtracker.com

Overture: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

These are very user friendly tools. Simply type in the phrase you want to check the traffic for, and both give the amount of searches done per month for that phrase, across all search engines. A great way to find eligible key phrases is to nail down one singular phrase that describes your entire site. Type that word in Overture search term finder, and go through the list of multiple word phrases that it generates from that singular word. This technique works very well with this tool.

Singular words

Singular words such as "books" should be avoided. They do not give enough information about what exactly the searcher is looking for, and do not convert to a sale nearly as well as two and three word key phrases. On top of that, they are usually extremely hard to secure a ranking for, because of all the sites that are using that word. Be sure to stick with two, three, and four word phrases.

Focusing your phrases

Chosen keyphrases for a website need to be highly targeted for that site, and very focused on what that website offers. For example I wouldn't want to focus the key phrase "lawn tractor" on a website that was built for plumbing supplies. If I were building a site that involved a free dating service, I would surely want phrases such as "internet dating service" and/or "free online dating".

Researching your Phrases

Be sure to do plenty of research on your key phrases, and do not rush! Missing an important key phrase is missing potential traffic, and sales. Take as much time as you need gathering key phrases that you feel confident will produce much needed traffic, and eventually, the all-mighty sale.