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Determining proper search terms (keywords and keyphrases) to focus on is critical to achieve the best possible search engine and directory rankings.

SEO vs. SEM
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) includes any web design techniques used to achieve the best possible “natural” or “organic” search engine results.  These are the regular (main) listings on each page of results.  Some SEO methods are incorporated during site development and some can be added at any time or on an ongoing basis (such as link building).  Most methods don’t cost a lot of money, but some require a considerable investment of time.  The time commitment will prove to be worthwhile as it is amortized over the life of the site at no financial cost.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) basically includes any techniques to produce traffic that cost money. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is the best example.  These “paid listings” or “sponsored results” appear alongside or on top of organic results for the same terms.  PPC terms are often sold through auctions.  More general or popular terms (such as “dogs”) are more expensive to bid for than targeted or less popular ones (such as “poodles” or “german shepards”).

Another SEM technique is inclusion in paid directories, either general (such as Yahoo Directory for $299), regional (state or city-specific)  or industry-specific organizations.

SEM is online advertising and requires an ongoing budget.  You can start, stop, or make changes to campaigns at any time and improve your results through analysis of traffic and sales.  SEO does not produce such instantaneous results.  It can take as long as 4-8 weeks to see “natural” effects.  To “cover all bases” a combination of SEO and SEM is often employed.
Broad (generic) terms vs. Targeted (specific) terms
From Wikipedia.org: “Not all sites have identical goals for search optimization. Some sites are seeking any and all traffic, and may be optimized to rank highly for common search phrases. A broad search optimization strategy can work for a site that has broad interest, such as a periodical, a directory, or site that displays advertising with a CPM [cost per thousand impressions] revenue model.

In contrast, many businesses try to optimize their sites for large numbers of highly specific keywords that indicate readiness to buy. Overly broad search optimization can hinder marketing strategy by generating a large volume of low-quality inquiries that cost money to handle, yet result in little business. Focusing on desirable traffic generates better quality sales leads, resulting in more sales. Search engine optimization
can be very effective when used as part of a smart niche marketing strategy.”

In other words, “drill down” to your particular specialty within your broader category, similar to the structure of directories.  Concentrate on these more specific terms:
Apparel > Footwear > Athletic Shoes > Running Shoes > Nike
Travel > Vacation Packages > Adventure Trips > Safaris > Kenya Safaris
Health > Nutrition > Dietitians > Vegan Dietitians > Chicago Vegan Dietitians

A page for each search term?
Create distinct pages for each search term so that any individual page might rank highly enough to appear within the first 3 pages of directory or S.E. results, even if it is not the home page.  If you have several products or services, give each it’s own page where you can highlight the distinct terminology and characteristics.  When the differences are slight, consider writing a page or article on one of them where you simply replace one possible keyword for another.  For example, you may use the word “car” on one page and “auto” on another page.

Concentrate on your company’s strengths and dominate your niche!

Keep the search engines happy!
Website traffic received from people finding you in search engine and directory listings is a beautiful thing. Not only is it cheaper than advertising, you automatically have motivated prospects, assuming the search term they entered is the main topic of the page on your site that they land on. It’s many times more difficult to rank on the first three pages of results than it was just a couple years ago, due to the exponential growth of
the web.  Use every tool at your disposal to shoot for the top!

Generate a list of keywords
Keywords and keyword phrases are the “search terms” entered into Yahoo or Google or any other listing of sites. If your site is built to satisfy human visitors, you’re off to a good start with the search engines as well, but
a little tweaking can squeeze out a lot more visitors.   Any word or phrase that someone may use to refer to a subject should be considered as part of the text in the page(s) discussing it.  When keywords are part of your text, you have a chance of appearing in search engine results for those keywords.  When you don’t specifically include them in your text, you’ll be out in the cold. 

If there are lots of possibilities, the most popular and targeted words or expressions should be incorporated to increase your odds for the most traffic possible.  For example, a website for “used cars” should consider various synonyms such as “autos”, “automobiles”, “sedans”, “pre-owned cars”, and particular makes and models.  Any one page could use several terms interchangeably or distinct pages could be created for each term. 
Your home page can contain more general terms and supporting pages will target more specifics.

Analysis of “key phrases” is a critical step for both SEO and SEM (Search Engine Marketing = Pay Per Click marketing) so it is doubly important. Both entail determining what potential customers type when looking for information and using those exact words and phrases to increase visibility in the search results for the most relevant terms for your business.  Yes, web surfers help you write your text!

Generate a list of your keywords, considering technical terms, common usage, and even slang terms and phrases since different people will search for your product in different ways.  Prior to finalizing your text, research, brainstorm, visit other websites, check a thesaurus for synonyms, ask your friends and definitely use tools such as the Google Keyword Tool. For many sites, your state or city or town can be an important keyword, since surfers may type in a search for “buy cars in Boston”.

The Google Keyword Tool is the top device for helping you climb the charts, and is free!  Enter what you feel is a generic phrase into the Keyword Variations Tab and your results are the most important terms (when ranked by ‘search volume’) for that topic which searchers use to describe it. For pay per click advertising, it even shows the terms where there is the greatest and least competition. 

Google Traffic Estimator is also free and uses historical results to predict traffic for selected phrases.  WordTracker is another popular tool for determining keywords.   Abakus Topword Key Phrase Density checker can also assist with creation of “Title” and “META tags”.  These are important coded instructions that appear in the invisible, or HEAD section of a web page and are used by Search Engines to help “index” the page in appropriate
SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages).   Finally, SEObook website provides a search volume comparison tool.

Search term comparison is a great way to compare popularity of terms and company names, so you can concentrate on including the terms most likely to be searched for.   Use the free tool: Google Trends.

Choose your favorite tools and go ahead and ask your customers what they search for!  Learn more in my Boost Your Website’s Profitability book!

Provide quality content, including the specific keywords that visitors are looking for. 

Keywords and content are the most important factors for your pages to rank high in search engines (at no expense to you).  Make it easier for people to find you by incorporating the words and phrases they’re searching for.  Short paragraphs and bullet points are easiest to glance over. 

Keyphrases are strings of words typed into search engines to produce more relevant results.  If someone is looking for a pest control service in Denver, they may punch in “pest control Denver”, so if you own such a company in that area, you want those words to appear in the text of your home page.

Directories and search engines are becoming more powerful in producing the most suitable results for each keyphrase.  So put yourself in your customers’ shoes and consider the most popular terms to include.  Ask Webmaster Ray about the “Google Keyword Tool”.

Submit your site to major directories and Search Engines.  Besides appearing in those lists, the additional inbound link helps increase rank in Google and others!  Start with these:
Google.com
Yahoo.com
MSN.com
DMOZ.org
Jayde.com (business to business)

Especially for Google, link popularity is a major component of your ranking, so ask other websites to post a link to yours.  You receive more credit if the other site’s theme is related to yours and if the other site has a high ranking.

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