Keyword research is about the most important part of your success. You can be great at implementing all the proper SEO techniques, but it will all be in futile if you target the wrong keywords.

Before you code a line, or write a single word down, you should begin doing your keyword research.

The first thing I want you to do is go to goodkeywords.com and download the keyword tool they have there. It will allow you to search a keyword and for that search keyword it will also tell you the number of times a keyword or keyword combination has been searched for over a time period.

Now you’re just starting out, and your chances of getting ranked highly for a generic keyword is very slim. Instead of trying to optimize "keyword", try to optimize something a little narrower like, "Keyword Research".

You really shouldn't write for the engines. Write your content so it's readable, fresh, and above all navigable.

If you write about your keywords, and use them in your content you will be just fine.

Remember, sites that are written for HUMANS, with SEO in mind will do better in the long run, than sites that cheat.

Your ultimate goal when you do research for keywords (both high paying keywords and keywords that get a lot of traffic), is to find a happy medium between the amount of traffic you can expect if you rank well and the amount of competition you will have. If you can't rank well for your chosen keyword, try to rank well for a keyword combination.


In order to be successful in getting the high positions in the search engines you also need to know how much competition there is for a word. Keywords or keyword phrases that are very competitive need more than just a well optimized page to rank high in the search engines. Off-the-page factors like link popularity and anchor texts in the links that point at your web page are very important to consider when choosing keywords.

In conclusion keyword research is the first and most decisive step you will take when optimizing your web site. It will determine how successful you will be.

Your keyword research should be a factor in your meta-tag writing and your page titles.