On April 27th, we shared with you our article entitled "Is Search Engine
Positioning Dead?" (If you missed it, visit
for the archive)
In this article, we presented several compelling 3rd party statistics
suggesting that search engine placement remains by far the most powerful
method for driving large amounts of targeted traffic to your web site.

As a result of this article, we received lots of great feedback, and many
pertinent questions. But when the dust settled, one topic rose to the
top of the list and seemed to cause a great deal of confusion and mystery:

"Why is keyword selection so important and
how do I select the best keywords for my site?"

Let's break this down into bite-sized pieces and clear up the mystery,
by answering our most frequently asked questions regarding keyword
selection:

"What's the difference between a keyword and
a keyword phrase? And which should I use?"

Put simply, a keyword is a single word such as "Maui." While a keyword
phrase is a more descriptive string of two or more words such as "Maui
vacations." Your specific approach to keyword selection will vary,
depending on your industry. For certain niche markets, single words can
be a good strategy (as long as they are specific to your product or service).
But regardless of your industry...

Well-researched keyword phrases will attract quality, targeted visitors
to your website who *specifically* want what you are selling.

Let's assume you sell Maui vacations, and your website is listed at the
top of the search results for the keywords "Maui" and "Maui vacations."
Let's look at the characteristics of two groups of visitors you'd attract.

Those who perform a search on "Maui" are searching for a wide variety
of topics. Such as Maui's history and culture, snorkeling, botanic
gardens, hiking trails, sailing, golfing, and yes - some will be looking for
Maui vacations. But only a small percentage of the people who perform
a search on the keyword "Maui" are qualified prospect for your vacation
packages.

Now think about the prospects who find you by searching for "Maui
vacations." Every prospect who performs this search is a qualified
prospect for you. And by getting a top ranking with this more
descriptive keyword phrase, you attract people who are more likely
to become paying customers!

You see, someone who wants to take a vacation to Maui is not likely
to search for "Maui." They're not going to search for "Vacations." And
they're not going to search for "Hawaii" either. They're much more
likely to enter a keyword phrase like "Maui vacations."

Today, more than ever, your ideal prospects are going to enter precisely
what they want to find, rather than general, open-ended terms. Which
means your keyword selection must target your ideal customer with
laser-beam focus.

At the same time, the search engines and directories themselves are
also becoming much more strict with the pages that they'll accept and
index. They'll be watching your submissions like a hawk to make sure
that they're completely relevant to the topic reflected by your keyword
phrase.

In our last article, we weighed the pros and cons of doing your search
engine positioning yourself versus hiring a reputable company to handle
this time consuming task for you. Many of you have wisely realized that
it can be much more time-effective and cost-effective to leave your
search engine placement in the hands of experts, so you van focus on
your core business.

So the most important question of all now becomes:

"If I hire a company to do my search engine placement for me, should
I be expected to provide my own keywords and keyword phrases, or
do they have a responsibility to advise me?"

Frankly, any company that doesn't provide hands on consultation in this
area is not helping you to maximize your search engine rankings.
Keyword selection is the entire foundation on which your search engine
campaign is built. Can you imagine hiring a contractor to build your
house... only to have him say, "Okay, YOU lay all the bricks and pour
the concrete - then I'll do the rest?"

If you're going to hire someone to achieve top ranking for your website,
be sure that they take on the full responsibility - not just bits and pieces.
Otherwise you run the risk of your entire promotion falling apart.

I hope it's now clear how vital it is to target the best possible keywords
and keyword phrases for your web site. And you now have the burden
of proper keyword selection lifted from your shoulders.

Sure, your expertise of your business warrants your input. But at least
you'll have the peace of mind of knowing that the search engine
specialists are doing their job, and not leaving your keyword selection
to chance.

After all, isn't that why you hire them in the first place?



About the Author
Michael Buck is a marketing consultant & Director of Marketing for
SearchEngineWebPromotion.com. To find out more about top search
engine placement and how you can attract targeted traffic with multiple
Top 20 rankings - visit http://www.SearchEngineWebPromotion.com.
You may also call Mike at (310) 798-0467.