a searcher would use to find your Web site or a page on your site. If the answer
is a resounding “No,” cross the word off the list. When you’re done, you should
have a reasonably sized list from which to choose that magic number of words.
Start with a list of 50–100 keywords.You won’t use all the keywords,
but the list gives you a good point from which to narrow the words that
are most likely used to find your Web site.
Don’t use more than three words on a single page.Also, only use three
words if they’re all contained within a phrase. It’s better to use one word
or phrase per page on your Web site, but each page can have a different
word or phrase.
Avoid words that are overused.Overused words are obvious search
terms, but they’re also the most competitive terms and can cost a fortune
if you’re targeting them for advertisements. No kidding. It’s not unheard of
for some words to cost as much as $50 per click to advertisers who want
their ads prominently displayed if someone searches for that keyword.
Advertisers would have to have an endless budget to market with these
words. On the other side of that equation is AdSense — which arranges to
display those superexpensive ads on Web sites like your own — and yes,
those words pay really well, but the competition for sites to place those
ads on is also very tough. Best to stick with something that will get you a
regular listing of some great ads that will truly interest your visitors.
Try to think like site visitors think.What keywords represent your
visitors’ interests? One way to keep up with this information is to use a
Web site analytics program, such as Google Analytics (www.google.
com/analytics). An analytics programtracks visitors to your site, such
as where they came to your site from and what keywords they used to
find your site on search engines, along with many other statistics. If you
don’t have a Web site analytics program, get one. Right now.
The Google AdWords Keyword Tool performs two functions: It allows you to see
what other keywords you might be missing when putting together your keyword
list and it also lets you see which of those keywords are most valuable to you as
a publisher. The Keyword Tool is easy enough to get the hang of. At first glance,
it may look like it’s just a generator for keyword ideas, but as you dig deeper into
using it, you can learn valuable facts about keywords, such as how
much competition there is for a keyword, what kind of placement an
advertiser can expect for ads targeting that keyword
