SEO technology
When using search engine optimization, you need to determine one
phrase that describes what your page is about. This is called your
target phrase. A target phrase for your Web page should be three
things:
- Important
Your phrase should be an important part of the page information. If your page is about cat food, then your target phrase should include "cat food" and not just the word "cat". - Accurate
One of the commonly tried hacks with search engine optimization is to try to optimize on a phrase that isn't accurate for the content of the page. Just because the terms "sex" and "xxx" are popular doesn't mean you should optimize for them on your cat food page. - Popular
If your page is about cat food, your target phrase should be one that people will search on. People don't search for "cat chow" nearly as much as they search for "cat food", so "cat food" is a better choice.
There are several search engine optimization tools you can use to find good target phrases:
- Overture is a great tool for assessing popularity as well as brainstorming ideas for target phrases.
- Google is great for brainstorming target phrases.
- Word Tracker can help you assess popularity and also compare how the competitors use the target phrase you're after.
The second step in search engine optimization is to determine who your competition is. Remember that when you're doing search engine optimization, you're working at the page level, not the entire site. So while you might consider any site on pets to be your competition, for your target phrase "cat food" your competition is more specialized perhaps Purina.com or another cat food company rather than cats.about.com.
- Check Yahoo and Google to see what shows up when you search for your target phrase.
- Examine the pages on the first page, note where and how they use your target phrase. You can use the "Cached" page option in Google to see your targeted phrase highlighted.
Remember that the more popular a target phrase is, the more competition there is likely to be. Sometimes it makes sense to target a less popular phrase where you can corner the market rather than aiming for the highest popularity phrase there is.
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