Key Tips & Best Practices for
Search Engine Optimization
The process of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has gained popularity in recent years as a
means to reach target audiences through improved web site positioning in search engines.
However, few have an understanding of the SEO methods employed in order to produce such
results. The following tips are some basic best practices to consider in optimizing your site for
improved search engine performance.
Identifying Target Search Terms
The first step to any SEO campaign is to identify the search terms (also referred to as key
terms, or key words) for which you want your site pages to be found in search engines – these
are the words that a prospective visitor might type into a search engine to find relevant web
sites. For example, if your organization’s mission has to do with environmental protection, are
your target visitors most likely to search for “acid rain”, “save the forests”, “toxic waste”,
“greenhouse effect”, or all of the above? Do you want to reach visitors who are local, regional
or national in scope? These are considerations that need careful attention as you begin the
SEO process. After all, it’s no use having a good search engine ranking for terms no one’s
looking for.
Your target terms should be at least two words in length and, of course, be relevant to the
content of your site pages. Your own intuition and team brainstorming are good places to start
with key term selection. However, there are tools designed to assist you in validating your
choices and researching search term possibilities you may have never even considered.
WordTracker and Overture offer two of the most popular such tools:
WordTracker (www.wordtracker.com) is the industry standard tool used for search term
selection research. Although there is a fee for using the full version of WordTracker,
they also offer limited trial where you can test out the system.
Yahoo Search Marketing (searchmarketing.yahoo.com/rc/srch/index.php) also offers a
"Keyword Selector Tool" that can be utilized for researching target search terms when
you sign up for a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) account with them.
By strategically selecting terms that are popular enough to bring you visibility with target
audiences, yet not so general/competitive that a prominent ranking will be difficult, you can
ensure that your SEO efforts are built on a stable foundation from the start.
We Have the Terms, Now What Do We Do With Them?
Once you have selected the search terms you want to target, the next step is to integrate the
terms into your site pages to make them relevant.
Selecting Pages for Optimization
Initially, the pages that you select for optimization should be those that offer the most focused
content relating to the terms you want to target – you may already have such pages on your
site, or you may need to develop them from scratch. You can optimize as many pages as you
like, but each page should focus on no more than one or two of your target terms.
