Search Engine Optimization Bible, Second Edition

Chapter 5. Keywords and Your Web Site

IN THIS CHAPTER

• The importance of keywords

• Understanding heuristics

• Picking the right keywords

• What's the right keyword density?

• Taking advantage of organic keywords

• Avoiding keyword stuffing

• More about keyword optimization

Keywords. That's a term you hear associated with search engine optimization all the time. In fact, it's very rare that you hear anything about SEO in which keywords aren't involved some way; so what's so special about keywords?

Simply put, keywords are those words used to catalog, index, and find your web site; but of course, it's not nearly as simple as it sounds. There is a fine science to finding and using the right keywords on your web site to improve your site's ranking. In fact, an entire industry has been built around keywords and their usage. Consultants spend countless hours finding and applying the right keywords for their customers, and those who design web sites with SEO in mind also agonize over choosing just the right ones.

Using popular — and effective — keywords on your web site will help to ensure that it is visible in the search engine results, rather than be buried under thousands of other web site results. There are keyword research tools that can help you find the exact keywords to use for your site and therefore for your search engine optimization. Understanding the use of keywords — where to find them, which ones to use, and the best ways to use them — enables you to have a highly visible and successful web site. ...