SEO Blog

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With some blockquotes too of course?

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and a suggestion by Steve Cooley for a blockquote within a blockquote:

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SEO 101: Choosing Your Keywords

First, let's talk briefly about what SEO is exactly.

From Wikipedia:

"Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results for targeted keywords. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) or the higher it "ranks", the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of searches, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. As a marketing strategy for increasing a site's relevance, SEO considers how search algorithms work and what people search for."

I couldn't have said it any better myself!

These days, SEO is required for a website or blog to have any success in the search engines, even if it is only a minimal effort. There are a number of ways to properly SEO your site and we will get into all of those methods in future posts. For now, we will start at the beginning with choosing your keywords. As mentioned in the above definition, the goal of SEO is to get your site to rank in the search engines for targeted keywords. Keywords are the terms that people use in the search engines to find information on the web. The idea when choosing keywords is to select terms that people are already using to find information related to your product or service. By ranking well in the search engines for particular keywords related to your business, it allows people to find your product or service when they want it, therefore giving you an opportunity to gain a lead or even better, a sale. Now that you know the value of keywords, let's move on to how you go about selecting the best keywords for your site.

The first step is to do some brainstorming. Think to yourself, "If I was looking for information about my product or service, what terms would I use in my search to find what I need?" Virtually everyone reading this will be involved in the real estate market in some capacity. If you are a real estate agent or broker, chances are you are trying to attract buyers and sellers in your local area. Put yourself in your target audience's shoes-what keyword terms would you use to find out about real estate in your local area? For example: I live in Palm Beach County, Florida. If I was in the market for a home, I would probably search for terms like "Palm Beach Real Estate", "Homes in Palm Beach County", "Real Estate in Palm Beach", etc. Write down as many keyword terms as you can that you think your target audience would use in their search.

Resource: Having trouble coming up with keyword ideas? Use the Google Keyword Tool to generate ideas for keywords. Enter any terms you have come up with into the noted area and let Google give you some good ideas. This tool will also show you how often your terms are searched for and how competitive the market is for each keyword.

The next step is to do some homework. Your goal is to determine the 10 best keywords for your site. Why 10? 10 keywords cast a large enough net to get you as much traffic and business as possible. Choose too many keywords and you dilute their effect-choose too few and you may be selling yourself short. When you are researching your keywords, you want to find out which of the terms in your list are the most highly searched. Use the following FREE tools to choose the best terms:

Google Keyword Tool-As mentioned above, this tool will show you how often terms are searched for and how fierce the competition is for each keyword.

SEOBook Keyword Suggestion Tool-This tool will give you the stats not only for the keyword you entered but will also give you related keywords with their stats as well

Keyword Discovery-A good source of keyword stats

Wordtracker-Another great free tool for keyword data

Compare the data you retrieve from these various keyword tools. Try to choose keywords that are popular but keep in mind that the more competitive the term, the harder it will be to rank for it. Once you have chosen your keywords, it is time to implement them on your site. They need to be located in the HTML code on your site in the meta data-contact your webmaster if necessary for clarification. For Dev Element clients, you can change your keywords yourself so email me at njames@develementllc.com for instructions if needed.

In my next post, we will explore some of the many ways that you can optimize your site for the keywords you have chosen. You can also attend my webinar next Tuesday on writing for your blog which will cover how to correctly use your keywords within your posts. See the Information area here on the Real Estate Expert Network for a complete webinar schedule.

Visit The Real Estate Expert Network often for more great blogging and SEO tips!