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Essential Webmaster Tools for Search Engine Optimization

Free SEO tools to make your life easier. A popular free keyword selector tool is Overture’s Keyword Selector Tool. Paid keyword tools allow you to delve deeper into the keyword statistics. Most paid keyword tools get information from their own database which consists of billions of search queries from a number of different search engines. You can use this information to find out the keywords that are searched, which search terms generate the most traffic, and which search terms to target on in order to grow your online business.

Two of the more popular keyword research services are Word Tracker and Keyword Discovery. The two services have some unique features that make them different but they both revolve around the same process of starting with a generalized keyword and then searching their databases for terms which are related to your initial keyword. The major difference between the two tools is probably the different “keyword spinners” they have available.

Once these tools find all the keywords that they think are related to your initial keyword, you are presented with a list of keywords from which to choose. In most cases, the first dozen keywords returned are the keywords you will select. The keywords that are lower on the list usually have a low number of searches performed.

A really good feature of the keyword tools is the “keyword spinner” tool. It is used to help you find alternative keywords which you may not think of right away. These tools help you find terms with plural endings, present tense or “ing” at the end, and even misspellings. Now the idea behind spinning the keyword is to give you ideas. You still must find out whether or not people are typing that term into the search box! Many people make the mistake of assuming it is good to use different forms of the word without doing the research first.

After you determine your keywords the tool then applies the Keyword Effectiveness Indicator, or KEI. KEI is a logarithmic scale that aims to quantify the effectiveness of any search term. It is similar in principle to the Richter scale, commonly used to measure earthquakes. The very best keywords have high popularity (as in a large number of searches), but are not very competitive, that is they do not appear on a large number of pages.

So, are keyword tools worth it? In my opinion they are. These tools help you find keywords faster than it would take you to do manually. That alone is worth the price of admission. There are some really excellent tools and keyword spinners that the paid tools have available but the free tools just don’t. If you are serious about making money through SEO, invest in a keyword tool subscription as a SEO professional.

Once you have your list of keywords, you can prepare to put these words on your web site. Start reviewing your keyword list and begin to logically break your keywords up into groups of 2 or 3 key phrases. By logically, I mean start thinking about incorporating those words onto one page in ways that make sense to your readers.

Google’s tools are also absolute essentials. Search for Google’s webmaster central and find out how to use Google’s analytics for your websites.

Before even starting to build your pages, be sure to format your pages in such a way that would convenience you to add Google’s trackers from one central source. Whether in ASP or PHP, make sure that once you change a single file, all the pages are updated with Google’s page tracker or Google’s advertisements (Adsense) should you choose to impliment that later. A typical page should include the following common files (shared across every web page) – The header, menu, footer, advertisement placements and google analytics (can be combined with the footer or

seperate).

Depending on your enterprise size, make sure these areas are covered and are actively expanding on a daily basis – Content, design & development (including SEO) and marketing to ensure the money comes in!


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