Everyone wants to get the most out of their web site(s). Today I would like to cover keyword optimization. There are tons and tons of programs and services that you can pay for, but with some work you can accomplish the same thing without spending any money.

Now, there are 3 tasks that need to be completed before starting:

1. Go to www.goodkeywords.com - download and install the free keyword tool.

2. Go to toolbar.google.com - download and install the Google Toolbar.

3. Go to www.dmwebsolution.com/template.htm - download my keyword template (can be opened with Microsoft WordPad).

Have all your supplies ready? GOOD! Then lets begin.

Pick 3 main keywords that describe your site and list them on the left side of the template.

Open up your keyword tool and click on KEYWORD SUGGESTIONS. Make sure you are searching for Overture US results.

Enter your first keyword and click GO!

After a few seconds you should get a list of relevant keywords that were search for the last month starting with the highest count to the lowest count. From this list choose 10 keywords and write them in the middle column of your template for your first keyword. I generally use the ones from the middle, as the higher count terms will have an enormous amount of competition.

Repeat this for your other 2 main keywords.

OK you should now have a total of 30 keywords for your site.

Now we will go over to Google.com to find out how much competition we have for each keyword. This is where the Google toolbar comes in. We can check the PR rank of each of the top 5 sites that listed for each keyword and get a count of the number of sites listed for that keyword.

Do a search for each of the 30 keywords that you chose earlier. In the upper right hand corner they will say Results 1 10 of (number). The number is number of total results found for that keyword. Write that number in the right column of your template.

Now check the page rank for each of the top 5 results. Click on the link and on the Google Toolbar is will tell you the rank for that web site.

Make a note of it and continue through the top 5 results.

Do this for all 30 keywords you have chosen. I know it is a lot of work, but it will all pay off in the end. I promise.

Now that you have all your results together, you can figure out which relevant keywords with a lower number of competition you should target your website for. I use a maximum of 10 keywords per page on my sites, but you can utilize any number you want.

Now that you have your keywords you can optimize your website for the search engines. Some key tricks are

1. Be sure you have a header tags containing one of your keywords.

2. Have your keywords included in your title tag.

3. Bold or italicized each of your keywords at least once.

4. Include a text alternate containing your keywords on your graphics.

5. Place your keyword once at the top and again at the bottom of your page.

6. Get links to your page from relevant sites with a PR of 5 or greater to increase your PR rank.

Combining this techniques on each of the pages for your site will help you work towards that number one spot. Once you have completed these please give it 2 weeks to fully take effect and you can then make adjustments from there.

Thank you,