So often a website owner creates their content very well, but does not use the keywords that a potential customer is using. He/she is using those that they THINK (possibly incorrectly) they should be using. Or even worse, they do not target any keywords at all.

It's not enough to just spice up your copy with a few keywords. If you read the Google webmaster guidelines you will have noticed the paragraph: "Hypertext-Matching Analysis" Google's search engine also analyses page content. However, instead of simply scanning for page-based text (which can be manipulated by site publishers through meta-tags), Google's technology analyses the full content of a page and factors in fonts, subdivisions and the precise location of each word.

Google also analyses the content of neighbouring web pages to ensure the results returned are the most relevant to a user's query.

To get first page listings in the search engines each page of your site that you want listed needs to be optimised to the best of your ability.

Since the keywords that you decide to target will be used throughout the optimisation process choosing the right keywords is essential. If you choose the wrong keywords you will not be found in the search engines. If you are not found in the search engines how will anyone find the site?

Keywords must be specific keyword phrases not "keywords". Due to the extreme amount of competition for general terms in the search engines, if the keyword phrases are too general it is very unlikely a new site will rank well in the search engines. If a new site focuses on competing with over 12 million pages for the word "shoes" you stand a far better chance of ranking well for specific phrases where there is less competition. Optimising for "Men's leather deck shoes" and the system is competing with 12,000 pages! The resulting traffic, since it is more highly targeted, should also be much higher quality too!

Try to think like your target audience. What would they search for when looking for the page you are optimising? It is very easy to fall in the trap of coming up with a short list of what YOU would search for, but what about everyone else? They will not necessarily use the same keywords as you. You should try to come up with as many keyword phrases as you can think of that relate to the page you are optimising Try asking a few friends and family what they would search for when searching for a site like yours.

Check out your competition for ideas. Do a search using keywords that you already know you want to target and click through on the top sites that come up. Once on the site view the source HTML code and view the keywords they have in their meta tags - this should give you many more ideas! Make sure to only use keywords that relate to YOUR site or page. To view the HTML code simply click the 'View' at the top of your web browser then select 'Source', or 'Page Source'.

You should develop a list of keyword phrases, following the tips on this page, for each page that you optimise for the search engines.