California SEO - Search Engine Optimization and Web Site marketing

The selection of keywords and key terms for an online campaign is one of the most critical aspects of launching an e-commerce or on-line service.

Since most people looking for a service or product on the Internet will use a search engine like Google, Yahoo or MSN (the three combine for over 80% of searches), a listing under the right keyword is imperative.

But how can you be sure your listing will be seen by web surfers? After all, most web surfers stop looking past the top five pages of any search engine (and often less). And considering that in some categories millions of websites compete for the same keywords, the task seems daunting. However beware of quick solutions offered by self-proclaimed web-gurus.*

The solution to a winning keyword strategy lies in identifying the most popular keywords for any category of product or service. But more importantly, the secret is identifying which keywords are the most “efficient.” By “efficient” we mean the keywords that will insure the best ranking, encounter the least competition, and attract qualified visitors. This is what we call our SMaRT (Search Match and Recursive Trends) technique, a unique approach to keywords selection that guarantees optimum keywords selection. And SMaRT goes well beyond keywords popularity or even KEI (Keyword Efficiency Index).

For example, Overture/Yahoo lists keywords based on the number of searches performed during a given time period. While this is a great tool for identifying the most popular keywords and key terms, it is also a highly inefficient way to select a keyword unless you have very deep pockets. In fact, choosing the most popular keyword is not necessarily the best approach to promoting a product or service online. For example, Yahoo and Google differ in their rankings of keywords, sometimes in a very significant way. Furthermore at any given time a search for keywords can result in a list of potential keywords that is far too long for optimization purposes.

Another approach is the KEI or Keyword Efficiency Index. The KEI is Sumantra Roy’s idea and is based on identifying and categorizing the most efficient keywords. In a nutshell: The KEI is a way to find keywords that are popular yet not frequently used by competing websites. The KEI comes as a listing that compares the top keywords found within any search criteria. The higher the KEI, the more popular the keyword is, and the less competition there is for this keyword. This in turn means a much better chance for getting to the top of a search engine.

A simple illustration of the KEI follows:

Keywords Optimization, KEI - image 1

The initial keywords’ criteria in this instance
was “car” and then refined to “sale a car” and “buy a car”.

The complication with using KEI comes in categories where keywords are highly competitive and KEI is low or when a website is targeting a very specific audience. For example, the keyword targeting car buyers who are looking to buy a car online registers a dismal KEI rating of 1.9, a far cry from the 44587.031 rating for “used car.” And while “used car” is a highly popular and highly rated keyword, it’s not specific. “Used car” could mean anything from repair tips to price to information on how to

Differences in popularity indexes from database to database (Google and Yahoo for example) make this issue even more complicated.

The solution? ExecFocus.Net offers a unique approach for identifying the best possible keywords.

First - We research what we call the “Raw” keywords within any category. The result is a number of small databases of keywords that relate to the category we are researching. Combined, these databases can amount to well over 200 keywords and key terms.

Second - Based on our findings with the “Raw” keywords, we cross-reference the databases obtained and identify the keywords and key terms that repeat or show a pattern. At this juncture we may get down to 30-50 keywords.

Third - We then compare each keyword to five databases (including Google, Overture/Yahoo, 7 Searches) that represent 90% of searches to come up with the most popular keywords across the Net.

Fourth - Based on the popularity results that we obtain, we then run each keyword through the KEI index to insure that we promote the most efficient keywords. This is critical for new websites that will be competing with well-established sites.

Fifth - We establish a list of primary keywords consisting of 12-15 keywords and key terms that we then utilize to promote the site via Meta Tags, content, etc. We also establish a secondary list that will be used to “support” the optimization effort. Note that for PPC management campaigns all keywords are used but our approach allows us to focus on how to price keywords.

This process is the core of SMaRT (Search Match and Recursive Trends) that we pioneered and that is only available to ExecFocus' clients.

* So-called web-gurus will have you believe that they know the secret to being listed at the top of Google or Yahoo. However, to date, most serious pros in this business have never seen any tangible proof of these claims. Most of their claims about increasing your web exposure lie in basic principles available for free on the Net. To be blunt, these so-called web-gurus are nothing more than charlatans or unscrupulous entrepreneurs feeding on the hope and ignorance of website owners.