Getting to the top of search engines can be a daunting task. Not knowing where to begin can leave you feeling frustrated, while your site sits on the net unnoticed. Fret not because there is a solution. The best place to start is by using and understanding “key words” and how they relate to your site, while still attracting visitors. You can start by making a list of relevant words and phrases that pertain to your site and search for them in Google to see how many returns you get. This will give you an idea of the competition you are facing. However, it is important to choose your keywords wisely. There is no sense in trying to compete with twenty different sites with page ranks of 7 or higher by using the same keywords they do because let’s be honest; your use of the same keyword is not going to help you out-rank them. Not to say you are not going to have some of the same key words, because obviously, it is essential and clearly works. The point is to find keywords that give you the chance to be a worthy competitor; words related to the content of your site. If you choose words that people Google on a regular basis, only to find that when they get to your site, your content is not even remotely related to it, chances are they will leave and not return. This is what you want to avoid. You want people to visit your page, and keep coming back.

I am going to use examples that I used for the site carshowkiosk.com. Remember that these techniques can be applied to any site, under any situation and it is important to find your niche. The site name (carshowkiosk) has little competition so I will focus on other keywords that will have potential to drive traffic to my site.

My first choice for a keyword was “car show”. I typed it into Google and got 49,300,000 results. That’s a lot of competition to go up against for a small web site. By refining my keyword to “Michigan car show” I got a return of 2,820,000 listings from Google. By adding Michigan to my keyword, which suited my website better anyway, I was able to go from 49 million competitors, to just under 3 million, which are much better odds in this competitive game.

Getting your keywords to work for you to gain higher ranking is the next step. Link exchange is still the best way to get higher rankings in search engines. When you make your links, use your keywords as the anchored text and not the site name.

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Example link:

CarShowKiosk.com, your information kiosk for Michigan Car Shows and cruises.

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Page optimization is also important. Whenever possible, include your keywords in titles, tags and headings. Make links to other pages within your site that include your keywords. When using alt tags for images, include keywords when relevant. However, do not spam your site with keywords, as this will only hurt your efforts and irritate your visitors. Below is a picture of how keywords are used in the anchored text linking to internal pages, in the title of pages and within the site structure (address bar).

Remember to find keywords that fit your niche, are relevant to your particular site and that offer you a competitive edge. Do not be afraid to research misspellings of your target keywords or phrases to gain an edge also; in fact, I encourage it. Try to include your keywords whenever and wherever possible in an applicable manner and get as many links possible with your keywords as the anchored text.