Registering Keywords

The Question :

Hi Jill,

I'm so glad I found your site and have signed up for your newsletter, which I am anxious to receive.

I am new to Internet marketing so am spending my first few days on the job doing research (which is how I stumbled upon your site). I hear a ton about keyword selection but I don't hear what you do with these keywords once they are selected. I understand that one is supposed to optimize the copy of their website to incorporate as many of these keywords as will logically fit but is there a registering process that goes along with the keyword selection process?

Also, if you can direct me to anything on the web or otherwise on the basics of SEO and keyword campaigns, I would be greatly appreciative.

Thank you!

Marie

++Jill's Response++

Hi Marie,

There is no keyword registering process when it comes to optimizing your pages for the "natural" search results. The engines have to logically figure out what keywords are relevant to your site by how they are incorporated into it, and by the links pointing to it. I'd suggest reading the articles referenced in this "Tips for Newbies" thread at our forum for more info..

Things are a bit different, however, for search pay-per-click (PPC) advertising such as AdWords or Overture. With those, you do actually register your keyword phrases as part of your ad campaign. Basically, you create your ad or ads in their interface, and then list all the words/phrases you want your ad to be associated with. Then -- if you've bid enough money -- when someone types those words/phrases into the search engines, your ad will show up. In Google, if it gets a decent amount of clicks, your ad will continue to run for that word/phrase. If after some time your ad doesn't get clicked on much for the words/phrases you chose, they will be disabled. You can always add or subtract keyword phrases from your campaign by hand, as well.

If you want to get into these pay-per-click ad campaigns, I'd suggest either hiring a company to do it for you, or reading up on it a bit before you start. Andrew Goodman's Google AdWords ebook is something I'd definitely recommend that you purchase. You can learn more about that at http://www.highrankings.com/pagezero. (That's an affiliate link.) I'd also suggest reading through the multitude of posts in the PPC area of our High Rankings Forum . Plus, the current series of interviews with Kevin Lee (below) might also be helpful to you.

Good luck!

Jill

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Jill Whalen of High Rankings is an internationally recognized search engine optimization consultant and host of the free weekly High Rankings Advisor search engine marketing newsletter.

She specializes in search engine optimization, SEO consultations and seminars. Jill's handbook, "The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines" teaches business owners how and where to place relevant keyword phrases on their Web sites so that they make sense to users and gain high rankings in the major search engines

 

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