The goal of keywords is to choose terms that will bring well targeted traffic to your

web site. Each page on your site can be targeted for a few different keyword

phrases. Typically I like to just do about 1 to 2 primary and 2 to 3 secondary

phrases.

Overlapping Keyword Phrases:

It makes sense to optimize the same page for keyword phrases that share some of

the same keywords. A page that ranks well for search engine marketing should

easily be able to rank well for professional search engine marketing or search

engine marketing services.

Only Use a Few Keyword Phrases per Page:

A note of caution is that you can not optimize a page for 20 different keywords. As

you add more keywords to the mix, you lessen the keyword density and change the

focus of the page. The page can start to sound robot created if you are optimized

for too many terms. Remember that converting eyeballs is what matters. People are

not likely to link to or buy from a page that reads like rubbish.

Misspelled Keywords:

You usually do not want to use misspelled keywords in your body copy or page

title as they will look somewhat unprofessional. It can however help you to add

misspelled keywords to the meta keywords tag (which is explained in further detail

in the meta keywords section).

Some sites use “Did you mean…” pages, focusing the page title and heading tag on

the misspelled versions of the keyword and then underneath it say “often times

internet searchers searching for xxx misspell the word as bla or bla.” If you are

looking for xxx you are in the right place. Learn more about our bla bla bla…

Search spelling correction will get more sophisticated over time. Search engines

want to correct for misspellings in the search results pages before the users get to

your site. I spoke with a search engine product manager who stated that

misspellings can flag pages for relevancy reviews and usually misspellings for SEO

are not recommended for most websites.

If you are using throw away domains then misspellings might help you get some

targeted traffic without using as much effort. Also if you have a community driven

site it will naturally include many misspellings from various bad spelling authors.

Plural Keyword Versions:

Some search engines do use stemming, but usually the search results for singular

and plural search phrases are different. It is recommended that you optimize for

common versions of your popular keywords.

Capitalized Keywords:

Most major search engines are not case sensitive. Cars is the same thing as cars.

Hyphenated Keywords:

Most search engines treat hyphens as a space. E-mail is different than email. If a

word is split in half by a hyphen then you should check to see which version is

used more frequently and optimize for whatever versions are commonly searched

for. If a hyphen is sometimes placed between two words then using either version

(with or without a hyphen) will cause your page to rank better for both versions.

Localized Keyword Research:

People use different terminology in different countries. In the US we want taxi

cabs. In London they look for a car hire. Make sure if you are not from the country

of your target market you know what common words they use to describe the

products or services you are promoting there.