As controversial as it is… Let me start off by saying that keywords are not the be all and end all to online success. However, they do play a significant role. Throughout this article we look at exactly why.

The best type of keyword to target is one that has a reasonable amount of traffic but not extremely high competition. Here are some tips on finding keywords that you will actually have a chance of ranking your site for.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool.
The first option is to use the Google AdWords keyword tool. This tool was created by Google and is used to find keywords for the purpose of creating contextual advertising.

The important thing to remember about the Google AdWords tool is that it gives you the search volume by default. You have to scroll down a little to the bottom of the page to see the main rankings.

Let's assume that you are a small business in New York who sells custom logo designing products. You want to produce a PAD file that will allow you to search for the most popular keyword that best relates to your market.

You ideally want to start off with a keyword that has around 1000 searches per month and no more than 10,000 competing sites. Once you get this down to a usable level, you can start designing your site with more competitive keywords.

Top Tip: You can use SEMrush to check for search volume and competing sites.

Google Suggest.
Another tool I want to highlight is Google Suggest. This tool was designed to help users find the most relevant search terms to their search before they visit the Google search engine.

When you go to Google Suggest, you will see a table displaying search terms along with their traffic and search data. You can narrow your results further by entering a phrase into the "Choose synonyms" box.

Measuring Effective Keyword Density
You will probably notice that some keywords will have very high traffic. That is due to the fact that the keyword has been popular for a reason. However, you will also notice that there are a lot of keywords that will provide you with very little traffic or 'traffic', if any at all.

For example, the keyword "coffee table" will have a lot of traffic. coffee tables is a very common search term for a coffee table. However, there is very little competition for the keyword. If you search for the keyword coffee table and other terms, such as table cover, table design, etc, you will notice that there are a lot of search results.

This means that you have a good chance of getting your website ranked for the keyword "coffee table". Of course you will have to decide if you want to pay for the keyword or not.

What about SEO Keyword Phrases?
However, if you decided to build your site without using keywords or keywords phrases, you would essentially be throwing "Money down the drain". It's true that not many people will search for the term "coffee table", but they will search for other terms like "what is the best coffee table?" They will also search for keywords such as "coffee table cheap".

In short, if you are an online marketer and want to improve your web site ranking, you have to pay attention to keywords and how you use them. Also, you have to be aware that you can generate keyword modifiers to build even more traffic to your site. That's certainly the case with the coffee table example.

Keyword Research is a Must
The problem with most internet marketers is that they do not know how to do keyword research. Most of them will do a search on Google or other search engines looking for a coffee table and then start writing some content. If they do the right research, then they will have found a keyword that has a lot of traffic. That is just the way the internet works.

A keyword search should provide you with a set of keywords that will provide you with steady traffic. Then when you write your content, make sure that you use that keyword in the title of your article, once in the first paragraph and a couple of times in the body of your article.

Just doing that will not be enough for you to get ranked by Google. Google uses a complex system of algorithms and equations to decide the ranking of your web page and how to make it more relevant in the eyes of Google.

Amelia-Lily Houghton is a content creator for Technical Writers. She is a qualified online content media manager who loves to interact with engaging content & multi-media. Certification: A* in media studies and further qualifications in digital marketing.