Few Vs Many Keywords: What Is The Right Number?

07/04/2003

If you are using search engine optimization (SEO), then you probably want to focus on your top 10 keywords. Because of the techniques used, it’s very difficult to rank very many of your keywords. With SEO, you focus on your most important keywords and try to get top positions.

I have done quite a bit of SEO in the past and no longer use it. I do not believe in using smoke and mirrors as a legitimate method of driving traffic to your site. It’s a dying methodology now that pay-per-click (PPC) has emerged.

With PPC you determine the position you want to be in — for all or any of your keywords — and your site is now listed at whatever position you desire. There’s no smoke and mirrors — if you want to be in the top position, you set your bid and you are instantly in the top position — until someone comes along and bumps you. With SEO, you’re here today, gone tomorrow — now you have to wait several weeks to possibly appear somewhere — effectively you have absolutely no control.

With PPC you are only charged when someone clicks on your link. Because of this dynamic, it’s imperative that you have as many keywords as possible — you only pay when someone is interested in your offerings. Certainly, you do not want to use keywords that have nothing to do with what you are selling — you need to qualify the person who’s clicking, so you’re not paying for non-relevant clicks.

Some of my articles discuss this in more detail, they are available at… www.innovate-inc.com/articles.htm.

By Neal Lebar