Keyword Phrase Strategy's Importance to SEO

"I want to be on page one of Google."

That statement is the beginning of the practice of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It’s when a website owner realizes that launching a website is not enough to attract new business, and that a complete Web marketing plan must be started.

The one thing that is missing in that statement, however, is for what keyword phrase do they want to rank on page one of Google? Though the answer given off the cuff by the website owner is insightful, the true answer requires research and expertise.

Otherwise, website owners will spend a lot of time and money and still rank poorly. Or equally disappointing, they may rank well, but for poorly chosen keyword phrases, and the resulting traffic to their website is of poor quality.

For example, a church might choose "church services" as a keyword phrase, thinking the searcher on Google is seeking local church service times and options. But searchers also might use these terms to mean janitorial companies that specialize in cleaning churches, or for church service times 5,000 miles away.

Any traffic received from these searchers is worthless. The website traffic stats may grow, but that’s not telling the true story. Worst of all, even though the church invested time and money to rank well, it probably received no new calls or interest.

They may then be tempted to write off SEO and Web marketing. But the true problem was poor keyword phrase research and selection.

Lastly, SEO work lasts a long time. If a website succeeds and is on page one of Google, it will have that power for months, if not years, depending on how competitive the keyword phrases are. And if it does drop to page two, with a little attention, the former position can usually be restored.

So, it is critical that website owners don’t race through the keyword phrase selection process. It is not only the first step in SEO and Web marketing plans, but also the most important.

About the Author Jon Singer is a Chicago area Search Engine Optimization Specialist and Website Designer.