Keywords 'crucial in SEO'

28th July 2008

Firms looking to make their websites stand out must ensure they are using the correct key phrases in order to succeed in search engine optimisation (SEO).

This is according to comments made on the TechLeader blog by Shaun Oakes, who said that companies should endeavour to focus their sites around popular search terms.

In addition, the expert states that keywords and phrases must be assessed in terms of their use by competitors.

He comments: "'Cape Town guest house' may be a great term, but there are eight million competing pages on Google."

According to Mr Oakes, companies can benefit from using keyword research tools, such as Google AdWord, to give an indication of historical search trends and to come up with alternative phrases.

Recently, Julie Batten of the ClickZ Network suggested that it is worth starting a new web project with SEO principles in mind, since it is easier to conform to SEO rules at this stage.