Importance of Primary Keyphrases

When optimizing a page, the basic first step is to know what to optimize for – that is, what words or phrases you want to have a high ranking for.

It is usually a good idea for each individual page of your website to be primarily optimized around a single phrase. That’s certainly not to say that you shouldn’t use other keyphrases as well, but giving one of them priority is a wise strategy.

The main goal of this strategy, of course, is to be number the number one listing (or at least on the first page) in Google, Yahoo, and/or MSN when internet users type your phrase into the search box.

Smaller websites will generally see better results when their pages are optimized for more specific “niche” terms, rather than highly competitive terms that lots of people are trying to rank for. That’s why it can be much more effective to choose a creative two to five word keyphrase rather than a single keyword with a lot of competition, such as “travel” or “finance”.

Finding a relevant, popular keyphrase that you will realistically be able to rank for certainly isn’t easy, but it’s definitely worth doing. After all, aside from blind luck, having a good idea of what you want is the only way to get it.