In Search of Optimization

Keyword research is one of the most important facets of Search Engine Optimization and in my case, I usually spend weeks doing my research trying to look for the best keywords to optimize on. Weighing competition versus the number of searches made and so on is just pretty tiring at times. Gladly, I do use some software to help me out. Tools such as Keyword Elite and SEO Elite just made my life easier.

On the other hand, if you prefer to do it the hard way, then I could say is that this How to do Keyword Research article by Benj is one heck of a guide that will definitely help your way out. Even if you plan to use software such as the one I recommended above, you may still want to read Benj’s article as it will give you a good insight on keyword research.

Then and again, if you want to do things easier, then check out the following software:

• Click here to Download Keyword Elite
• Click here to Download SEO Elite

Ok, I’m not trying to pick on any of you Search Engine Marketers but please allow me to ask you one question that’s been bothering me ever since I came into the world of SEO and SEM. It feels kinda strange to me and sometimes I can’t even sleep (Ok that’s exagerrating).

Ok my question is this - why is it that when you guys optimize for certain keywords, it seems like you don’t know how to speak English? What am I talking about? Ok…

In the world of SEO / SEM, link building is an important factor. I do admit that I make money out of these links but why do it like this - Internet marketing San Diego - and not Internet marketing in San Diego. Note the word “in” in my second example? I mean, would an additional “in” affect your rankings? If so, would it affect it that much?

I’m asking this mainly because I find it tough putting such a keyphrase in a sentence especially in paid posts without making the sentence sound ridiculous. I mean, why speak like Tarzan? Me Tarzan, you Jane? Why not do it in proper English?

Anyone care to answer?

Ok, it’s formal. Google just did their quarterly PR update and while most expect their PR to increase or decrease only slightly, a bunch of other people including myself were surprised to see that our PRs dropped to 0. Mine was formerly PR4 and then it became PR0.

Being a regular subscriber to Matt’s blog, I submitted a comment to one of the recent posts asking him of the situation. The post can be found here: Infrastructure status, January 2007. A guy from Germany also named “Mike” reported that his website dropped from PR7 to PR0. Is Google freaking up?

Well apparently (and gladly) the answer is NO. Google is not freaking up. I quote the following update from Matt’s post above.

Update: A few people were seeing PageRank 0 for their site. There was a small auxiliary push that needed to happen to complement the PageRank push, and that push happened a few hours ago (i.e. Jan 11, 2007). If you were getting stressed, you might want to re-check now. If you never even noticed, well, good for you.

There ya go. Now, all is normal, my site is now PR5 - increased by 1 from its former PR4. I also saw nice PR increases for my other subdomains. Ha, now I can breath easily and happily.