Jun 12, 2009

 

How to Use Paid Search to Improve Your Keyword Phrases and Meta Tags


Meta tags and keywords are very important aspects of SEO. Unfortunately, few people do little more than some keyword research and keyword stuffing in order to optimize their sites and improve organic search engine ranking. Keyword research through the use of keyword tools is effective but only to an extent. In order to find the exact phrases to target both in your content and meta tags, it’s a good idea to use paid search.

How to Find the Most Effective Keywords via Paid Search

Many people out there optimize pages on their websites for certain keywords without taking into consideration whether the keywords convert. In order to ensure that the keywords you are targeting are worthwhile, you should use paid search to your advantage. Risk-taking is part of being successful on the web but in this case, there is no need to take risks. Paid search will give you the information you need in order to target keywords that are worth your investment of time and money in SEO.

Use paid search to target different keyword variations. By doing so you will be able to figure out exactly which keywords you should target. There could be very small differences in keywords that will dramatically affect results. For example, the plural version of a keyword may do far better than the singular version. Sometimes keyword phrases perform far better than the target keyword alone. Use a paid search program such as Google Adwords and start several campaigns for a variety of search terms to figure out which ones perform the best.

Using Paid Search to Improve Your Meta Tags

Keywords aren’t all you can improve through research with paid search. Meta tags are another highly important component of search that many webmasters overlook completely. Sure, the bolded keywords in the search results do increase click through but you also need to pay attention to the words surrounding them (i.e. the description meta tags) for optimal results.

Tracking click through via natural search is incredibly difficult. This makes it nearly impossible to determine which description meta tags are most effective. Fortunately, you can track clicks via paid search quite easily. In order to create effective description meta tags, you should test a variety of different ideas and keywords in your paid search ads and measure their click through.

An example of this is if you offer free shipping in one ad and mention product reviews in the other. You can measure the results of each ad in order to determine which one is most effective and attracts the most clicks. Use the data you uncover in order to create highly effective meta tag descriptions. Include the keywords and ideas that have the most success in paid search in your meta tags for optimal results.

Contrary to popular belief, paid search is a lot more than just a method of advertising. It can be a highly effective research tool in SEO if used correctly. By researching which keyword phrases and ideas are most effective through paid search, your efforts to achieve organic search engine ranking will reach their fullest potential.

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