Keyword Ranking, Keyword Optimization, Keyword Marketing

Best Optimization Of Keywords And Most Popular Search Terms

KEYWORD EFFECTIVENESS INDEX? Initially I asked myself if it made good sense for us to choose keywords by their KEI, or should we use other known methods? After my initial research, it was abundantly clear as to the direction we should take. Today, experienced Webmasters with Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) techniques utilize the Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI) to determine the power and value of their keywords.

What is the KEI or Keyword Effectiveness Index?

The KEI compares the number of searches for a keyword to the number of "indexed" uses of the search term or keyword on web pages throughout the Internet. The data results help to glean which keywords will be the most effective for your Internet marketing campaign.

Let us suppose that the number of searches or the popularity (p) for the keyword phrase 'golf swing' is (P=752) per month and Google displays 720,374 competitive (C) results for that keyword. Then the ratio between the popularity and competitiveness for that keyword is "752 Squared" divided by 720,734. In this case, the KEI 0.78.

The formula is KEI= (p^2/C) whereby: p = Popularity C = Competition

A high KEI is the result of a popular keyword combined with less competition. So vice versa, the less popular a keyword is and the more competition it has, the lower the KEI. These results can mean that you might have a better chance of getting your webpages to the top of the search engines.

Is the KEI Result A Good Indicator For A Useful Keyword?

By definition with KEI, the best keywords are those that have many searches (popularity) and don't have much competition in the search results. But, it does not speak of other SEO factors. You may find many keywords with attractive KEI's, this is good, but it doesn't speak of your competition's other SEO practices. They may have tons of back links to their sites that can outweigh your optimization with keywords by using KEI.

What this tells you is that KEI is very important, but is only one aspect of fully implementing a well rounded SEO practice. Remember that it is much easier to optimize a site and move from 38,000 to 16,400 in search engine results, than it is to move from 142 to position #6.

In addition, the KEI factor is not a scientific number. The numbers on which it is based might not be comparable for all keywords. The keyword counts could be calculated differently for different keywords (some terms might be combined into one and another might not) and the search results sometimes change because a special word in the search term triggers a special filter. The changes in the starting numbers might cause you compare apples and oranges.

What Does This Mean To Your Web Site?

If you are serious about your web site, you must be serious about your keyword choice. KEI can help you to choose keywords but you should not rely too much on it and it should be the last step when choosing keywords.

Follow the instructions of our Keywords And Search Engine Optimization (SEO) article to find the best keywords for search engine optimization. It is important that your keywords are targeted and popular and that they attract web surfers with the right motivation.

Once you have built a list of specific keywords that have many searches and that are used by web surfers with the right motivation, you could apply the KEI formula to them.

Use common sense. If the KEI for a keyword is high it might still be a good idea not to use the keyword if your top ranked competitors are very big players.

Finding the right keywords is a very important step in every search engine optimization campaign. Take some time to find the best keywords for your web site and then optimize your pages for these keywords so that you get high rankings on Google, Yahoo and other major search engines.

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