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Optimizing a website is a process. The first step in the process should be to develop a list of keywords or phrases that relate to the product or service being promoted on the website.

Once you've created a basic list of keywords, you are not done! You must then expand the keyword list in a number of different ways. Expanding the list of keywords will allow you to capture additional targeted web traffic. The more you expand the keyword list, the wider the audience you can potentially draw from.

Here are some tips to help expand your list of keywords and phrases...

Permutations
Develop a list of keyword phrase permutations by reordering the words in a phrase. Each permutation creates a new keyword phrase. Permutations can include multi-word phrases, which will exponentially increase the number of phrases in the keyword list.

example: color shoe, shoe color

Stemming
Word stemming is the process of changing the tense and format of the keyword. Stemming uses the root of the word, and then makes a number of variations from it.

example: color, colored, coloring

Modifiers
Using Geographical or Superlative modifiers is an easy way to expand a keyword list...

Geographical Modifiers
Use location-based modifiers to modify the keyword phrase. This is particularly important when a business primarily sells to a localized audience. Companies that sell on a wider geographic scale can still use geographical modifiers, but they tend to be a less effective.

example: Washington DC pizza

Superlative Modifiers
Superlatives can also be used as modifiers to further expand the keyword.

example: best pizza, cheap pizza, inexpensive pizza,

Regional Dialects
Differing regional dialects within the same basic language can often result in different terms being used to describe the same thing. For example, in England the "boot" of an automobile refers to what is called the "trunk" in the USA. Likewise, what people in the USA refer to as a "sweater" is called a "jumper" in England. In order to effectively target all regions, even where the same language is spoken, you will want to develop a list of "regional" terms.

Additionally, proper spelling may vary based on geographical location, so be sure to optimize and make allowances for spelling variations from region to region. For example, colour vs color.

Misspellings
Fat fingers and fast typing on keyboards still results in misspellings, so be sure to consider common misspellings and typos that may occur when creating a keyword list. Factor these misspellings into your keyword advertising and SEO strategy.

example: fat fngers

Brand
Do not neglect your brand! People search on brand names to find products or companies. You should own the number one spot for your brand in the search engines and advertising. In order to do this, you should optimize for your brand.

example: product brand, company brand,

Develop a robust list of keywords and phrases for optimization and bidding.

Resource for Keyword Tools

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How to Optimize for Organic Search