There must be a web page to support every keyword. Similar words do not count; they must be exact. Make sure your keywords are a good investment. If you choose the wrong keywords, you’re going to lose money and waste time.

Mike refers to people who do this as “people with their heads in the clouds.” He says people who dream up keywords are not going to have success in their efforts and need to come back to earth and be practical.

Mike suggests looking at the following factors when selecting a keyword list:

-    Keywords in domain name
-    Website analytics
-    Competitors’ rankings
-    Inbound links
-    Where you ranked today, which page ranked, and on what search engine

Also, look for value in your PPC campaign. If someone is paying for a keyword, then it should be taken under consideration for your SEO program as well. It is possible that the same keywords could work for both programs.

Lastly, don’t look at who is ranking number 1 or 2. Look where websites are ranking that are similar to your site. You could be comparing your website, which is operated by 3 people, to a website that is run by a large corporation. Mike recommends first looking at the website’s age, size, and other factors before taking action. You may need to address other issues on your website to compete effectively.

SEO is a long process and the investment into keywords should not be taken lightly. After looking at the above factors, let’s again ask the question: Do your keywords support your website?

“People go to competitors and they say ‘I’m going to analyze their website and look at their keywords’ and that’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard of.”

Chicago’s Michigan Avenue Hilton saw a lot of expert traffic during this year’s Search Engine Strategies. Some made pit stops with the WebProNews crew to share such nuggets of wisdom.

Having already met with FathomSEO‘s VP at Cincinnati’s What’s Working Now Conference last fall, we were excited that he decided to pay another visit..

“Why would you go to a competitor’s site and and say ‘I’m going to see what keywords they have?’ Because… what they sell is not necessarily what you’re selling. Then you’re going to end up grabbing things that aren’t material to what you do.”

It’s funny that what should appear reasonable wisdom is so easily overlooked. Maybe it’s the culture of immediacy? People tend to ignore the benefits of time in SEO endeavors (like most others). Sure, fast results are possible but how permanent can such swift gains be?

“If you do something initially for two or three months, you’re going to get a lift. But the lift is just a lift… if you’re going to really improve that… you have to keep working at it. It’s an ongoing practice.”"

Murray likened SEO to traditional marketing, referring to it as “test and measure” and encouraged people to spend at least a year with a program for good results.

Mike also spoke on SEO’s bad reputation in the marketing world.

“There’s so many bad apples out there… [but] people run around like this is the only industry that has bad apples. Those people take things to the hills… they’ll put twelve different keywords on the title tag, when really they’re only really going after one or two at most.”

Suggesting that conferences like SES… and a simple dose of time can legitimize the industry, Murray adds,”As time goes on, you’re always going to have some of that back-and-forth, arguing about the SEO. I think the professionalism quotient is going to go up. You’re going to have people who… end up promoting what their specialization is.”

There’s no key secret to SEO… but Mike lays out some common (and uncommon) practices for gaining rank in natural search through title tags, meta descriptions and page content. Recent studies show that roughly 70% of businesses fail to optimize their web presence for natural search engines, instead relying too heavily on PPC ads.

Make sure to check Mike Murray out at the SES Convention in Chicago as he will be speaking at “75 Minute Search Abs” a basic search track full of quick tips to pump up a marketing program.

Siding on the debate over links vs. content to optimize search engine appearance, Murray explains his stance as, “It’s not content, content, content… it’s links, links, links. Work those keywords into your link structure… be strategic about which words you’re getting in your link structure…”