Setting up an online business is one of the easiest steps when trying to make money online. Anyone can go to blogger.com or squidoo.com and make a few pages which could potentially make them money. Blogger especially makes setup simple by automatically adding adsense when you click on monetization. What people struggle with is building free web traffic by ranking well in Google and the other major search engines. This takes quite a bit of time and before you can even begin attempting to rank well you will need to learn the basics of SEO. This article will not be covering the basics, but rather a deep look at targeting keywords. If you need to learn the basics either search Google for a “SEO tutorial” or hit a webmaster forum such as v7n.com/forums and look through the SEO threads. Personally I recommend the forum because you can interact. This means if you have a specific question put it out there and have experienced webmasters answer. The main rule with using webmaster forums is do not join to spam your site. Remember that the major search engines will have much more traffic and the traffic you get will be targeted.
When you begin search engine optimization you will need to have an idea for a niche. For most they will already have an idea. If you dont then think of something you really enjoy or have some expertise with. Take that idea and head over to Google Adwords Keyword Tool which will let you know how much traffic your idea or niche has. This is when you will get some insight on the amount of traffic and income you will be able to generate if you rank well for certain keywords. Just input the keywords into the tool and switch the search preference to exact. This will let you know how many people per month is searching for the word. Make sure to check through a bunch of different keywords. A good example is the “make money online” niche. Some keywords will have very little traffic while others with only a word difference will have quite a bit. “Make money free” does not even come close to “make money online” in terms of traffic.
The final step is implementing the keywords you have chosen into your website or blog. This is a tricky step because if you overload your presence with the keywords Google will think you are attempting to trick them by repeating keywords and ban your website. If you use the keywords to little the major search engines will have no idea what your website is about and not rank you for the keywords you would like to rank well for. It is important to use your main keywords in the areas that search engines look hardest. These include the URL, headings, and the first few lines of content. Make sure you place the keywords in these areas because the search engines will find them.
