The idea of keywords has been lobbied around the SEO industry for decades, but only the most experienced website owners and search engine optimization firms really understand just how important this little bit of your site really is.

The basic definition of keywords is that they are relevant words or phrases that relate to the content of your site.

The hard part can be choosing the right ones to get your site the high search engine rankings it needs to be successful.

What keywords should you use for your site?

The first part is obvious- make a list of ten (or more) words or short phrases that relate to whatever your site is about.

The ideal keywords for your site are those that are specifically and narrowly related to the content of your site.

The more accurately you pick these words, the more they will help you in your SEO efforts.

The next step is to write content for each keyword placing the keywords and phrases you have come up with in your article.

While you want to make sure your keywords appear often enough on your site, you need to make sure they don’t appear too often, or search engines such as Google will detect so-called “keyword stuffing”.

There is no magic number of keywords that should be used.

Now, before you decide that you have come up with the perfect list of keywords and phrases and start your search engine optimization plan, think about your customer.

What would the average search engine user type in if he or she were looking for a site like yours?

Ask friends or family what they would search for, without giving them the keywords you have thought up.

Often, these are the best choices.

Large sites often have a near-monopoly on the most often used keywords, so spend some time thinking about how people really search.

Also, search for the keywords you have come up with online, and make notes about other words that appear frequently around those keywords.

Start adding these keywords and phrases to your site in a natural way.

Now that you have spent time figuring out the perfect list of keywords, you will have a powerful tool for your SEO campaign.

The research you completed as you developed your keywords list is the exact information you need in order to drive traffic to your site.

No matter what you plan to offer visitors to your site, remember that the content of your site is what brings customers to your page and keeps them coming back to find out what you have to offer.

Your site should be designed to appeal to customers searching for what you have to sell, and choosing the right set of keywords is the best way to help search engines bring you the surfers you want to appeal to.

Doing a little research upfront and finding out what your customers are looking for will result in higher sales and more hits than virtually any other method you will try.