Keywords are the words and phrases that are important to the subject of the webpage. They are also the words that people are most likely to use when they visit a search engine for a list of relevant websites.

Search engines look for keywords. Some–but not all–look in the “keywords” section of your META code. That’s above the /HEAD line at the top of your webpage’s code.

All of them consider the words in the Title of your webpage. This may be your most important place to have the best words and phrase. Don’t waste your Title words with a name such as, “Welcome to my website” on your index.html.

Likewise, since most search engines look closely at the words and phrases in your first paragraph or two, don’t waste that valuable space with a “Welcome to…,” line unless you can turn it to your advantage.

For example, let’s say that you want to sell tin foil hats.  What if your opening line on your index.html rambles like this:

“Welcome to my new website! My name is John Doe and I live in Nowhere, Some State, with my wife and two kids, John Jr. and Johnetta. This is my first website and its about my hobby of making tin foil hats.”

For your business, the only useful phrase in that is “making tin foil hats.”

To optimize your phrasing so that tin foil hat collectors will find you, put this at the top of your webpage instead:

“Tin foil hats are your best protection from alien invasions. I’ve made tin foil hats for 20 years. I use the best insulating foil plus my own secret alien-repelling coating inside each hat. For the past three years, I’ve earned the ‘Best Protection’ award from the International Tin Foil Hat Society. Even the world famous skeptic Amazing Randi has given ‘thumbs up’ to my unique tin foil hat designs.”

See the difference? Anyone searching on words such as “tin foil hats,” “alien invasion,” and “protection” is likely to find this website in the search engines.

There are many tricks to using keywords, but first you need to identify them. Start by making a list of all the words that are specific to the niche that you hope to specialize in. There are websites that can help you choose the best words, such as Enter Your Keywords.

But, unless you’re familiar with search engine optimization, a site like that is going to overwhelm you or downright confuse you.

It’s best to simply make a list of the words that best describe your area of expertise, or your product.

Then, zero in on four or five words, and use them as the focus of a webpage. Don’t try to make any one page include everything but the kitchen sink… even your index.html.

Keywords are nothing more than the words that people might use at a search engine if they’re looking for a site like yours. Make it easy for people to find your site by using those words on your pages.

[And, to tin foil hat collectors who were accidentally directed to this page, I apologize for using that phrase so often that this page ranks highly at some search engines.]