Creating an Internet marketing strategy is not just for big business, the small and mid sized company can compete just as well (better in some cases) if they efficiently employ a key word strategy.

Key words are words that can be used by search engines to find you. If you use key words correctly the searcher will find you, if you don't they can't find you. If they can't find you, you have lost the sale.

Key words give a summary of the content of a web page. If your web site is about roses, then there needs be at least 250 words of text on your home page with lots of relevant mentions and references to roses. If your key words are too specific or too general, your public is not likely to find you unless they know your exact web address.

Chisel these facts in stone:

• The Internet is the dominant source for information. Some 45% of the participants in a recent survey indicate the Internet is their top choice for media, followed by TV at 35%. Trailing much further behind are books, radio, newspapers, videos/DVDs, video/computer games, and magazines.

• Over 80% of all web traffic comes via search engines. The key to the treasure is providing the key words that the search engines need to find you.

From a marketing point of view this is critical. To be successful in Internet marketing one needs to:

1. Find the key words that people are searching for. This is done by software that calculates the quantity of word and word phases on a certain subject. Below is a partial list of the search term "roses".

Count Search Term

337582 roses

286184 gun n roses

127093 gun and roses

55157 outkast roses

46796 red rose

32350 rose mcgowan

28563 rose petal

27702 picture of roses

26609 long stem rose

25634 pink rose

25039 send rose

2. Determine the key words that are specific enough to drive people to your site. If you were selling "roses", some of the terms are applicable and some are not. So people searching for "roses" is too general and broad, while "long stem roses" could be just the right phrase to use.

3. The key words selected have to be narrow enough for a site to be found and ideally listed as one of the top three items on the first page of the search engine results.

4. Modify your web site so that the content (i.e. text not pictures) has those key words. This allows the search engines to index the information on your site.

It is now key words not key word. More people are using multiple words when they search. According to a recent study from OneStat.com, two and three word searches are the usual practice for Web searchers. The 7 most used word phrases in search engines on the web are:

1. Two word phrases 32.58%

2. Three word phrases 25.61%

3. One word phrases 19.02%

4. Four word phrases 12.83%

5. Five word phrases 5.64%

6. Six word phrases 2.32%

7. Seven word phrases 0.98%

Search engines are the most popular tool on the Web. They are similar to a giant library card catalog and are very useful tools to find information about products and services. A successful Internet marketing strategy must include providing what the search engines need and how consumers use them.

Just like a library, a search engine "indexes" a web site in two basic ways:

1. By submitting a site to a search engine. Essentially you are asking the search engine to add your site to their index.

2. By using a spider (software that roams the web locating and cataloging content).

Search engines look at both the web page title and the content. Thus both need to be optimized to include the applicable key words. Search engines are based on very sophisticated mathematical search queries, which of course are top secret.

Although Google is the top search engine at the moment, a good Internet strategy will result in high rankings on various different search engines.

To find the correct keywords requires research and an understanding of how the search engines work. Once you find where the viable online market is, you can use this to create your website so it fits what your future customers are looking for.

Research shows that searchers regard good placing in the natural search results (as opposed to pay per click or sponsored links) as an indicator of a company who is tops in their field. 80% of all business on the Internet goes to the first three on the first page of a search result. The design, content and programming of your site all influence your search rankings.

Keep in mind that a web site is the core of your Internet marketing strategy and an incredible tool if used correctly. Utilize the key works that will drive business to your site and make that cash register sing.