1. Look for keywords on your own web site.
Think like a customer and pick the words that your customers might be searching on to find you.

2. Use a keyword suggestion tool.
Google and Miva both offer keyword research tools. The Google Keyword Tool has been updated to show actual search volumes rather than a graphic. Miva also shows search totals on its Keyword Generator. Yahoo no longer offer the Overture tool, but if you are signed up to Yahoo Search Marketing, you can use the Yahoo! Keyword Assistant to research new keywords.

3. Think about keywords that attract customers at each stage of the buying cycle.
The buying cycle has three major phases: research, shopping and purchase. The closer someone is to buying, the more specific your keywords should be. For example, customers may search for “guitar” during research, “Fender guitar” while shopping, and “American Standard Fender Telecaster guitar” when they’re ready to purchase.

4. Pick a mix of broad and specific keywords.
Keep in mind that using more generic keywords, like “guitar,” can cause you to go through your budget and may not lead to sales as often, but can be helpful for driving traffic from prospective customers who are in the research phase. Selecting more specific keywords may deliver fewer clicks, but they may be more likely to result in sales.

It’s got to be something to celebrate, even if Yahoo only makes up a tiny fraction of the search market nowadays – something like 4% in the UK according to an article in Web User magazine. But what the hell, Top Spot is still Top Spot )

Cashback Shopper has just achieved the number 1 position for all the following keyphrases on Yahoo:

• shop cashback
• shopping cashback shopping
• shopper cashback
• shops cashback
• uk cash back
• cash rewards site
• extra cashback
• free cashback
• cash-back directory
• get cashback
• uk shopping cashback
• uk cashback shopping pays cash
• cashbackshopper
• cashback shopper
• earn cash back rewards
• cash back uk
• cash back shop
• cash back directory

and is in the top 10 results for 19 other keyphrases!!!!

It’s taken 9 months of constant promotion, blogging, marketing, seo etc. but it’s a nice feeling when the results are so visible. Will keep working at phrases that aren’t doing so well & the key objective is to start making a bigger dent in the Google SERPS!

The best Google positions currently achieved are:

cash rewards site 7
cashback shopper 1
cashback shopping 3
cashback shopping site 7
cashback site 3
cashback uk 9
earn cashback 5
extra cashback 4
shopper cashback 1
site cashback 4
uk cashback 2
uk cashback shopping 2

with 17 other phrases appearing in the next 2 pages of results.

MSN is a strange creature; I have about 13 top ten positions, but only 2 other phrases in the next 2 pages and a dozen or so ways down in the top 100! But with a only 3% of the search market, it doesn’t really matter anyway.

So, the aim now is to find the most searched phrases (& those with the highest KEI) from all these on Google & give them a real push to try & get them to the top!! With lots of FREE traffic up for grabs, this is the most important task for any affiliate marketer!

Link building is one of the most important search engine optimisation steps. Without good inbound links, your website cannot get high rankings. Although it is very important that your website has optimised content, without the links to your website, search engines won’t consider that content to be relevant.

It’s important to get the right links to your website. Link spamming doesn’t work. You must make sure that you get high quality links that Google and other search engines like.

Make your website linkworthy

You must make your website linkworthy. You cannot expect that other websites will link to your website if your site is basically a collection of affiliate links, or an online shop that looks like a thousand other online shops.

Your website must be different & unique in some way. Try the following:

* Add articles about your products or services to your website.
* Add tutorials and how-to articles about the topic of your website.
* If you have a lot to say, add a blog to your website & update it regularly.
* Add a directory with links to valuable resources on your website.

Check your competitors

The best way to start link building is to duplicate the links that your competitors have. Find all websites that link to your competitors and then try to convince them to link to your website. I use a couple of tools to find links to competitor sites, IBP & SEO Elite. The good thing about SEO Elite is that you can select to include the Page Rank of sites as a parameter, so that you can choose to apply for links only on sites with a higher Page Rank than your own. IBP shows the Page Rank of sites, but there is no setting not to include low Page Rank sites in the results. However, it is worth using as many tools as possible & IBP is very easy to use!

Get links from blogs

There are millions of blogs on the Internet and they all need something to write about.
Bloggers give out millions of free links each month & getting links from blogs is a good way to get links from related websites. For example, you could enter “real estate blog” or “music blog”, depending on what you sell on your website.

Using IBP to find these blogs also allows you to contact the blog owners quickly and easily and it automatically keeps track of the websites that you’ve already contacted so that you don’t contact the same person twice.

Get links from Internet directories

Submitting your website to Internet directories can be a good way to show Google that you have a reputable website. Low quality & fly by night websites usually don’t invest the time and money that is needed to be listed in Internet directories.

Inbound links are very important if you want to get high rankings on search engines. You should optimise your web page content first to make sure that search engines find your website relevant to your targeted keywords & then submit to directories & blogs.

If more than one website has been optimised for the same keywords (and that’s usually the case) then the website with the best links will get the best rankings.

If you want permanent backlinks for your website, then consider using the FreshBidz Bidding Directory! Newly launched, you can buy links in your chosen category and then bid your way to the top of the list from just £1. Increase your bid to take a top position, & get listed higher on the directory homepage.

It appears that Yahoo! has given up in their efforts to compete for advertisers PPC dollars, with the signing of an agreement to allow them to syndicate Google ads within their search results. This Yahoo!/Google agreement means that Google’s dominant position in the Pay Per Click market, is now set in concrete.

The share price for Yahoo has been falling after rejecting Microsoft’s takeover bid & shareholders have been very angry at what they feel was a bad management decision. Yahoo has been under pressure from shareholders, for major management changes, while others have even filed lawsuits. This deal with Google is meant to assist Yahoo!’s under performing revenues & appease the shareholders.

With Yahoo! now only achieving 19% search market share, it appears that they have now abandoned the PPC market, its users and advertisers. Google have now increased their already dominant position and bought even more market share, which can only reduce competition & increase costs!

Competition also breeds innovation – for both search consumers and the advertiser & without it, will Google now rest on its laurels & just rake in the money? The paid search market is still relatively young and has been going through rapid changes and growth. But with the battle already won, the need for product innovation is gone. Microsoft may very well have deep pockets and control of the desktop, but Live Search lacks the traffic to be a true competitor – and they also seem to have diverted their attention elsewhere – at least in the short to medium term.

A lack of competition also means that advertisers are likely to pay more for each click. Advertisers will be forced to pay for Google, rather than the cheaper Yahoo! rate & without an alternative, the Google monopoly will mean that they can increase their charges as and when they like! Whilst this is great for Google & the Yahoo! shareholders, it is not great for anyone who is already struggling to make a return from PPC marketing.

Whilst a combined Yahoo!/Microsoft might not have been perfect, it at least would’ve provided competition for Google, benefiting advertisers and searchers alike.

With the small advertiser being frozen out of PPC markting by the big players with big budgets, it looks like search engine optimisation & high natural search engine listings will be even more important for affiliate marketeers!!!