First of all, let's clear up a possible confusion between keywords and HTML tags (especially the Meta keywords tag). Keywords are visible and they are included in the copy of your website. Tags are invisible, with the exception of the very important Title tag.

·        Keywords

A keyword is a word that is entered into the search form or search "window" of an Internet search engine to search the Web for pages or sites about or including the keyword and information related to it.

Determining keywords is a critical step in creating your content. If your website and meta tags do not contain related keywords, web surfers will be unable to find your website when they conduct searches.

There are no real "tricks" to uncovering the keywords you should target, however there are a few tips. Here are a few pointers that will help you maximize your keyword selection:

• Think like a layman. Just because you know your industry terms doesn't mean that everyone does. Don't just think of the words you use to describe your products/services, think of the words you would use if you knew nothing about it other than the fact that you needed it. You may want to recruit your friends and have them run some searches for you.

• Think like an expert. On the other side of the coin, there may be phrases used specifically in your industry that people "in the know" would use to search for your products and/or services. Be sure to look into these phrases. You just may find some hidden gems that no one else has thought to target.

• Don't target too many phrases. Some target dozens and sometimes even hundreds of phrases. The end result, they often miss the ones they most wanted to attain. Keeping yourself and your keyword list focused will keep your site focused. If your site is focused, you'll rank higher for the phrases that will produce the highest return on investment.

·         Users might hunt your name. They may have heard of you. They may have run across your name in another ad. They may have an old business card, one that you put out before you had your URL on it. They'll go searching for your name so make sure your name is a prominent part of your page and part of your registration.

In order to achieve success, your website should be optimized with terms and phrases that are descriptive, related to your content and which receive a significant amount of searches. The problem is that you want to find terms and phrases where there is little competition, so you quickly achieve high ranking in the important search engines.

Sometimes it is better to optimize for a less popular term, one that is more targeted at your visitor, because it is more likely to have a higher conversion rate than a less specific popular term. It will also likely bring more interested visitors to your website. So besides standard words like "real estate", "house", "buy", "sell", your name and your agency's name, city, you might want to use specific keywords like "buy a home", "rent a holiday house" etc.

There are a number of free and low-cost tools available online and for download that will allow you to expand and research terms that have been brainstormed. For example:

The Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool

WordTracker

Free Keyword Suggestion Tool

Good Keywords

Use the list of keywords within your website copy, especially in the title, headline and first paragraph. The important thing is to make them flow smoothly within the context of the copy so prospects will not find it weird. Next, build up the rest of your site's content with relevant information using these same keywords.

How to: To work on your content, go to your NetReal Control Panel after you login. Press the "My Site Builder" tab, then click on the "Site content" link in the expanded submenu. Customize every section's content by clicking on the "Edit Content" button next to each.