While an entire library of books has been written on search engine optimization, a single article cannot do the subject justice. However, some basic SEO reporting tools can help website owners improve their overall results by doing a better job with their individually chosen keywords, rankings, and how they stack up against their competitors.

Search engine optimization providers have a host of SEO reporting tools at their disposal, so improving your search rankings can be achieved affordably, quickly and easily, if you have the desire and know-how. appropriate at your disposal. Choosing a search engine optimization consulting firm will go a long way toward “getting found, generating more leads, and ultimately converting those leads into customers.” Search engines are a great source of traffic to your website, that is if your site is optimized with the right keywords, continually upgrading a static site to an integrated system using current SEO reporting tools. Google AdWords, Advanced Web Ranking, Search Engine Commando Pro, Raven, and Web Position are all SEO reporting software that can help improve keyword functionality, but it takes someone with experience to use them wisely.

The Foundation: keywords

Because consumers are tired of conventional advertising, the constant barrage of “buy this” or “try that” messages, they have embraced searching for information about products or services on the Internet. Search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, MSN, etc.) rely on keywords to find sites that include the keywords you’re looking for. Your website is designed to target certain keywords. The service or person who originally put together your site used specific keywords in the beginning. SEO has gotten a lot more sophisticated in recent years, and therefore your site is most likely out of date. SEO reporting tools that are used to target your site for improved search engine ranking should be designed appropriately. Page titles, headers, on-page text, inbound links, and other factors play an important role in getting your website to the top of the SEO page rankings. Your goal should be to “own” the first few listings, if not the entire first page of search results.

Keyword criticalities fall into two categories, selection and prioritization. You should take a careful look at the keywords used on your site and whether they are relevant. Begin this exercise by creating a list of keywords that you would like to use. This can be a group exercise with staff or with an SEO agent. Specific attention should be paid to relevance, evaluating the competitiveness of keywords and the level of authority your site displays relative to your competitors. All of this can be achieved through comprehensive keyword selection and prioritization.

keyword selection

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when selecting keywords. Do keywords/keyword terms appear a lot in searches? Are the intended keywords relevant to your products or services? What is relative competition? If a search for your keywords does not generate significant volume, you should remove them from your selections.

keyword prioritization

There are two considerations when you choose to prioritize your selected keywords and keyword phrases. First, do they show a clear competitive advantage over their competitors?

Second, will using those keywords/phrases improve profitability?

This is the beginning of an organized approach to SEO. Books have been written on the subject that could fill a library. Your SEO service provider is ready with SEO reporting tools that can improve your search results.