Selecting the right SEO Keyword Phrases to target is critical to the success of your internet marketing program. If you select the wrong ones you could be looking at many years of frustration. But how do you know if you are choosing the right ones? Here is what you need to know:

1. Will the keyword phrases generate enough traffic?
2. Is there an acceptable level of competition?
3. What is the SEO Value?

Traffic Analysis

You should start by analyzing traffic. There is no sense in getting to the top if there isn't enough traffic generated. So let's say a phrase gets 5,400 monthly searches on Google.com. That is 180 Searches/Day. Now let's look at how much traffic the top ranked websites get.

The 3 top spots get the majority of all the traffic. Here are the numbers:

# 1 ranked site gets 42% of traffic
# 2 site get 12%
# 3 site get 8%
# 4 site gets 6%
# 5 site gets 5%
# 6 site gets 4%
#7 site gets 3%

The remaining percentage is shared by everyone else.

If you were able to get your site ranked #1, you could expect to get 42% of the traffic or 75 Visitors per Day to your site. If you don't have the potential to deliver at least 50 Visitors per Day to your site do not target the keyword.

Now your list should be much shorter. The next thing to consider is the competition.

Competitive Analysis

SEO requires a lot of time and effort, but how much time and effort. How hard is it to get the top spot?

Before you target any keyword phrase you need to understand the strength of your competition. Below is a quick list of what you need to know about each competitor appearing on Page 1. If you don't understand what these items are or if you don't know how to obtain this information quickly, you need to find a good SEO.

Here is the information you need to know about the competition:

1. Age of the Ranking Domain (Website)
2. Page Rank
3. Total number of Web Pages of the Domain
4. Total the number of Referring Domains
5. Total number of Referring Domains to the Page
6. Total number of backlinks to the Page
7. Total number of backlinks to the Domain
8. Total number of .edu or .gov backlinks
9. Does the Domain have a DMOZ listing?
10. Is the site listed in the Yahoo! Directory
11. Does the keyword appear in the URL, Title, Description and Headings?

Okay, now your list should be even shorter. We have just one more thing to consider.

SEO Value

What is the Value of getting to the top spots? Here is a simple formula. To use it, you must first know how much it costs to have the top Google Adwords Ad for a keyword phrase and how much traffic to expect.

SEO Value = Traffic x Adwords Ad Cost

In our example, we estimated a phrase could deliver 75 Visitors per Day. If the Top Google Adwords Ad costs $2 per visitor, then the SEO Value of being in the top spot would be $2 x 75 Visitors or $150 per Day ($4,500 per Month). So having the top spot for this particular phrase is worth $4,500 per month.

If a potential phrase has a SEO Value of less than $50/Day, do not target it.

Make sure you understand the traffic estimates, competition, and the SEO Value of the phrases you are targeting and you will be on your way to greater internet marketing success.

Good luck with your SEO Program!