There is a lot of talk these days about using keyword articles to attract visitors to a website and with the growing use of article marketing, there seems to be some benefit to using this method in a company's marketing plan. There is also some confusion about the use of keywords as well as what they are and what they mean to a website owner.



First of all, keywords are those entered into a search engine by an internet user who is looking for specific information. They may not know exactly what they are looking for but they know what they want. For example, if a person is looking for home improvement tips about replacing ceramic floor tile, they have the option of entering many different search terms, which really is what keywords are all about.

They may enter the term replace ceramic floor or simply enter ceramic floor and start looking at the search results pages for the information they can use. Terms such as replacement floors or replacement ceramics may also be used and business owners will have no idea what terms the user will look for and when beginning their search most users rarely find what they want on the first few tries. Unless, there is an article somewhere that uses that exact phrase.

Typically, an article will contain a specific search term between four and 12 times, depending on the length of the article and the search time needs to be placed in the article so that the writing remains grammatically correct and the phrase is a natural order as though it belongs there and not used simply to use it. Unfortunately, some websites will use what is termed keyword stuffing, which uses the phrase 30 or 40 times in a four or 500 word article, which is a turn off for the search engines and really offers nothing useful to the web searcher.

Articles need to offer some value to the person conducting the search. If the company that sells replacement ceramic tile can produce a series of articles on the best way to remove the old tile, remove the old glue or cement from the surface, how to prepare the surface for new tile and other areas about the subject, they will provide valuable information that can draw visitors to their site where they may actually buy the tile.

These articles can be published on their own website on pages dedicated to helping potential customers learn how to replace the tile. They can also be published on home owner remodeling sites as tips for others. One thing that articles cannot do is advise the readers to visit a specific site or a specific business. This is unacceptable to search engines as well as to other web ezine publishers.

All published articles can have an author's biography giving the author credit for the article as well as outline their competence in the subject matter. The block on these articles could talk about their experience level in ceramic tile replacement and the years they have been involved in the business as well as mention they operate a business at the website location including a hot link.