I see too many people take 30 minutes to search for keywords and then wonder a year down the line why their business isn't working on the internet. Okay let's look at it realistically… If you intend to knock up 100 websites over a month, or you want to start with just one website, the time spent on keyword research should in either situation be at least 25% of the time used in setting up … FACT.

Anything that is the CORE of any business is the ‘core' for a specific reason … it is the life, the feed, the heart … For Websites the CORE is ‘keywords' – ‘keyword phrases' and ‘long tail keywords' … it is want pumps traffic onto your website. Without a good choice of keywords you're swimming against the current.

Allow me to illustrate with a short example. If you have a property website in London, New York, Johannesburg, Toronto or Sydney … your keywords shouldn't just be ‘Property in London'. They should be 100 variations of that phrase … such as, ‘apartments for sale in central London' – ‘2 bed apartment studio for under £500,000'.

I have several property websites, so I know what works and what doesn't. But the principle of finding keywords is important in any subject or profession. Groundwork, setting foundations and sewing the seeds; all great analogies for the importance of keywords … NEVER underestimate their value.

Up to the first 500 keywords you'll probably manage with research. Here is Google's own free research tool, please just add the prefix http and www : adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?defaultView=2

That said, some of the best keywords will be the one's that you discover yourself and understand to be what people choose to type into search engines when they are querying a search. Even special keyword research software will not discover every keyword, as some are beyond computer generation. Although if you are planning on having several websites with all of them having over 500 pages, then keyword software will help.

But for the average Joe, with just a few sites under 500 pages, then researching them yourself is much more profitable.

Another trick that will help prompt ideas is this … when you are on a website, take your curser to an empty place on the webpage and right click, then scroll down to ‘view source' and click. You'll get the ‘html' of that page. At the very top are the meta tags … these are keyword rich … you'll find the title, the description and their keyword choices. There is little point in copying these words as you'll be competing against them; if you choose exactly the same keyword they will probably have two years existence behind them to rank better. Such a facility is to generate ideas.

As much as we feel confident that we are searching the right areas, don't put your blinkers on too early. I guess a good analogy would be that of completing a crossword. Isn't it always the case that the few boxes you cannot fill are so obvious you overlook them. This scenario is the same with searching for keywords.

I hope I have stressed the importance of research. The task of research is boring and tedious, but nonetheless essential – inspiration and motivation play a big part in creating your keyword list. In conclusion… the main areas to develop a business or diversify and existing business is in the long tail keywords and phrases. Find a major keyword and explore the potential beneath the surface. May I invite to explore the potential of having a list of 2,500 keywords with over a million views per month? Please visit: Adwords-and-Adsense.com/top-searched-words-and-phrases-on-the-internet.html