Bigger isn’t always better and just because you attract tons of visitors to your site, it doesn’t mean you’re attracting potential clients. The point of an Internet business is not to reach as many people as possible, but to reach as many ideal clients as possible. Flooding your web pages with random keywords may bring a ton of hits to your site, but if they’re not potential clients, or if they instantly hit the back button, what’s the point?

In order to attract the right people to your site and in turn make contact with as many potential clients looking for your particular services as possible, it’s important to choose your keywords wisely. Search engine optimization can be a delicate business. Fishing with a wide net may bring in the specific variety you’re looking for, but it will also bring in a lot of other fish and sea life you don’t want. However, if you use the right lure and drop your line in the right area, you can target and catch the exact fish you want.

Here’s a list of tips for selecting keywords to attract potential clients to your website:

• Be precise. Instead of using “music lessons,” use “guitar lessons for intermediate students.”
• Pinpoint your niche. If you’re a writer, identify what kind of writer you are. “Journalist specializing in international business” will bring in clients looking for international business articles and not those looking for someone to review rock albums.
• Use “buying” keywords. A person searching for “plumbing” may be looking for do-it-yourself information; a person searching for “plumber” is looking to hire someone.
• Look at competing websites. What keywords do your competition use? Which ones will work for you?
• Keep yourself in check. Don’t go crazy flooding your site with your keywords hoping to climb to the top of search results. You’ll repel clients and get rejected by search engines.
• Use your keywords wisely. Put them in titles, links, meta tags and headlines.

Using the proper keywords for your particular market is important. So is paying attention to number of times you use them. Going overboard with repeating keywords is counter productive. Experts agree that a 1-6% keyword density (the number of times your keyword or phrase appears in comparison to the other words on your page) is best, but there’s no need to get into specific formulas or calculations. Have good judgment and use your keywords and phrases when it makes sense, but don’t force them into every paragraph, and you’ll hit your mark.