Keyword research is a discipline embraced and used in SEO management by experts to allow them to determine which search terms people are searching on in the search engines. At its simplest level, this research is about studying the phrases that work for your audience and it is a real art. It is one of the most effective ways to identify niche markets that others have failed to recognize. Keyword research is very important so that the content of the pages are more attractive as much for the users as for the robots. Keyword research is not an exact science and shouldn't be discussed like it is.

I like to focus on finding long tailed keyword phrases that have a significant number of monthly searches for that exact term with 5,000 to 300,000 competing websites. Long tailed keywords, are multi-word keyword phrases. Most folks searching with a one or two keyword are just "browsing". Most people who use long tail keywords know what they want. Remember, you want to focus each page on 2-3 keyword phrase.

There are many free keyword research tools online. Most SEO software tools include these tools as well. Google, Yahoo and other search engines have free tools also. You want a tool that will give you the number of daily or monthly searches and competing web pages. There are even sites like "spyFu.com" that will let you see which terms your competitors are using.

How many keywords you have in an article is known as keyword density. Your keyword density should be anywhere from 3% to 7%. For example, if you were to write a 100 word article you would need to write the keyword in 7 times to achieve a 7% keyword density. For a 500-word article you would need to use your keyword 15 times to get a 5% density. I use a tool called "Content Composer" that does a fantastic job of keeping me on track.

Keyword research can be defined as choosing the words, which describe your product or service as, seen from the viewpoint of your target market is the most important step in the SEO Management process.