Online business owners who want to increase web site traffic face an uphill battle unless they know the keywords their potential customers will use to find them, according to Derek Gehl, CEO of The Internet Marketing Center and author of the best-selling Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet.

Once they do their keyword research, choosing an easy-to-find domain is the first key step to driving traffic: “A keyword-rich domain name is a small investment that really pays off by making your site easy for your potential customers to find and remember.

“From that point, keywords should also be implemented in every facet of web site content,” Gehl says. He cautions against using keywords that aren’t related to the subject of the web site, however: “Search engines penalize users who place keywords in their source or design code that have nothing to do with the content of their site. Relevance is very important.”

Keywords should also be included in original articles that web site owners submit to content distribution services. Gehl explains: “Writing a short, informative article to distribute on the Web is a great way to gain recognition as a valuable industry resource. Make sure that each article contains rare, valuable, or hard-to-find information so other site owners or managers will be motivated post it for their own visitors.”

The articles direct readers back to the author’s web site by including a link in the short biography that is attached.

Gehl concludes: “Keyword-based strategies can help entrepreneurs attract the types of visitors who are most likely to take action, whether they make a purchase, or simply opt in with their personal information.”

For more information on keyword-based traffic strategies that increase web site traffic, visit:
http://www.marketingtips.com/tipsltr.