Hey everyone - long time no see. It's been awhile since my last post, but something so monumental occurred in the search world yesterday that I had to come out of hiding and share this news with those who may or may not be aware. Yesterday, Google officially launched its new SearchWiki feaure available to those who have a Google account. In a nutshell, Google's SearchWiki allows users like you and me to edit search results. You can re-order, remove, or add web pages to the search results for any query and even more interesting, you can also add notes to specific listings. I could go on and explain more about how it works exactly but for that, take a look at this article; they've already done it.

Now I know this has nothing to do with writing or keywords or anything that we normally discuss really on this blog, but for anyone who uses Google when searching for stuff (everyone), or for those SEO's out there, this is really, really big news. I was playing around with this new user interface today and I must say, it's pretty cool. I'm curious as to what everyone else out there thinks about it, or if you have even noticed it. I personally think it has huge implications for SEO, not so much in terms of rankings at the moment, but users will be able to see all of the notes other searchers have made about a page or a site, and they will also be able to see what results other users have re-ordered, removed, or added. Google's product manager, Cedric Dupont, added that he "wouldn't completely rule out the possibility that user data from SearchWiki may someday impact regular search rankings." This too, would have huge implications on the SEO world because, as of now, rankings are more objective, decided upon by the many factors in the search engine's algorithms. This would bring a much more subjective element to it. Very interesting stuff..........

Remember, you have to have a Google account and you also must be signed in to be able to use SearchWiki. Try it out and let me know what you think!

When I left you last, we were talking about the places where keywords can and should be used on your web page. A question that always comes up after this discussion is "now that we know where to put our keyword phrases, how many times should we be using them?" I'm only going to talk about using keywords in the visible body copy of page today, but the answer is very simple - it depends.

Now I know that isn't a simple answer whatsoever but that's the best answer. Forget about keyword density and all of that other mumbo jumbo you have probably heard. You don't need some crazy keyword density analyzer to tell you how many times you should be using your targeted keyword phrases within your page copy. First, you should write your page copy for your user audience. They are who will be reading your page copy and hopefully buying products and services from your business. It is when people write solely with the search engines in mind that they end up with page copy like this:

"From designer baby clothes to new baby clothes and unique baby clothes, Jesse's baby clothes depot offers the best selection of high quality baby clothes in fun baby clothes colors both you and your child will love! In addition to designer baby clothes and unique baby clothes, we also have funky baby clothes......"

Gag......talk about overkill. This is called keyword stuffing, or spamming, and not only does your user audience gag at the sight of it, but the search engines may even penalize you for this muck. You of course want to use your targeted keyword phrases within your page copy but do it naturally by writing with your user audience in mind first, and being sure to sprinkle in your keyword phrases as you go. Heck, you may be writing your copy so naturally that you include your targeted keyword phrases without even knowing!

Say what you need to say to persuade your audience to take a desired action on your site and do it in as many words that are necessary for your audience. Don’t let the searchengine dictate this to you. Next time I’ll go into this a bit more and explain why I think that overanalyzing keyword density analysis is a big waste of time.

Ladies and gentlemen, you're looking at the newest member of the Democratic party! In keeping up with my typical trailblazing philosophy, I registered to vote today for the first time at the ripe old age of 27. I know, I know, I'm a bit late to the party but better late than never right? Or at least that's what my co-workers here at LifeTips have kept telling me over the last weeks as they attempted to convince me to finally perform my most important civic duty. So, after much work on their parts, they finally broke my resolve and I visited my local town hall this morning to get registered. I expected a bit more grandeur on this monumental occasion but alas, all it was was a window, an extremely nice and pleasant old lady, and my little form. So much for getting all dressed up for the occasion!

So I'll chalk this up on my list of firsts and hopefully will add another one on Election Day. So who's running for president again?

Hi Everybody! In her most recent blog post, Carolyn mentioned that there were a few new hires in the production department here at Lifetips. Well, to all of you faithful Lifetips blog readers, I happen to be one of them and I just wanted to quickly introduce myself to you all. My name is Jesse DaCosta and I was just recently hired as the SEO Specialist at Lifetips. I've actually been here for three weeks now today (time flies!), learning the ropes and getting myself acclimated to everything that goes on here and my role within it.

I'm extremely excited to be here and to share my experience in the SEO / SEM world with them, and with all of you. I'll be sharing my thoughts and experiences on SEO (along with all things Web Marketing like analytics and such) here and hope that you, our readers, will share your knowledge and comments as well. Nothing beats a good, solid discussion, especially in the SEO world where everything changes so fast and everyone has their own tactics and techniques.

So stay tuned.........!!