Are keywords dead?

How to go from 8000 visitors a month to 8000 visitors a DAY

October 12, 2004

Many people are touting that keywords, the typing of specific words in the code of a Web page, is out-dated and out-moded. Newer programs like Macromedia Flash do no have the option of using keywords if the site is created entirely using that program, and many believe that the new technology is forcing keywords out.

That may be true, but search engines cater to the largest denominator. We in America, and especially Washington where Microsoft is headquartered, think that if we don't have Windows XP then we are behind the times, but this isn't entirely accurate. As of October 2004, Windows 98 is the most popular operating system in the world, with Windows 95 not far behind. These operating systems were never made to view things like Web sites made with Macromedia Flash.

Does that really matter though? We think it does, and here is an example:

Daffodil Valley Times (www.daffodilalleytimes.com) is a community Web site created by Intra-Designs to give the people of Puget Sound a place to get information about our area. It's a fairly large site, extending over 200 pages to date, and it's relatively popular. The site recently celebrated 8000 visitors per month (August 2004).

So how did that number jump to almost 8000 visitors a day? Why did 10 times the number of people find Daffodil Valley Times starting the end of September? Keywords. Keywords are not a magical word that will mesmerize people to come to your site by magic. Keywords allow people to find your site when your information is what they are looking for. The proper placement of keywords, both in the back-end code and on the Web site itself, could produce surprising results when you least expect it.

So what keywords are prompting almost 8000 people to flock to Daffodil Valley Times every day? Mt. St. Helens, of course. Like I said, sometimes the right keyword will produce surprising results when you least expect it. DVT happens to have a Webcam of Mt. St. Helens. Those few keywords, on that one page, have guided surfers using over 58 different search engines to DVT. We have had that Webcam for two years, and relatively few have visited it, but they say timing is everything. The right keywords, combined with the timing of the event, enlightened 250,000 people to the existence of DVT. It would be an enormous price to pay for that kind of advertising.

Keywords are not dead. The days of using misleading keywords are. Search engines are getting smarter about identifying keywords, and identifying Web designers that use misleading keywords. The "art" of using keywords on Web sites is becoming a very specialized field. Most designers don't know how to do it.

These statistics show you that we at Intra-Designs (www.intra-designs.com) take our work very seriously. We are Search Engine Specialists. We don't just say it, we prove it. We have won over 15 awards for Web site design. We have designed over 10 sites that hit #1 in Google for certain keywords. We have designed sites for businesses, civic organizations, educational groups, and government structures.

Contact us today, and we will get started on your own personal Elegant Design for a New Millennium.