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They say it can't be done. I'm told it's impossible.
Ridiculous! Scandalous!
In SEO school* we are taught that you can't optimize a single web page for more than two or maybe three keywords at a time. Many say you can't truly be effective optimizing for more than one. It just doesn't work!
But what if there was a way that it could work? What if you could successfully optimize a single web page for 15 or more keyword phrases at a time and get rankings for all of them? What would that kind of information be worth to you?
Send your paypal donation to ppw@polepositionweb.com and I'll share this secret. :)
(That was a joke.)
Every Page Has a Core Keyword
Each page of your site should have a very particular focus. In most cases that can be summarized in two or three words. These would be your core terms.
What's your page about?
The start of the keyword research process is uncovering all the core terms that fit your site and your audience, then mapping each core term to a specific page of your site.
For the one-keyword-only enthusiasts... this is your one keyword.
Every Core Term has Qualifier
Once you've got all your core terms established you can now do some more in-depth keyword research to find the qualifiers that go along with each core term.
Your qualifiers may be:
This is just a fraction of the qualifiers that you can find for any one core term. Your keyword research tool will help you uncover these qualifiers and any other searchable phrases using these core terms. As you put them together you might get phrases such as:

Your keyword research tools will tell you the viability of the combinations you create. Or better, let the tools create the combinations so you can see what's most viable.
Not Every Qualifier is a Fit
Not all qualifiers work together and can (or should) be optimized on the same page. You want to separate your qualifiers and group them together. All your "software" or "system" related terms can be grouped together, while your "advantages" and "benefits" phrases go together.
There are a lot of factors involved and how you ultimately group your keyword core terms and qualifiers and a lot depends on the layout of your site, how many similar core terms you have and how easily different qualifier groups can be optimized on another page. The goal isn't to throw as many keywords at a page as possible and hope for the best. What you want to do is group your keywords in a way so that every keyword in a single group is a perfect fit for any given page you are optimizing, and a perfect fit with the other keywords in the group.
So where do the 15 phrases come in?
For any one core term I research I'll often find anywhere from a dozen to a couple hundred of searched qualifier variations. Many of those are irrelevant to any site I'm working on, but a good number will be relevant and valuable. Plurals and singulars or changing word order will often create more variations that you can add, provided they are legitimately searched phrases.
By targeting only a single core term and using a dozen or so tightly grouped qualifiers you create a single page that can be optimized for all those phrases effectively. Done right, your content won't feel keyword stuffed and you'll find your page ranking for more than one phrase at a time.
*There is really no such thing
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Stoney deGeyter is the President of Pole Position Marketing, a leading search engine optimization and marketing firm helping businesses grow since 1998. Stoney is a frequent speaker at website marketing conferences and has published hundreds of helpful SEO, SEM and small business articles.
If you'd like Stoney deGeyter to speak at your conference, seminar, workshop or provide in-house training to your team, contact him via his site or by phone at 866-685-3374.
Stoney pioneered the concept of Destination Search Engine Marketing which is the driving philosophy of how Pole Position Marketing helps clients expand their online presence and grow their businesses. Stoney is Associate Editor at Search Engine Guide and has written several SEO and SEM e-books including E-Marketing Performance; The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!; Keyword Research and Selection, Destination Search Engine Marketing, and more.
Stoney has five wonderful children and spends his free time reviewing restaurants and other things to do in Canton, Ohio.
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