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Last week, we explained how to find good keywords for search engine optimization with the help of IBP's keyword generator and a dash of common sense.

Some webmasters also use the Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI) to determine the value of their keywords. Does it really make sense to choose keywords that way and is KEI something you should use for your keywords?

What is the KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index)?

The KEI compares the number of searches for a keyword with the number of search results to pinpoint which keywords are most effective for your campaign.

The formular for KEI is Searches * Searches / Number of results.

Suppose the number of searches for a keyword is 486 per month and Google displays 214,234 results for that keyword. Then the ratio between the popularity and competitiveness for that keyword is 486 * 486 divided by 214,234. In this case, the KEI 1.10.

The higher the KEI, the more popular your keywords are, and the less competition they have. That means that you might have a better chance of getting to the top.

Is this a good indicator for useful keywords?

According to the KEI definition, the best keywords are those that have many searches and that don't have much competition in the search results.

However, the KEI makes no statement about the quality of the competition. While there might be only a few competitors in the search results, these competitors could be big players with big SEO teams and thousands of back links.

The number of search results cannot really tell you whether it is easy to get your web site listed in the top 10 results for that keyword or not. It's much easier to move your web site from position 50,000 to position 32,000 than from position 210 to position 8.

In addition, the KEI factor is not a scientific number. The numbers on which it is based might not be comparable for all keywords. The keyword counts could be calculated differently for different keywords (some terms might be combined into one and other might not) and the search results sometimes change because a special word in the search term triggers a special filter. The changes in the starting numbers might cause that you compare apples and oranges.

What does this mean to your web site?

If you are serious about your web site, you must be serious about your keyword choice. KEI can help you to choose keywords but you should not rely too much on it and it should be the last step when choosing keywords.

Follow the instructions of our last article to find the best keywords for search engine optimization. It is important that your keywords are targeted and popular and that they attract web surfers with the right motivation.

Once you have build a list of specific keywords that have many searches and that are used by web surfers with the right motivation, you could apply the KEI formula to them.

Use common sense. If the KEI for a keyword is high it might still be a good idea not to use the keyword if your top ranked competitors are very big players.

Finding the right keywords is a very important step in every search engine optimization campaign. Take some time to find the best keywords for your web site and then optimize your pages for these keywords so that you get high rankings on Google, Yahoo and other major search engines.

Yahoo! Local trumps Google in local search

"Yahoo! local drew 4.4 times the number of visitors as Google Local in July 2005 [...] Despite Yahoo! Local's visitor dominance, Google local saw its market share increase by 61 percent between February and July of 2005. During the same period, Yahoo! Local grew by only 14 percent."

News Corp. eyes search engine Blinkx (registration required)

"News Corp. is in negotiations to buy Blinkx, a privately held Internet search company based in San Francisco, according to people close to the world's fourth-largest media giant. [...] Rupert Murdoch said the company was prepared to spend as much as $2 billion on Internet acquisitions."

Yahoo may launch VoIP

"Yahoo will introduce a VoIP service in the next two weeks, according to a prominent Internet analyst, in a move intended to give the Internet media company an edge over its rivals."

Search engine newslets

• Google pauses library project.
• Yahoo! pays $1B for Alibaba stake.
• Ask Jeeves announces general availability of Ask Jeeves sponsored listings.
• MIVA shares surge on patent settlement with Yahoo.
• Another Google cartoon.
• A fake Google Maps commercial (video).
• A9 is testing a new maps service.
• Miva expands German partner network.
• Rumor: Google might offer Apple's iTunes music store through its own site.

Google's boycott misses the mark

"Google is all for googling, as long as you don't google a Google executive. [...] That such detailed personal information is so readily available on public websites makes most people uncomfortable [...] But it's nothing compared with the information Google collects and doesn't make public."

Google: An apology

"Acting under the mistaken impression that Google's search engine was intended to help research public data, we have in the past enthusiastically abused the system to conduct exactly the kind of journalism that Google finds so objectionable.

Clearly, there is no place in modern reporting for this kind of unregulated, unprotected access to readily available facts, let alone in capriciously using them to illustrate areas of concern. We apologise unreservedly, and will cooperate fully in helping Google change people's perceptions of its role just as soon as it feels capable of communicating to us how it wishes that role to be seen."

Editor's note: Google banned all CNet editors for a full year because of this article.

Is Google getting into behavioral targeting, or not?

"It's interesting to juxtapose the formal and informal statements of Google staffers (on panels, and in the hallway) on the question of making more behavioral targeting available to advertisers, with the reality that they are piloting just such a program."

Google needs to be more evil

"It's been a year since Google went public. Business is great now but how long can it rely on search? [...] Some are starting to wonder what the company can do to live up to its lofty valuation. After all, Google is an extremely risky company since it is a one-trick pony."

Let your web site check by Axandra professionals for free

This newsletter is about search engine optimization. For that reason, we'll analyze the web site of a reader in one of the next articles.

If you want to suggest your web site for a free and detailed SEO analysis, click here.

Have you tested the final IBP 8.1 version yet?

The new version offers several improvements:

• IBP can now delete search engine cookies to make sure that your search results are not influenced by your cookies. This feature is optional and can be turned on in the "General Settings" window.
  
  
• The ranking reports now tell you how many listings you have on the first search engine result page, the second page and the third page. The listings are displayed individually for your URLs, keywords and search engines.
  
  
• The Web Site Optimization Editor now displays the last Top 10 Optimizer report. This allows you to quickly adjust your web page to the suggestions of the Top 10 Optimizer.
  
  
• You can now copy the links of the Link Popularity Improver to the clipboard. This allows you to import these links into ARELIS.
  
  
• The Link Popularity Improver now finds much better results and it is faster than before.

Click here to download the latest IBP version.

Of course, the new IBP version still offers the powerful search engine submitter, the ranking checker, the top 10 optimizer, the keyword generator and many more powerful tools.

In addition to the free demo version, you can test the full version risk-free for 30 days.

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• View all past issues...