A real 'newbie' SEO question

[rightclick]

Hi all,

First post so apologies if i am repeating previous posts - its a very basic SEO question.

If I wanted to optimise for for the phrase 'New Player' should i optimise for the words separately or together?

When i review Google Webmaster tools i notice that Google provides a keyword analysis i.e. the keyword and a percentage indicator. should i aim to optimise for 'New' and 'Player' separately or should i optimise for the phrase?

The keyword analysis Google is providing in the webmaster tools only details single words, if i rank high for two particular words e.g. 'New' and 'Player' would Google combine these two words and their repective relevance for a search phrase?

Let me know if the above is confusing and i will try and explain better (as i said a newbie).

Thanks in advance for any info.

Cheers

[thepokerkeep]

Definitely optimize for the words together. This is called a "long tail Keyword" and is much easier (in many cases) to rank for than more competitive single words.

Using your example "new player", optimizing for the single word "new" would be a waste of time since the word by itself does not really relate to your site or content. Additionally, search engines will pick up those single words by default when they are repeated numerous times on a page.

You may also want to go with three or four word phrases in order for the content to be more relevant to your site. For example, using the phrase "new online poker player" may be much more relevant and may also be searched more often than "new player".

Lastly, write your content with the human visitor in mind. Don't get so hung up on the SEO aspect that your content loses it's meaning or has no impact on your audience.

[thepokerkeep]

BTW - welcome to the forums!

[rightclick]

Wow, great response. Many thanks for the information Terry, your response has just saved me going off in the completely wrong direction.

I had previously asked some people who claimed to be SEO experts, clearly they were not all they claimed to be.

thanks again

Cheers
Chris

[thepokerkeep]

My pleasure.
Post up a url when you're ready and we'll give you a thorough critique.

[fastermule poker]

lol a SEO expert told you to go ahead and try to optimise for the word 'NEW' alone ?