While there are all sorts of tools that help you isolate the keywords, nothing replaces some good, old-fashioned research even if it’s the newfangled research known as “Googling”. Over the next few days, I’m going to cover a keyword subject.

Today, typically accepted word usage.

These would be the keywords that people actually use, which should not be confused with words that are simply used by the industry. Many web owners make the mistake of focusing only on the words the market uses. While these may be familiar to a consumer, it might not be the way they search.

To find this out, you need to read what your target reads and most importantly, visit forums, chat rooms, blogs, myspace pages where your target hangs out. You want to see what the CONSUMER says. Instead of “collar bone pain”, they may search “hurt neck bone”. The forums and message boards are where you will actually see typed versions of what they say and see keywords in their posts. If there is a frequent misspelling, use that as a keyword. You can use keyword tools to verify and find other combinations, but reading what they say, is one way to get the keywords and get into the mind of your market. And there’s nothing wrong with choosing 20 low researched words either.

Sometimes consumers are guilty of actually identify something the wrong way but it’s typical to do so. If consumers are shopping for a diamond, many want one that has a GIA Certificate. Well, the GIA doesn’t issue “certificates”, they issue reports and they are darn picky about this difference. That doesn’t necesarily mean you plant the wrong information all over your site to get the customers anyway which could have the reverse effect of blowing your credibility. You simply address it on the page or use things like:

A GIA Report, sometimes referred to as a GIA certificate, is a grading report you’d particularly want to see in a round diamond listed as a 2ct VVS1.

You might put the phrase behind the curtain in your tags or tag your photos with it. The one thing you want to avoid is looking like you are trying to trick the search engines which can open you up to scrutiny and ultimately have your site blocked.