There are some great free resources to help with keyword research. Overture's Search Term Suggestion Tool, for example, can provide useful insight. But as Keyword Research Analysis expert Valerie DiCarlo points out in a recent online article, these types of tools should just be a starting point. "The free tools will only give you a rough guide and a quick indication whether a hunch is worth further research," says DiCarlo. "Real keyword research requires research and analysis." Here are her five tips for combining the two:

Use Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI). LSI is the use of synonyms and "long tail" keyword terms. These less generic terms bring more traffic to your site than the main keyword phrases.

Get page specific. "Your keyword research needs to be page specific and only focus on two to five keywords per page," says DiCarlo.

Be country specific. Research terms specific to the country you're targeting, and then reference that country's search engine when doing your initial keyword research.

Cross-reference your keywords in the search engines. Look for such things as if the sites listing your keywords are even related to your industry or product.

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