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Keywords, or keyword phrases are words that are specific to your website. So, using shoes as an example, the following terms can be classed as a keyword, or keyword phrase.
Shoes, pumps, trainers, footwear, heals, sandals, men's mockisins, women's slippers.
The idea behind keywords, is that they match the words people use when searching for your site. The broader the range of keywords, the better. Keywords are used in many areas of SEO.
Title Tag.
The <title> tag is an area where keywords play a vital role. When your site appears on a search engine, it is this text that is displayed. You should aim to have keywords included in this text, but make sure you have no more than six or seven.
Keyword density.
Long ago in the sands of time, all search engine results were dictated by keyword density. This is the number of times a keyword is repeated in the body of text. Google switched to rating sites by the number of external sites linking to it, because many sites just repeated the same keyword over and over again, making articles and information, rubbish.
It is believed that if your keyword density runs higher than 10%, many search engines penalise your site, as they read this as spam. Ideally, primary keywords should run at around 3-7%, while secondary keywords should run around 1-2%. Always mix in similar words to your keywords, as this is a little like spreading an SEO net to catch traffic.
Anchor text.
Anchor text is the hyperlinked words on a web page. These are the words you click on when you click a link. Here is an example, Link-Optimise, in which "Link-Optimise" is the anchor text.
By using keywords in the anchor text of a link you are letting the search engine know the relevance of the link. This is very valuable and a must for links residing on external sources.
Headings.
The heading lets the reader and a search engine know what the following content is all about. So its important to place keywords in the <H1>, <H2> etc tags, ensuring the same keywords are liberally distributed throughout the page for maximum effect.
URLs.
Keywords in the URLs are also a good idea. http://domainname.com/ladieshoes.html for example, will help search engines determine if your site is relevant.
Alt tags.
Search engines can not read pictures. They are like a search engine blind spot. If you label a picture with an <Alt> tag however, that changes, so make sure your pictures are all clearly labeled. For best effect, make sure your picture <Alt> tags tie in with your keywords.
