What keywords should I use?

[David]

I am building a site and need some keywords to use for the SEO side of things.
This is an Arkansas media company.

[Yasoo]

don`t use it for few specific reasons...

This has no impact from the SEO point of view and search engine is not getting or collecting any information from this...so why write more?

If the Meta Keyword tag is smartly inserted then it can be dangerous and this is because you are seriously helping your competitors to see what keywords are you targeting on the page and then he can alter his strategies accordingly to outrank you in search engine from the desired key phrases.

Matt Cutts says "It's possible that Google could use this information in the future, but it's unlikely. Google has ignored the keywords meta tag for years and currently we see no need to change that policy."

However, there are other search engines and directories that use the keyword meta tag. For example, Yahoo! still uses it.

You can use any keywords you need but don`t use meta keywords tag.

[Mark]

Keywords which are going to be selected by you for your website should be according to the services your are providing to the customers. If your are targeting any particular country then location specific keywords will be great. Also, one thing i would like to suggest you that if you are selecting the long tail keywords then please analyze their search volume and competition. Because, some time it happens that long tail keyword which you have selected are of no use, means there are very few searches for them. This will effect the traffic.

[Hal Smith]

I think this article explains it very well about how to search and analyze the keywords http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-write-seo-rich-content

Hal Smith
URLdreamer Consultant

[shihab shibli]

you use kewords research tool. select content & follow

Competition= Low
Global monthly search= Minimum 50000
Local monthly search= Minimum 20000
CPC= Minimum $0.90 USD

[flying_ant_2013]

Start by developing a list of keywords, which best fit your niche. Once you have a decent list, you can use any keyword tool (or even Keyword Planner) to get their monthly searches and competition level.

From that list, see if you can find keywords with high number of monthly searches and low to medium competition, best to check how these keywords trend on Google trends before you make your final pick. Try targeting as many of them as you can as your site grows and you add new pages (optimize a page for one or two of these keywords).

As for your main keyword, it is probably best to choose a long tail keyword, which includes your location as well, e.g. "Arkansas print advertising" - very low traffic KW, but one that will bring you extremely targeted traffic. Of course, if you have the budget, you can aim higher and go for "tougher" keywords, keywords that have high numbers of monthly searches and medium to high competition level.