Many people are looking for the fastest and cheapest way to make money at home online, and the most efficient way to achieve SEO optimization. The best way - known as “Keyword Targeting” and sometimes referred to as “Keyword Sniping”, is misunderstood.

First of all, the concept of keyword targeting is based on looking for specific “long tail keywords”. These are keyword phrases of three words or more which are relevant to the subject matter of the product being sold.

Many people also misunderstand what is meant by the term “long tail keywords”. They are not simply keyword phrases that are long. The term is based on a graph of phrase popularity versus search volume.

Picture a simple graph. On the verticle scale is “search volume” from low to high. On the horizontal scale is “phrase popularity” from high to low. The most basic and popular keyword phrases of one and two words would have very high popularity and very high search volume (and VERY HIGH competition). The longer, narrower keyword phrases, on the other hand, would have much lower popularity and search volume (and also much lower competition).

For example, the phrase “weight loss” is extremely broad and popular. But with 347 million competitors, it would be impossible to rank on the first page of Google. If you lengthen the phrase, though, the competition goes down dramatically. For example, the phrase “weight loss after pregnancy” has 43,600 competitors as of this date, while the phrase “weight loss programs after pregnancy” has only 8 competitors.

A graph of this trend would show the basic and popular one or two word keyword phrases at the very top. There would then be a line forming a steep, sort of “suicide ski jump” curve as the keyword phrases become longer and more specific.

The term “long tail” keywords simply refers to the longer keyword phrases which form the “long tail” of the graph. They are critical to any attempt at making money quick on the Internet. Why? Because these kinds of phrases are very numerous, and each one has very little competition.

In fact, it’s because of this low competition that you stand a pretty good chance of ranking on the first page of Google with some of these phrases. Of Course, it’s also true that you have small search volume for each phrase. But if you include enough of them in your article marketing campaign, you can achieve pretty high monthly traffic overall.

So far, this has all been theoretical. The question is - does any of it really work? You will find that intuition and instinct, as well as experience will all be factors. But this is where most people misunderstand how to target.

Just looking at the competition versus monthly search volume isn’t enough. The truth is that unless you rank on the fist page of Google for your long tail keyword phrase (preferably “above the fold”) you are not going to get ANY traffic. In order to do that, you have to study the nature of the top ten competitors for each long tail phrase you are targeting. If each one has a Google page rank (PR) of 4 or better, and each one has numerous backlinks from credible sites, you are going to have problems.

Those who are experienced in “keyword targeting” are able to do this. They can pick out the phrases that have a good balance of competition versus search volume, yet can compete for a slot in the top ten.

How do you do that? In a future article I will address some of the tools and parameters that successful keyword snipers use.

Learn more about KEYWORD SNIPING. Stop by David Hirsch’s site at www.MakeMoneyWithComputer.org where you can find out all about THE GOOGLE SNIPER PHENOMENON and what it can do for you.