Lets start with getting your Keyword List into Excel so you can add the number of times each keyword has been searched for and sort them using this data.

To import and create a nice column of your keywords you need to save your original list as a text file.

1. If your in Word, choose File > Save As
2. Choose Format> Text Only as the file type. (Make sure to save this somewhere you can find it.)
3. In Excel go to Data> Get External Data > Import Text File
4. Browse to and select your text file where you saved your keyword list.
5. For file type choose Delimited
6. Choose Next
7. For Delimiter type place a check mark next to Comma (or whatever else is used to separate your words in the keyword list.)
8. Choose Next
9. For Column data format Choose Text.

This will import your keywords into the Excel spreadsheet a big long list across the top row.

To put each Keyword in its own cell going downwards in a column:

1. Click on the # 1 to the left of the row containing all your keywords to select all of them.
2. Hit Cont C to Copy them.
3. Click in the second cell of the column on the left where you want the downward list to start.
4. Choose Edit > Paste Special
5. Choose Transpose

now you have all of your keywords a nice organized column. Delete the keywords from the top row and add a header.

To see how to find and add the Number of Times People have searched for a particular keyword online to add to your list check out my next post: How to Determine what Keywords People are Searching and What Keywords your Should Use on Your Website.

But how do you start compiling a list of key words you should incorporate?

Here are a couple of ways to start your list of potential keywords.

I. Research keywords that your competitors are using.

1. Visit sites that are similar offer similar services to your web site.
2. View the keywords that they use by Right Clicking on the page and choosing View Source. (This will not work for web sites built with Adobe Flash Player.)
3. Hit Control F to bring up your find bar in the lower left hand part of the browser window.
4. Search for the word meta or keywords. (You may not get any result from this search if the site is build with a poorly optimized WordPress template or if the designer has not included meta data. Feel sorry for these people, “tisk tisk, bad designer, not donuts for you!“)
5. Read and copy and paste these keywords into a text file. They will be separated by comma.
6. WARNING: NO NOT just copy and paste these keywords into your site! Doing so is not only unethical, but will add unnecessary and perhaps inapplicable keywords to your site which could get you marked as spam and kicked out of the search engines.
7. Remove words that are not applicable and add keywords that are.

II. Add keywards from the industry.

1. Sign up for free webinars & phone in conferences.
2. Read blog articles and books by leading experts, industry professionals and others.
3. As you are doing this take careful note of the terminology they use in relation to your industry.
4. Add these words to your keyword list.

Obviously not all of these keywords will not be specific to you, what you do, and your web site, but they can serve as a great starting places for what your keyword list should contain.

For some tips and trick on how to sort these keywords and REALLY determine which one you should focus on see tomorrows post – Organizing Your Keyword List.