Do I have unreasonable expectations?

New, but please tell me Im not insane

[contrast compare]

Ok, let me first say Im new to the whole SEO/SEM field, but Ive put a lot of research into the area in the past few weeks and need a little guidance. Im starting a new business and feel that internet marketing is the best, cheapest, and most effective way to find customers. Ive been reading/lurking in WebmasterWorld everday for about an hour, and finally have a question that I havent found answered elsewhere. ;)

Ive created my site, made it search engine friendly. Ive researched keyword phrases on overture and adwords, decided on the most targeted, reworked my site to have a 4% kw density on those targeted keywords. Im using the kws in body text, h1, alt, title, and link anchor text as well as comments. So, i think ive got that process narrowed down.

But, Im starting to get worried that the kws Im targeting are totally unreasonable.... this is where I need help!

When looking up one 3 word keyword, I see 11,000,000 results on google. When i put quotes around the phrase, I get only 600. Only two of the top 10 have been optimized and marketed by SEO people (without quotes). The number one is a PR5.

Another 3 word kw gets 16,800,000, and 4,500 with quotes around the phrase. No one has attempted SEO strategies on any of the top 10 websites, they have grown "organicly". Most of the top 10 are PR nothing, (not zero), and the top is a PR 8. I suspect many relevant inbound links have boosted these dorks up. I know the field very well and the top 3 are the honestly most relevant.

The final kw prhase is two words, gets 62,000 results on google and 19,300 when in quotes. The top site is a pr0, and the rest are pretty junky. Unfortuatnely, this is the weakest kw phrase of the three. Overture says 0 searches for it, but I know some people are looking for it (also, overture doesnt list any sites with "hacking" in the keywords, so that could be it).

So, is it possible for me to get on page 1 with the first two keyword phrases? I know it depends on how many quality targeted inbound links I can get, but in your experience, how much effort will it take? Do I need 500 inbound links from PR4 or higher pages? Do I need 50, or 5? Im not sure of the scale here, cause Ive never done this before.

I hoping my kw targeting and clean site can boost me up to page 1, but will it take years? I dont have years... ;)

Thanks!

[jk3210]

>>So, is it possible for me to get on page 1 with the first two keyword phrases?<<

Keeping in mind that the person who's now sitting in the #1 position in the search results for those keywords once asked himself that very same question above......fill-in the blank:

"If he can do it, ___ can do it."

(And the answer to that question is one of the g-r-e-a-t things about the net)

[contrast compare]

>>Keeping in mind that the person who's now sitting in the #1 position in the search results for those keywords once asked himself that very same question<<

Umm... actually, only a 2 sites of 30 (3 phrases x 10 sites) are "persons" doing SEO....

The others are large highly relevant or somewhat relevant sites that organicly got to the top.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, but has anyone worked a similar experience?

[Web Footed Newbie]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, contrast compare.

Glad to hear you researched your keywords. It sounds like you are off to a good start.

For each page that has a targeted keyword phrase, here is a handing little idea I do:

First, use this point system as your priority list for each keyword phrase I found here at WW:
Inbound link text: 10 pts
Title: 10 points
Domain name (if not already done): 7 points
Large H1 and H2 headings: 5 points
Path or filename: 4 points
Proximity of kewords: 4 points
Beginning of sentence: 1.5 points
Bold or italic: 1 point
Usage in text: 1 point
Title attribute: 1 point - use on graphics, links, etc.
Alt tag: 1/2 a point - used primarily on graphics (use with Title attribute)
meta description: 1/2 point
meta keywords: .05 point (yes, point zero five, not much)

What I do is type each of the above in my html editor (I use FrontPage).

I go ahead and apply the TITLE to the page with the kw phrase.

I format the kw phrase in H1 once, and H2 either once or twice.

Write to first sentence of each paragraph on the page with the kw phrase contained.

Write another sentence using the kw phrase in bold or italics for each paragraph.

For any graphics, I add the kw phrase and a description of the graphic in the ALT tag. Also, I do the same for the TITLE attribute.

For any links, I add the TITLE attribute with kw phrase contained.

Write a good description with the kw phrase in it, keeping length down to 150 total characters.

Do meta tags.

Now, since I have the skeleton of the page already SEO'd, I fill in the paragraphs and finish the page.

It's important to have the kw phrase in your text as high on the page as possible. CSS works great doing this. If your not using CSS, then a table design with the center context coming first works well. For instance:

Table Row 1 Col 1 - blank Row 1 Col 2 - First content
Row 2 Col 2 - navigation Row 2 Col 2 - Merged with Column 1

Hope that helps get you started. Good luck and again, welcome the WW.
WFN:)