Keyword analysis can be done by using google adword keyword tool - https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Although there are many other tools available they might not be free. Can also use 'keyworddiscovery' tool.

How to select Keywords
Although we use the term keywords it should be key phrases. Because we use 'cheap webhosting' rather than 'cheap' and 'webhosting' when optimizing. Select keywords with high search volume with moderate competition.

Try to optimize the site for not more than 5 key phrases (KP). Don't be too greedy...

Use the selected KP in title tag, meta tags (description and keywords) and in the site content.

Use a keyword density tool to measure the keyword density of your content. For the site's content it should be around 3%-6%.


MOD NOTE: Edited for promotional content.

Couple of nice tools there! I've used the google one before, but that Keyword Density Tool is pretty neat!

Funny, after a very long while, tonight I was going to use my Google Adwords account for some keyword research for a new site of mine. That external tool is great though. Thanks for the suggestion!

Wow, Nice tool mate!

Thank you, It saves a lot of time. Like Idcdc has said, Can save some time by not needing to be using Google Adsword account for checking a mass of keywords.

Use Google WebMaster tools this has been one of the most useful tools.

The key phrase is . Thanks for the references.

Google trends and G insights both are pretty nice tools to track new keywords trends and compare search volume patterns across specific regions.

This is something I have still got to get my head around, besides the link up above is there any other links?

On that tool, say I wanted to target uk web hosting

I use that to check the density of pages/site? and then measure the results, if not enough then add some more?

By using same tools even you can get geographical search results from specific country/region.

I like the google keyword tool, however it has got a lot of junk keywords, so you have to do the filtering manually. Still a good tool though.

When I try to choose my keywords, I put myself in the place of the searcher.

Well there's something you will have to consider when going through the numbers (number of searches). This number is mostly inflated by SEOs (like me). We decide on a keyword and uses it in a website. And we regularly uses that keyword to see how the site is doing. If one is, doing all the other SEOs must be also doing. This means that you will have to select those which have a larger number of searches. Like say 150,000.

Having a variety of tools can always pay off. I have seen some tools that were good for a short time, but those who are consistently beefing up what can be done are the keepers. I might have to check these out as well since its been a while that I have done any research on the keywords and we are working to redo a site.

Another good thing to do is once you've selected keywords you want, punch these into a google search as a test and see which competitor is on the 1st page in the 1st position.

Do SEO analysis on this site (using whatever tools at your disposal) and compare how well optimised your site is compared to the top one, then base your optimisation on beating this score, then re-submit to the search engines.

Bing tends to index you in a matter of days but then will drop you as quickly if you don't refresh the content reguarly, do backlinks, etc...etc...

As with Google, this seems to be the oppositie to Bing as regards indexing you. (Takes longer to get to the top, but a longer to drop you.)

Yahoo will sandbox you immediately when making a change and you'll disappear altogether for a short time, but then will come back with a vengence when you least expect it. (Providing your SEO work has been accurate of course and you a viewed by Yahoo as being a trusted domain).

I'm agree with that.

You have to be very careful in the selection of keywords, if you use the same keywords than 1000 companies, you will be at last page of google maybe if you have luck.

CEO WEB is also a good one that can generate keywords for you and its free.