There are three components to identity.

Self concept is expressed when you fill out a series of "I am" statements. You think of yourself as a father, country club member, and banker.

Social identity is way others view you. People treat you differently if you're a bank manager or if you're starting a new e-business in a field they've never heard of. Think about how you feel when you're introduced at parties as, "This is Mary. She is a…"

Paper identity is way you're regarded by businesses and professionals you deal with. When you have a job, it is easy to get credit and a premium checking out. When you change careers, especially if you start your own business, you may be on shakier ground.

Your response to a new identity will be unique: "After being on my own, I went back to a corporate job. When we got United Way forms, it hit me. I was now an employee. It didn't feel good." Others will find same world liberating: "No more chasing after clients -- and I love pension contributions!"

I encourage career changers to include a plan for identity change, as a way to help smooth journey.

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D. author, career coach, speaker Career Freedom: Your survival strategy for the new millenium Customer Service for Coaches and other Professionals http://www.movinglady.com/ebooks.html Career Freedom Ezine mailto:subscribe@movinglady.com

The site title is what shows up in blue bar of browser screen. Something like “dog groomer and border offers loving care” will do. Notice it doesn’t include name of grooming company. It includes a very short description of business, including keywords.

Now, we’ll do something similar for keyword and description tags.

For keywords description we’ll type in: “dog groomer and border dog grooming, pet grooming, pet bathing, dog bathing”.

For site description, we’ll type in a short, attention-getting sentence. This is what your visitors will see when they search for your company and listings appear on screen. It can normally be 25 words or less. This also must include your keywords and phrases. Something along lines of “Dog groomer and border. Our dog groomers take exceptional care of special pet in your life.” Notice it gives an advantage for using your service (you take care of pet), as well as using three of your keywords.

HINT: You can include a different site title, description and keywords for each individual page if you choose to.

3. Put keywords in your ALT tags. If we added a photo of a dog wagging his tail, we could include an ALT tag that says, “Dog grooming for special pet in your life” or another phrase that includes our keywords. Because ALT tags consist of words, search engines can read them just like they read your META tags. When they read keywords within tag, it increases your keyword usage and your chances of getting higher positioning.

4. Include keywords in your domain name and page names. Perhaps you’ve found that “groomer” is your most effective keyword. You might try to get a domain name such as dog-groomer.com or groomer-and-border.com. Including keywords in your domain name gets you extra brownie points! Likewise, include keywords in all your page names.

When you create page names that include keywords, you get an additional boost to your rankings. You might consider naming pages “special_pets” and “groomer_pricing” or “dog_services”. Your URL for pricing page would be www.dog-groomer.com/groomer_pricing.html.

While keywords aren’t sole factor to obtaining high search engine rankings, they are predominant factor. By placing them in these strategic areas, you will increase your chances of being found on ‘Net.

Most buying decisions are emotional. Your ad copy should be, too! Karon is Owner and President of KT & Associates who offers targeted copywriting, copy editing & ezine article services. Subscribe to KT & Associates' Ezine "Business Essentials" at join-buinessessentials@lyris1.listenvoy.com or visit her site at http://www.ktamarketing.com