Define your keywords

Saying 'I want my site to be top of the search engines' is meaningless. You must first define which phrases you want to be found under.

Find out which phrases people actually use

Draw up a list of a dozen or so phrases that you think people will type into a search engine. Then use the helpful Overture tool that tells you how many times people actually typed those phrases into the Overture search network.

This will save you the effort of optimising your website for phrases that people rarely search for, and it will suggest other related key phrases to target.

Overture keyword tool - UK

Overture keyword tool - worldwide (note - these sites are frequently unavailable)

Another well respected tool is WordTracker. This is a paid for service but you can try it, without having to register, by using the WordTracker free keyword suggestion tool.

You should now have a list of phrases that are likely to be used by potential customers to find your product or service.