Focusing on the right keywords can help companies boost their search engine rankings, an industry expert has suggested.

Writing on Freelance UK, Shaun Crowley suggests advertisers carry out as much research as possible into analysing which keywords are effective.

Mr Crowley claims that as keyword phrases attract better rankings than single searches, companies may be advised to base their search terms on factors such as the location covered and the name of the sector.

Using general phrases that searchers might use such as "looking for" and "find" was also advised.

Meanwhile, placing keywords within URL titles was also advised as this can "contribute considerably towards search engine rankings".

He added: "Search engines also use description tags to gauge the relevancy of websites. Your description should be riddled with good keywords."

Last month, a study by SearchIgnite and RBC Capital Markets revealed that advertisers from America's 500 largest firms using Yahoo!'s Panama network had seen their click-through rates on keywords rise to 4.4 per cent.